Brain Injury Support in NSW: Lifetime Care and Speech Therapy Funding
A brain injury caused by a motor vehicle accident in New South Wales can open the door to support well beyond the NDIS. The Lifetime Care and Support Scheme, run by icare, pays for treatment, rehabilitation and care, including speech therapy for people severely injured on NSW roads.
What is the Lifetime Care and Support Scheme?
The Lifetime Care and Support Scheme is a NSW Government scheme that funds treatment, rehabilitation and care for people severely injured in a motor accident in New South Wales. It's a no-fault scheme: support is available regardless of who was responsible for the accident, provided you meet the eligibility criteria for both the accident and the injury.
The Scheme is administered by icare (Insurance & Care NSW) and funded by a levy on NSW Green Slip (Compulsory Third Party) insurance. It's applied to adults injured on or after 1 October 2007, and to children under 16 injured on or after 1 October 2006.
Who is eligible for brain injury support in NSW?
You may be eligible for the Scheme if:
- You were injured in a motor accident that occurred in NSW, on or after the relevant commencement date
- Your injury was caused by that accident
- Your injury is one of the severe injury types recognised by the Scheme, including:
- Brain injury (assessed using tools such as the FIM and WeeFIM)
- Spinal cord injury
- Amputations or equivalent impairment
- Burns
- Permanent blindness
Eligible participants are first accepted as an interim participant for up to two years, during which reasonable and necessary treatment and care related to the injury is funded. After this, participants can apply to become a lifetime participant, receiving ongoing support for as long as it's needed.
What does the Scheme cover?
The Scheme funds a broad range of treatment, care and support tied to your motor accident injury, including medical treatment, dental treatment, aids and equipment, home and vehicle modifications, attendant care, and help returning to study or work.
Speech therapy under the Scheme
Rehabilitation, explicitly including speech therapy, alongside physiotherapy and occupational therapy is a recognised category of support under the Scheme, where it's assessed as reasonable and necessary for your motor accident injury. For someone with a brain injury, this can include therapy for communication difficulties, cognitive-communication challenges and swallowing (dysphagia).
How ClearConvo can help
ClearConvo delivers speech pathology assessment and therapy via telehealth across Australia, with experience in the communication, cognitive and swallowing difficulties that can follow a brain injury.
For Lifetime Care participants, this means:
- Therapy delivered from home, which can matter if travel to a clinic is difficult, or if you live outside a major NSW centre
- Speech pathologists certified with Speech Pathology Australia, which aligns with the professional standard expected of providers working with Lifetime Care participants
- We can work with your case manager to make sure speech pathology sessions are built into your broader treatment, care and support plan
Speech Therapy, Brain Injury Support in NSW
Tell us about yourself.
Getting started
- If you're not yet a participant: if you or a family member has been severely injured in a NSW motor accident, a Severe Injury Advice Form is often completed at hospital, or you can apply directly. Call icare Lifetime Care on 1300 738 586 or visit icare.nsw.gov.au for more information.
- If you're already a participant: your case manager or Lifetime Care coordinator helps request and approve services on your behalf. Contact ClearConvo and we can help you explore adding speech pathology to your support plan.
This page is general information, not legal or financial advice. Eligibility and funded supports are set out in the Motor Accidents (Lifetime Care and Support) Act 2006 and the Lifetime Care and Support Guidelines, and can change — always confirm current details directly with icare.
