Q: How was the topic for the commissioned research decided? 

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 A. The NDRP worked with people with disability, DROs and researchers to refine and prioritise the research questions.

 

Q: What should projects focus on? 

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A: ​Projects should explore external and internal factors that affect: 

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1. Service providers' ability or motivation to deliver best practice supports 

2. Young NDIS participants' ability to make genuine and informed choices about employment supports 

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For example, this could include factors like workforce stability, organisational culture, funding models, and accountability mechanisms. Find more information on the Research Focus. 

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Q: What should projects not focus on? 

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A: ​Projects should not:

 

• Implement or trial specific best practice initiatives 

• Focus on provider training or resource development 

• Trial alternate funding models 

• Duplicate existing research. 

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The focus should be on understanding systems and generating policy recommendations, not direct intervention. 

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Q: Will I work with government during the project? 

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A: ​Yes. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (DHDA) and National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) will:

 

• Meet with research teams initially to share challenges and policy context 

• Have regular catch-ups as projects progress 

• Support mobilising research findings into policy and practice 

• Facilitate access to relevant data or participants where appropriate.

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All contact will be coordinated through the NDRP Commissioned Research Project Manager. 

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Note: All three successful research teams will participate in joint meetings with government rather than separate meetings for each project. 

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Q. What are the research questions for the commissioned research?

 

Question added 20 October 2025.

A. The aim and scope for the commissioned research are part of the funding Guidelines. If it is helpful when you are thinking about your application to have this framed as a question, the aim and scope can be changed into question format.

 

For example, you can change statement at the end of page 10 of the Guidelines into a question:
 

What are the internal and external factors that may act as barriers or enablers for:
(1) younger NDIS participants’ to make genuine and informed decisions about transition to, access and use of NDIS employment supports?

(2) providers’ ability or motivation to deliver best practice supports?

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Q. Can I focus on a narrower scope within an opportunity, such as a specific population?

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Question added 20 October 2025. 

A: The scope of the Commissioned Research Project has already been narrowed through extensive consultation with people with disability, their representative organisations, government representatives, and academics. We are looking for proposals that consider the population group and scope at a high level, rather than on a sub-population or narrow focus.

 

As this is Commissioned Research, it is different from the NDRP Funding Rounds, which invite applicants to submit a proposal on an area of interest within a broad topic.

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Q. We offer a program that supports young people with disability to transition to employment. Can we submit a proposal that focuses on this program?

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Question added 20 October 2025. 

A: Applications that focus on a specific program are not in scope for the commissioned research.

 

We know there are lots of wonderful programs out there, and thanks to this work, we already know a lot about what works to support the transition of young people with disability to careers.

 

The missing piece is why ‘what works’ doesn’t always happen in practice. For this reason, the Commissioned Research will provide recommendations that support broad, actionable changes to systems and policy.

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Q. Should something like a systemic review of the evidence for different pilots and programs be part of the project? Or do you feel that this is already covered in the background preparation for this grant opportunity?

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Question added 3 November 2025. Updated 10 November 2025. 

A. The key focus of the commissioned research is on what might make it easier or harder for service providers to provide best practice transition supports and for young people to make informed choices about these supports. A review of existing evidence from pilots and programs as part of your project methods could be acceptable, provided there is clear justification about how (1) it does not duplicate existing work, and (2) it helps address the ‘policy and systems’ focus required.

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You can find evidence-informed, best-practice resources that support employment of people with disability on the recently launched Centre for Inclusive Employment online hub. 

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We also encourage all applicants to read the Roundtable report, which provides a summary of existing evidence about ‘what works’. You can find the Roundtable report here. 

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Q. Is there existing NDIA data we can access to support this project?

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Question added 3 November 2025 

A. The NDIA provides access to provider reporting data on their website, and, as per the funding guidelines, the NDIA may also, where appropriate and feasible, facilitate access to existing information or data relating to the NDIS Employment Assistance supports, or to participants and providers (for example, via their Participant First network).

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Further information about how the NDIA supports researchers is available on the NDIA website. ​​