NASC stands for Needs Assessment and Service Coordination. A NASC is the organisation that decides whether you can get government disability support, works out what support you need, and connects you to it. Almost everything in the disability support system starts here. You cannot usually go straight to funding or to a support provider; the NASC is the front door.
Each region has one. In Canterbury it is LifeLinks. Some regions also have an Enabling Good Lives (EGL) site that does the same job a different way, and Christchurch has both, so a person here may enter through either door.
What a NASC does
Four jobs, one organisation.
- Decides eligibility. Whether Disability Support Services can fund support for you at all.
- Runs the needs assessment. A structured conversation about your life, your goals, and the support you need to live it, now and in the future.
- Coordinates the support. Allocates funding, refers you to providers, and confirms it all in writing so providers then contact you about start dates.
- Reviews. Every NASC regularly reviews support packages. This is standard practice, not a sign something is wrong.
Since early 2026, every NASC and EGL site in the country uses the same assessment approach, so where you live should no longer change how your needs are assessed. After an assessment you get a My DSS Funding Plan, which records what your funding is for.
Getting assessed
How you get a needs assessment.
Anyone can make the referral: you, a family member, a friend, or a health professional, by phone or email. It needs your consent, but it does not need a doctor to start it. The NASC will usually begin with a phone conversation about eligibility, then book the assessment itself. Expect a wait between those two steps.
The assessment can happen online, on the phone, at your home, or somewhere you choose. It is a conversation, not a test. There is nothing to pass or fail, and nothing to prepare beyond being honest about how things actually are on your hardest days.
To be eligible for Disability Support Services you generally need to be under 65, a NZ citizen or ordinarily resident here, and have a physical, intellectual, or sensory disability, or autism, likely to last at least six months and needing ongoing support. Autism is named in the criteria. ADHD on its own is not, which surprises people; if you are unsure where you fit, ask the NASC directly, because eligibility is their call, not a form's.
Some needs route elsewhere: mental health and addiction support, and long-term health conditions like diabetes or asthma, sit with Health New Zealand, and injury-related needs sit with ACC. A NASC can tell you which door is yours; being redirected is not a dead end.
After the assessment
What it can unlock.
- Individualised Funding (IF). Self-directed funding you use to purchase your own supports, managed with a host provider. See how the IF hosts differ.
- Contracted supports. The NASC refers you to providers it contracts, like home and community support services.
- Carer Support. A subsidy giving a full-time unpaid carer a break from the caring role, accessed through the NASC.
- Respite. Planned breaks, in different shapes.
Reviews and reassessments
The 2026 pause, and the restart.
Regular reassessments were paused from February 2026 while the new assessment approach rolled out. The official fact sheet says regular reassessments, including personal plans, get underway from 1 October 2026.
Two things stay true through all of it. You can still request an urgent reassessment any time your circumstances change. And under the current official position, your allocated budget is set on your assessed needs, not on how much you spent last year.
Canterbury
LifeLinks, if you are local.
LifeLinks is the NASC for Canterbury, South Canterbury and the West Coast. Phone 0800 866 877, referrals to referrals@lifelinks.co.nz, at 94 Disraeli Street, Sydenham, Christchurch. There is no cost for its planning and coordination services. Christchurch also has an Enabling Good Lives site as an alternative entry point.
The full national list of NASCs, region by region, is on the official needs assessment services page linked below.
Source Needs assessment services, Disability Support Services
Source How to access support, Disability Support Services
Source Changes to assessments and allocations, Disability Support Services
Source Fact sheet: changes to assessments, allocations and flexible funding, Disability Support Services
Last checked 25 August 2026
General information about how the system works, not advice about your specific situation. Your NASC decides eligibility and allocation; this page cannot.
Facing the front door yourself?
Talk it through with a person.
Jamie has worked inside the support system for fifteen years. The Discovery Call is free, 15 to 30 minutes, no commitment. Or email jamie@neurosupport.co.nz.