Evidence-based practice plays an integral role in DisabilityCare Australia's delivery of the ground-breaking national disability insurance scheme (NDIS). This historic reform, which became a reality from 1 July this year for eligible people in four launch sites, has been long-awaited by many people with disability, their families and carers. By 2019, it is estimated that the scheme will be supporting almost half a million Australians. For too long, people with disability have faced a system described by the Productivity Commission as inefficient, unfair and underfunded. Most people did not get the support they needed or a choice about what support they received. Many were not in control about how they wanted to live their life. DisabilityCare Australia will change the way support services are accessed and used, and it will put the choice and control back into the hands of people with disability. The new scheme takes a lifelong approach to supporting people with disability through individualised funding. This means that rather than providing support based on the number of places in a limited number of programs, the scheme will provide funding so people can get the care and support they need, based on their individual support needs, goals and aspirations. Occupational therapists have an important role in enabling clients to perform the tasks they need in order to fulfil their goals and aspirations across their life roles. This and the focus of the profession on evidenced-based practice make occupational therapists uniquely positioned to contribute to great outcomes for participants and the success of DisabilityCare Australia. The agency intends working with Occupational Therapy Australia and other relevant professional groups in reviewing the way in which assistive technology can be more readily available to people with disability in Australia. As a first step towards ensuring that impartial, independent advice is readily available to participants in the DisabilityCare Australia scheme, the agency convened a gathering of representatives of the Independent Living Centres (ILCs) in Australia to discuss ways in which the ILCs can support the objectives of the scheme and assist participants. DisabilityCare Australia will host a roundtable discussion with eminent Australian researchers in November 2013. This forum will touch on questions in the area of disability supports that have received little attention in the research literature to date, such as what is sound evidence; and what is the evidence base for interventions or other supports. Preliminary discussions were held with interested researchers at the DisabilityCare Australia national conference in June of this year. Under DisabilityCare Australia, funded support for an individual must be reasonable and necessary. That is, the support must focus on the person's goals and aspirations; foster independence, social and economic participation; be evidence-based; and represent value for money. Reasonable and necessary support is deemed to be effective and beneficial for the individual when it is based on the best available evidence in published and refereed literature; and on the experience of the client or their carers, in supporting them in achieving their goals. Most individuals will have a blend of informal, mainstream and funded supports. Informal supports are those that are reasonably expected to be provided by family, carer or community. Mainstream supports are those provided by other government agencies and funding organisations. Funded supports through DisabilityCare Australia coordinate with, rather than replace or duplicate, informal or mainstream supports. DisabilityCare Australia is being rolled out in stages, to make sure we get it right. The first stage of the roll-out, from 1 July this year, consisted of the Hunter area of New South Wales for people aged up to 65; the Barwon area of Victoria for people aged up to 65; South Australia for children aged up to 14; and Tasmania for youth aged 15–24. From July 2014, DisabilityCare Australia will begin in the Australian Capital Territory and the Barkly region of the Northern Territory. A two-year pilot will begin in Western Australia in July 2014 in the Perth Hills area. The full scheme will be progressively rolled out across the country from July 2016. For more information about DisabilityCare Australia and the roll-out of the scheme, visit www.disabilitycareaustralia.gov.au or call 1800 800 110.