Bladder or bowel leaks aren't something most people bring up over dinner — but if you're reading this, you've probably already had the harder conversation with yourself: something needs to change. Maybe it's extra pads tucked into every bag “just in case,” or a bathroom map you've built in your head for every outing. Whatever brought you here, an NDIS continence assessment is the first real step toward getting that time and confidence back — you can explore our assessment service here.
According to Continence Health Australia (formerly the Continence Foundation of Australia), roughly 1 in 4 adults in this country live with some form of incontinence. Nearly 4 in 10 women experience it at some point.So if you're managing this, you're not managing it alone — and if it's connected to a disability, the NDIS can fund real, ongoing support to help. This guide walks through what a continence assessment involves and what it can unlock in your plan. It also covers how A1 Care Group runs the process — in-home or by Telehealth, anywhere in Australia.
Australian adults live with some form of incontinence
Women experience it at some point
Minutes with your continence nurse
Days of bladder or bowel diary beforehand
A continence assessment is a one-on-one consultation with a qualified continence nurse. Together, you'll work out exactly what's going on with your bladder or bowel control, and what would actually help. It's not a quick tick-box exercise. A good assessment looks at your symptoms, daily routine, and medical history. It also looks at how continence issues affect the things you want to do — sleeping through the night, getting to work without a mid-commute detour, or feeling comfortable at your grandchild's birthday party.
For NDIS participants, the assessment does double duty. It gives you and your nurse a clear picture of what's causing the problem. It also produces the clinical evidence the NDIS needs to fund continence supports — products, nursing care, and management plans.
We'll usually ask you to keep a short bladder or bowel diary beforehand. A bladder diary typically runs for 2 to 3 days, a bowel diary for a full week. It's a simple log of when you go, how much, and any leaks in between. If bowel symptoms are part of the picture, we might also ask you to note stool consistency using the Bristol Stool Chart, a standard clinical reference tool. It sounds clinical, but it takes seconds per entry, and it gives your nurse real data instead of guesswork.
The NDIS doesn't fund incontinence itself as a health condition — bladder and bowel care that's unrelated to disability sits with the mainstream health system. What it does fund is support that's connected to your disability, and the assessment is what proves that connection. Broadly, the NDIS looks for four things before approving continence-related funding:
When those boxes are ticked, your plan can include continence assessments and reviews, personalised bladder and bowel management plans, continence products such as pads, catheters and bed protectors, and ongoing community nursing support. Your support coordinator can help you understand exactly what applies to your circumstances.
Not all incontinence looks the same, and knowing which type you're dealing with shapes the whole management plan.
Covers a few distinct patterns. Stress incontinence is leaking when you cough, laugh, sneeze or exercise. Urge incontinence is that sudden, hard-to-outrun need to go. Overflow incontinence happens when the bladder never fully empties, so it drips throughout the day. Functional incontinence isn't about bladder control at all — it's about not being able to physically get to the toilet in time, often due to mobility or cognitive barriers.
Ranges from occasional gas control issues to fully losing control of bowel movements. Common causes include chronic constipation or diarrhoea, birth trauma or surgery, neurological conditions like MS or stroke, and digestive conditions such as Crohn's disease or IBS.
A few other conditions are worth knowing too: mixed incontinence (both bladder and bowel), and nocturnal enuresis — nighttime bedwetting, common in both children and adults with disability. Incontinence-associated dermatitis is another one: skin irritation from prolonged moisture exposure, and a genuinely painful complication if it isn't managed early.
We're a registered NDIS provider, and continence care is one of the things we spend the most time on — not a side service tacked onto a broader offering. A few things that tend to matter most to the people we work with:
We offer genuine Telehealth appointments Australia-wide, so a participant in regional Queensland gets the same quality assessment as someone in metro Melbourne, without a four-hour round trip.
And every management plan is built around your actual goals, not a generic template.
Yes, provided it's connected to your disability and affects your everyday activities. The assessment is what establishes and documents that connection for your plan.
Book through our referral form or by phone, and we'll arrange a video call with a qualified continence nurse at a time that suits you. You'll be asked to complete a short bladder or bowel diary beforehand, and the appointment itself runs much like an in-home visit — just from wherever you are.
Most assessments run 60 to 90 minutes, plus a few minutes of preparation with your diary beforehand.
Yes. Where the assessment confirms a disability-related need, we can support funding requests for pads, catheters, bed protectors, and related products through your NDIS plan.
The core process is similar, but we adjust the conversation and any diary tracking to suit the child's age and, where relevant, involve parents or carers throughout.
Bring it along. Existing diagnoses and reports help your continence nurse build on what's already known rather than starting from scratch, and can speed up the funding evidence process.
If continence issues are affecting your daily life, or a participant you support needs a clear path to funded help, don't wait for things to get harder to manage. Book an NDIS continence assessment with A1 Care Group — in-home or by Telehealth, anywhere in Australia. Take the first real step toward a plan that fits your life.
