NCCD evidence requirements: what the record must show, with a checklist

What a student's NCCD record must show

A student must be counted when they are in the school's August Census, have a disability as defined by the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA), and the school has evidence of adjustments for at least 10 weeks of school education in the 12 months before Census Day (Quick Guide, p. 4). For each student it counts, the school needs evidence in the four general areas of evidence the Guidelines set out. Superadjust calls them Need, Consultation, Adjustments and Monitoring, and the four pillars of NCCD evidence covers what belongs under each.

• Need: the student's assessed individual needs, and how the disability affects learning or participation at school.
• Consultation: consultation and collaboration with the student, or their parents, guardians, carers or associates, about the adjustments. See documenting consultation, including what to record when parents are not consulted.
• Adjustments: the adjustments provided for at least 10 weeks, with evidence that justifies the level reported. Examples of NCCD adjustments shows what they look like in each area of need.
• Monitoring: ongoing monitoring and review of whether the adjustments are working.

What the NCCD does not require

Teachers often do more than the NCCD asks. The Guidelines, the Department's evidence fact sheet and the Quick Guide are clear that schools do not need:

• New evidence: schools are not required to create new or additional evidence for the NCCD. Evidence is sighted in the form it already exists.
• A set template: the evidence templates on the NCCD Portal are optional tools, not a requirement.
• A diagnosis: disability can be diagnosed or imputed, judged to exist on reasonable grounds and evidence after consulting the student or their associate.
• Parental consent: the collection is authorised by law. Consulting families about adjustments still matters, but consultation does not need their agreement.
• An upload: the evidence stays at the school, and the data reported to government must not explicitly identify a student.

Examples of evidence that count

The NCCD Quick Guide (Step 5) gives these examples of evidence. Most schools already hold them. Collect them across the 12 months before Census Day, not in the final weeks.

• An Individual Learning Plan, or a similar plan
• Timetables showing the adjustments or specialist supports delivered
• Emails to parents, guardians, carers or associates that show consultation
• Notes by the school team that show monitoring and review
• A functional needs checklist

Everyday records count too when they are dated and specific: adjusted work samples, annotated lesson plans, adjusted assessment tasks, meeting notes and communication logs. For written entries weak beside strong, see NCCD evidence examples.

What schools report, and the records they keep

For each counted student, the school reports two things: the category of disability (the area that mainly drives the adjustments, such as cognitive) and the level of adjustment (such as Supplementary). It keeps the evidence behind both.

The evidence is not uploaded to the Department. Schools must keep NCCD records for 7 years (Australian Education Regulations 2023, s 37), or longer if state or territory rules require. The Quick Guide says the records kept should show:

1. That the student has a disability as defined by the DDA
2. Adjustments for at least 10 weeks in the 12 months before Census Day
3. Why the level of adjustment reported was chosen
4. The quality assurance done, such as moderation

Keeping the records is the school's obligation. Where they sit matters less than whether the principal can verify them and a reviewer can find them. The NCCD Quick Guide, summarised shows where recording evidence sits among the 8 official steps.

The 10 weeks, and the level they support

The adjustments need to be documented for at least 10 weeks of school education in the 12 months before Census Day. The weeks are cumulative: they can be non-consecutive and split across terms, and any amount of adjustment in a school week counts as a week. Extensive is the exception. Those adjustments must be in place at all times, over consecutive weeks (see the NCCD Extensive level).

The school reports the highest level of adjustment provided for those 10 weeks, so the evidence has to show how often and how intensively the student was supported, not only that support happened. The NCCD 10-week rule and NCCD levels of adjustment cover each in full.

NCCD evidence checklist: is the record enough?

There is no set number of documents. The test is whether someone who does not know the student could follow the school's decision from the record alone, because the principal has to be able to verify it before the data is approved. Run these nine checks on one student's record. If one fails, start there.

1. Need: the record names the functional impact in class, not only a diagnosis.
2. Disability: diagnosed, or imputed on reasonable grounds and evidence after consultation, with the team confirming the adjustments are due to disability rather than a learning difficulty.
3. Category: the one category that mainly drives the adjustments.
4. Consultation: a record of consulting the student or their associate about the adjustments, and in most cases their parents, guardians or carers too, with a brief reason recorded where parents, guardians or carers were not consulted.
5. Adjustments: what was provided, how often and where, across at least 10 weeks in the 12 months before Census Day (consecutive weeks, at all times, for Extensive).
6. Level: the frequency and intensity in the record justify the level you will report.
7. Monitoring: a review that says whether the adjustment worked and what changed.
8. Findable: a colleague could find every item and follow the decision without asking you.
9. Kept: the school's records plan holds it for 7 years, or longer if state rules require.

This checklist tests one student's record. In the week before Census Day, run the NCCD Census Day checklist across every included student. To prepare for a review of data already submitted, run the NCCD audit checklist on five sample files.

What teachers should document

Good documentation comes from normal teaching work: annotated lesson plans, work samples, adjusted assessments, meeting notes, emails to parents and progress notes. Strong entries are specific. They show the adjustment, the context and the result, and they connect the adjustment to the student's need.

For more, see NCCD evidence examples for each area, weak beside strong. For a repeatable way to write notes like the stronger one, see how to write NCCD evidence notes during a lesson.

Common misunderstandings

A few misconceptions trip teachers up again and again.

• A diagnosis on its own is not enough. Diagnosed or imputed, the record must still show the functional impact and the adjustments.
• Teachers do not need a separate shadow system. Existing teaching records count if they are clear and can be found.
• Consultation cannot be assumed. It needs to be documented, because adjustment notes alone do not show who was involved in the decision.
• More evidence is not always better. One specific record can do more than five vague entries.

Sources

The four areas of evidence, the 10 weeks and the level: the NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward. Who must be counted, the examples of evidence and the records to keep: the NCCD Quick Guide (2026 edition, p. 4 and Step 5), published by Education Services Australia for the Australian Government Department of Education. It summarises the Guidelines, which take precedence. What schools do not need to do: the Department's evidence requirements fact sheet. Record keeping: the Australian Education Regulations 2023, s 37. The nine-point checklist is ours, not an official template.