Functional Capacity Assessments in Fairfield
Mobile, evidence-based functional capacity assessments for NDIS participants across Fairfield and the surrounding suburbs. Our AHPRA-registered occupational therapists come to you, work with interpreters where you need one, and build a picture of your daily life the NDIS can rely on.
Do you need a functional capacity assessment in Fairfield?
A functional capacity assessment (FCA) is an occupational therapy assessment of how you manage everyday activities, and what supports would help you live more independently. In Fairfield we complete the assessment in your own home, then write it up as a report the NDIS can use for planning, plan reviews and external review.
- ✓ You are applying for the NDIS, or a plan review is coming up
- ✓ You need evidence of how your disability affects everyday life, not just a diagnosis letter
- ✓ A support coordinator, planner, GP or allied health professional has asked for one
- ✓ The last plan was built on a short clinic appointment that did not reflect life at home
- ✓ An external review at the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) is coming up and you need independent evidence
What an FCA looks at, from washing to getting to an appointment
We look at the parts of daily life that decide whether you can live the way you want to. For each one we record what you manage on your own, what you manage with help, and where the right support would change the most.
Personal care
Showering, dressing, grooming and toileting, and how much prompting or hands-on help each one takes.
Getting around
Moving about the house, on and off the bed and toilet, managing steps, and how close the near-misses have been.
Running the home
Cooking, cleaning, laundry and shopping, including who in the household is actually doing them now.
Out in the community
Getting to appointments, using transport, managing a busy shopping centre and taking part in community life.
Thinking and memory
Memory, attention, planning and decision-making, and where these come apart during an ordinary day.
Communication and safety
Understanding and being understood, including in your first language, and staying safe at home and out.
Why we assess more than once, and in more than one way
One short visit cannot show how someone actually lives. We gather evidence from several angles so the report holds up when a planner or a delegate reads it closely.
Start with what you want to change
We ask what you are trying to get back to, or get to for the first time. Everything after this is measured against that, rather than against a generic checklist.
Assessment in your own home
We watch how the ordinary tasks actually go, in your own kitchen and bathroom, where the furniture is where you expect it and the pressure of an unfamiliar room is gone.
Out in the community
Where it is relevant we look at how you get about, whether that is the train from Fairfield station, a busy shopping centre, or the walk to a local shop, because independence does not stop at the front door.
The people around you
With your consent we speak to family, carers, support workers and your treating team. Where the household speaks a language other than English, we arrange interpreter support so nothing is lost in the retelling.
The paperwork that already exists
We read what has already been written, specialist letters, discharge summaries and earlier allied health reports, so the assessment builds on the history instead of starting from nothing.
Standardised, validated tools
Where appropriate we use recognised measures such as the WHODAS 2.0, the COPM, the Lawton IADL Scale, the Life Skills Profile, the Vineland-3, the ABAS-3 and the Pedi-CAT, so the findings sit against something objective.
One report, not six
All of it is written up as a single report that connects each recommendation to the evidence behind it, rather than leaving a planner to join the dots.
Read our full assessment methodology, including the evidence standard every recommendation is written to.
What makes our Fairfield assessments different
There are a lot of OT providers across Fairfield and the surrounding suburbs. These are the things worth asking any of them about.
Evidence from more than one source
One visit is one angle. We combine what we observe at home, what your support network describes and what the existing reports already establish, then say where they agree and where they do not.
Local to Fairfield
We work across Fairfield, Cabramatta, Canley Vale, Smithfield, Wetherill Park and the wider Fairfield LGA, and we come to you, at home, in supported accommodation or in the community.
Reports a planner can actually use
Written against the reasonable and necessary criteria, in plain language, and usually delivered within 2 to 3 weeks depending on complexity.
Language and culture taken seriously
Fairfield is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse parts of Australia. We arrange interpreter support where appropriate, and we describe how daily life is actually organised in your household.
Across the lifespan
Our AHPRA-registered occupational therapists assess children, working-age adults and older adults, with tools chosen to suit the person.
Your team stays informed
With your consent we keep your support coordinator, GP and treating team in the loop, so the report is not the first they hear of it.
What you actually receive at the end
Where an interpreter was used, or where cultural context matters to how a task is done at home, we say so in the report rather than leaving the reader to guess.
Summary and background
An overview of your situation and history, written so a planner who has never met you can follow it.
Standardised results
Scores from any tools used, with a plain-English explanation of what each one measures.
Functional ratings
Ratings across self-care, mobility and transfers, domestic tasks, community access, communication and cognition.
What is getting in the way
The barriers you meet day to day, and where the risk sits if nothing changes.
What we recommend
The specific supports proposed, therapy, equipment, home modifications or support hours, and the reason for each.
NDIS-ready evidence
Findings set against the reasonable and necessary criteria, so a reader can trace the link from evidence to request.
Where the report does its work in an NDIS plan
For a Fairfield participant, the FCA is usually the document that carries the most weight in a planning conversation. Here is where it does the work.
- ✓ Access requests: shows how your disability affects everyday functioning, in concrete terms
- ✓ Plan reviews: justifies the supports you are asking for, with evidence behind each one
- ✓ External review (ART): gives the Administrative Review Tribunal independent evidence, rather than a restatement of the decision being reviewed
- ✓ Getting the mix right: shows which of therapy, equipment, home modifications and support hours will actually help
- ✓ A fair hearing: where English is not your first language, an interpreted assessment means the report reflects what you actually said
Being assessed in the language you think in
An assessment carried out in a language you are still translating in your head is not an accurate assessment. This is how we handle it.
If English is not your first language, tell us when you book and we will arrange interpreter support where appropriate. It changes what the assessment can see. People describe pain, memory trouble and low mood far more precisely in their first language, and a participant who is concentrating on translating will often simply agree rather than correct you.
We also pay attention to how tasks are actually done in your household, because the standard checklist assumes one way of cooking, washing and organising a home, and that assumption can make an ordinary household look like a struggling one, or hide a real difficulty behind family help that is being quietly absorbed.
Where an interpreter was used, we record it in the report. That matters later: it tells a planner or a delegate reading the file that the participant took part properly, rather than leaving them to wonder how much was understood.
How an assessment runs in practice
A worked example of the multi-avenue approach, start to finish.
Supporting an adult with a psychosocial disability, Fairfield
This is a worked example, written to show how we would approach an assessment of this kind. It does not describe a real person or a real assessment. Funding outcomes depend on individual circumstances and are decided by the funder.
The situation
Consider an adult in Fairfield with a long-standing psychosocial disability, referred by a support coordinator. A plan review is coming up, and the previous plan was built on a short clinic appointment that did not reflect how the person manages at home. The family speaks Assyrian at home and asks for an interpreter.
What we would do
We would book an interpreter for both visits, and start with a conversation about what the person actually wants, which in this pattern is often something specific: managing their own medication again, or getting back to a weekly community group they have stopped attending. We would then complete the in-home assessment, watching how they manage a morning routine, prepare a simple meal and keep track of appointments, and noting where low motivation and disrupted sleep are the real barriers rather than physical ability.
We would observe a short community task, a walk to the local shops to buy a few items, which shows how anxiety in crowded places affects planning and follow-through. With consent we would speak with a family member and the support worker, who tend to describe the days that go badly rather than the days that go well. We would review the psychiatrist’s letter and any previous support coordination notes, and use the WHODAS 2.0 and the Life Skills Profile so the findings sit against recognised measures rather than opinion.
What the report would set out
Activity by activity, where the person is independent, where they need prompting and where they need hands-on support, with each recommendation linked back to the evidence behind it. Because the picture comes from several sources over more than one occasion, a planner has a defensible basis for the decision rather than a single day’s snapshot.
Read our full guide to OT assessment for psychosocial disability, including how we evidence capacity that fluctuates.
Paying for your assessment
A functional capacity assessment in Fairfield is charged by the hour, at the NDIS occupational therapy price of $193.99 per hour in 2026-27, based on the time the assessment and report take. See how OT is priced for a full breakdown.
| Funding type | What it means |
|---|---|
| NDIS – plan-managed | Your plan manager pays our invoices from your plan. The most common option. |
| NDIS – self-managed | You manage and pay invoices directly from your plan funding. |
| Home Care Package (Levels 1–4) | Occupational therapy for older adults, funded through your package provider. |
| CHSP | Entry-level aged care support, subject to eligibility. |
| Medicare | Up to five allied health sessions a year with a GP care plan (a gap may apply). |
| Private | Pay directly, no referral required. |
For NDIS participants, an FCA is generally funded from the Capacity Building – Improved Daily Living budget, depending on your plan. Funding is not guaranteed, so check with your support coordinator or planner.
Functional capacity assessments across Fairfield and South West Sydney
We are a mobile service and come to you throughout Fairfield (2165) and the surrounding suburbs, including Cabramatta, Canley Vale, Canley Heights, Smithfield, Wetherill Park, Prairiewood, Bossley Park, Fairfield Heights, Villawood and Yennora.
Functional capacity assessments in Fairfield: your questions
Do you offer NDIS occupational therapy in Fairfield?
Can you complete a functional capacity assessment in Fairfield?
Can you work with an interpreter?
Which suburbs around Fairfield do you cover?
How long will the whole process take?
Why do you gather information from more than one source?
Will the NDIS pay for the assessment?
Do you assess children as well as adults?
Request a functional capacity assessment in Fairfield
Send a referral or an enquiry below, or call 1300 316 664. We answer in English and arrange interpreter support where you need it.
Assessments that come to you, in Fairfield
Talk to our mobile OT team about a functional capacity assessment in Fairfield. No obligation, and no cost to ask.
Make a referral or call 1300 316 664