What can I do today?
Current everyday function
Occupational Therapy • Functional Capacity Assessment
Functional Capacity Assessment
Understanding what someone can do today - and what support gets them where they want to be.
Everyday function
Goals
The right supports
Functional Capacity Assessment
What is an FCA?
A Functional Capacity Assessment is a detailed occupational therapy assessment of how a person manages everyday life - looking after themselves, managing a home, getting out into the community, learning, working and connecting with others. It identifies what a person can do now, what they want to be doing, and what support, equipment or environmental changes would bridge that gap. The NDIS relies on FCA reports to understand the impact of disability when someone is applying for access, reviewing a plan, or seeking a funding decision.
Our approach
Our approach: We start with occupation - the everyday activities that matter to the person - rather than with a diagnosis. Every domain is assessed on functional need, and every recommendation is evidenced rather than asserted, so the report speaks clearly to relevant NDIS reasonable and necessary criteria. Recommendations are holistic while staying within Occupational Therapy scope.
What is getting in the way?
Barriers, environments and support needs
What could help?
Supports, equipment or changes
Where do I want to be?
Personal goals and participation
What we assess
Everyday life, viewed as a whole.
We look at how disability impacts everyday activities across the home, community and life roles that matter most.
Self-care & personal activities
The routines that help someone look after themselves.
Home & domestic tasks
Managing a home and everyday responsibilities.
Mobility & physical function
Moving, transferring and getting where life happens.
Communication & social interaction
Connecting, expressing needs and maintaining relationships.
Learning, cognition & decision-making
Thinking, planning, learning and making everyday choices.
Community access & transport
Taking part beyond home and getting around safely.
Work, study & meaningful occupation
The roles, interests and activities that matter most.
Environment, equipment & Assistive Technology
The practical changes that can make life more possible.
Family, carers & informal supports
What support is provided now and whether it is sustainable.
We don't assess a diagnosis in isolation. We look at how disability affects the activities, environments and relationships that make up everyday life.
The process
Your FCA journey.
- 01
Understand
Referral & document review
We review NDIS goals, existing reports and relevant medical information.
- 02
Observe
Face-to-face assessment
We meet the person, preferably where everyday life actually happens, and explore function through conversation and observation.
- 03
Measure & listen
Standardised measures & collateral
Where appropriate, we use functional assessment tools and speak with family, carers, support workers and other providers.
- 04
Evidence
FCA report
We bring together functional findings, goals and evidence-based recommendations for supports, equipment and environmental needs.
- 05
Next steps
Follow-up
We respond to relevant NDIA queries and identify whether further assessment such as Home and Living, Assistive Technology or Home Modifications may be indicated.
Assessment Pathways
The right assessment for the person.
Standard Functional Capacity Assessment
Face-to-face assessment across every functional domain, standardised measures where appropriate, collateral from supports, and a detailed report with holistic recommendations.
Used for NDIS access, plan reviews and funding decisions.
- Pre-assessment document review
- Face-to-face functional assessment
- Standardised measures where appropriate
- Collateral from supports and care team
- Detailed report with holistic recommendations
- NDIA query response
From 12 hours
Hours increase with complexity and are billed as required.
Psychosocial & Complex Functional Capacity Assessment
For people whose mental health condition affects daily life, decision-making, social participation and independent living. Involves more in-depth engagement over time and liaison with the broader care team.
Reflects the additional time and care required for complex presentations.
- Everything in Standard FCA
- Extended engagement across multiple sessions
- Broader care team liaison
- In-depth psychosocial functional analysis
- Complex report writing and evidence synthesis
- NDIA query response
From 15 hours
Hours increase with complexity and are billed as required.
Hours increase with complexity and are billed as required. All rates are in line with the NDIS Price Guide.
Sometimes the question changes.
“How much support do I need?”
↓
“Where should I live - and what support model will work?”
Sometimes a standard assessment shows that the support a person needs goes beyond what is typically funded as drop-in support - or that the question is no longer 'how much support' but 'where should they live, and which support model fits'. That is where a Home and Living FCA come in, and it builds directly on everything a standard FCA establishes.
Find out more about Home and Living assessmentsWhere we assess
We assess function where life happens.
Client's home (preferred - function is best assessed where it happens)
Community settings
School or workplace (where relevant to goals)
Telehealth (where appropriate)
Clinic (available on request)
Why Intracare
Evidence, not assumptions.
Our recommendations are grounded in functional observation, standardised measures where appropriate, and information from the people who support the participant every day.
Senior clinical oversight on every assessment
Our team is heavily weighted toward senior occupational therapists. Assessments are completed by senior OTs, or by our developing clinicians under the direct guidance of a senior OT. Every complex report completed by a less senior team member is quality assured by our senior clinical leadership team.
Reports written for planners and families
Reports are written to the NDIS reasonable and necessary criteria, in plain language a planner can act on and a family can understand — not clinical language that needs translating.
We evidence rather than assert
Recommendations are supported by functional observation, standardised measures where appropriate, and collateral from the people who support the person every day — not assumptions.
We don't stop at the edge of a standard FCA
Where a person's needs are more than a standard FCA can answer, the same team delivers Home and Living, SDA, Assistive Technology and Home Modification assessments — so nothing is lost in a handover.
AHPRA-registered Occupational Therapists • Adult • Paediatric • Psychosocial • FIM-trained clinicians available where required
Questions, answered
Functional Capacity Assessment FAQs
Start with understanding everyday life.
Refer for a Functional Capacity Assessment. Our intake team will review the referral and determine the most appropriate FCA pathway.
Make a referral