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Home > NDSS The National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) is an initiative of the Australian Government that commenced in 1987 and is administered by Diabetes Australia.
The NDSS aims to enhance the capacity of people with diabetes to understand and self-manage their condition and access services, support, and subsidised diabetes products. There is a wide array of subsidised products and services for people living with diabetes available to NDSS registrants.
Credentialled Diabetes Educators (CDEs) should be knowledgeable about the NDSS, and the services available to support their clients. In their role, CDEs are encouraged to support people living with diabetes to register with the NDSS. CDEs should refer to the NDSS Privacy Policy for all matters regarding collection of personal information through the NDSS. Please note the ADEA privacy policy applies to members’ interactions with ADEA.
To learn more, visit the official NDSS website.
ADEA receives funds from the NDSS to deliver projects that benefit health professionals serving people living with diabetes and ultimately, people living with diabetes.
The Australian Diabetes Society is the other Health Professional Agent of the NDSS.
All projects and resources featured below are resources developed by ADEA with funding from NDSS. For more information and resources to support health professionals go to: https://www.ndss.com.au/health-professionals/resources/
The National Diabetes Nursing and Education Framework aims to guide development of a skilled nursing workforce, capable of providing a high standard of diabetes care. The framework is a tool that promotes life-long learning and can support the nursing profession to advance in the field of diabetes care and education with a long-term goal of improved community health outcomes.
ADEA continues to monitor the quality and accuracy of the information in the National Diabetes Nursing Framework. An updated Framework will be available soon. ADEA remains committed to responding to any concerns or suggestions raised by learners. If you have any feedback or questions about the Framework, please email NDSS@adea.com.au.
The ADEA together with a range of stakeholder experts are currently developing two new module topics for the Diabetes eLearning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health online platform: Brief Interventions and Diabetes Stigma and Discrimination. These modules offer a culturally appropriate interactive learning environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and practitioners and those health professionals working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples living with diabetes.
The Brief Interventions to support diabetes self-management module topic will provide practical examples of techniques to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living with diabetes, based on the strengths of culturally appropriate and successful behaviour change programs.
The Diabetes Stigma and Discrimination module topic explores the negative attitudes, stereotypes, judgments and prejudice that people living with diabetes may face. Informed by Diabetes Australia and The Australian Centre for Behavioural Research in Diabetes, research papers and global campaigns, this topic supports the learner to recognise diabetes stigma and provides practical steps to reduce the harms of stigma.
Adults with intellectual disabilities are two to three times more likely to develop diabetes. However, there are limited diabetes-specific resources for this population. Due to the complexities of managing diabetes and a disability, it is important that health professionals and carers have the most relevant, up-to-date information to assist them in supporting a person living with diabetes and a disability.
The Diabetes and Intellectual Disability (ID) project developed a range of resources to fill a gap in diabetes education for people with an ID and their support network including health professionals, carers, and support people.
Resources to assist people with an intellectual disability
A number of resources have been developed to assist people with an intellectual disability who have diabetes (and their carers) to:
Resources for Health Professionals
Note: the health professional resources are currently under review and updates will be available soon.
For more information and to access these resources visit: ndss.com.au
It is important for people living with diabetes to be prepared for natural disasters like bushfires, floods, storms or cyclones. Having a plan and being ready for natural disasters reduces the risk of diabetes-related emergencies and life-threatening situations. You can support people living with diabetes by understanding how natural disasters can impact on their health.
In 2023/24, a review of the existing NDSS disaster management resources was conducted. New and updated resources are now available.
Resources for health professionals
There are four videos for health professionals to help support people living with diabetes to plan and prepare for a natural disaster.
There is also a workplace poster highlighting the importance of having a plan and being ready for natural disasters.
Resources for people living with diabetes
For more information and to access these resources go to ndss.com.au/naturaldisasters
These guidelines which were updated in 2024 aim to assist health professionals in providing best practice self-management advice and support for adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes when they experience an intercurrent illness. They may also be suitable for adults with other types of diabetes.
There are also 8 sick day action plans available for CDEs to provide to people living with diabetes. These are:
These sick day action plans can be found here.
ADEA was a key partner in the Diabetes in Schools Program. ADEA developed the tier three face to face training component of the program.
Provision of person-centred care is now acknowledged internationally as a non-negotiable dimension of all health care. The purpose of the Person-Centred Care booklet and Person-Centred Care Toolkit is to provide health professionals with a set of principles and recommendations to optimise the self-management education, support and care provided to people with diabetes in their practice. ADEA is committed to ensuring the most up to date information is available to guide health professionals and are currently reviewing these resources.
Improving Health Literacy for people living with diabetes
Health literacy is not achieved by health professionals simply conveying information to clients about diabetes: it is a shared process with clients, their families and carers and the community to ensure people with diabetes are supported to self-manage and achieve their goals. The purpose of this document is to assist health professionals to prioritise and enable health literacy for people living with diabetes, their families and carers and to advocate for health services that support health literacy. ADEA is committed to ensuring the most up to date information is available to guide health professionals and is currently reviewing this resource.
Workforce Development: Health workforce education program
Aimed at the generalist health workforce (such as enrolled and registered nurses, allied health professionals, and others) who may see people living with diabetes but do not specialise in its management. These 10-minute modules cover information on:
More information can be found here
Other resources for Health Professionals
Understanding HbA1c Measurements and reports
Current HbA1c pathology reporting includes the National Glycohaemoglobin Standardisation Program (NGSP) percentage (%) and the International Federation of Clinical Chemists (IFCC) units millimoles per mole (mmol/mol). This document has been developed to assist in the explanation of HbA1c pathology reporting and includes a HbA1c conversion table and is currently under review.
Additional information and resources can be accessed on the NDSS website here: ndss.com.au/health-professionals/resources/.
Quality review cycle
The NDSS team at ADEA aim to review all resources every three years for currency and relevance. If you would like to contribute to the review process, please contact ndss@adea.com.au. Some resources will be retired as they become superseded by newer resources. If you would like to find out more about the NDSS Team and any of the projects above, please contact ndss@adea.com.au.
Conflict of interest policy statement
ADEA may from time to time receive sponsorship and/or educational grants from suppliers of diabetes products or medicines in support of diabetes consumer awareness raising, educational activities for health professionals, conferences and meetings, and other activities. Where the third party supplier is a current or prospective supplier of products or medicines included (or which could be proposed for inclusion) on the NDSS Product Schedule, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) or other similar scheme accessed by persons with diabetes that is funded (in whole or in part) by the Commonwealth, ADEA provides this assurance that no third party supplier is entitled to, nor will receive, any advantage in terms of the provision of Commonwealth-subsidised diabetes products or medicines to people with diabetes or the provision of Scheme information to people with diabetes or health professionals.
The National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) is an initiative of the Australian Government that commenced in 1987 and is administered by Diabetes Australia.
The NDSS aims to enhance the capacity of people with diabetes to understand and self-manage their condition and access services, support, and subsidised diabetes products. There is a wide array of subsidised products and services for people living with diabetes available to NDSS registrants.
Credentialled Diabetes Educators (CDEs) should be knowledgeable about the NDSS, and the services available to support their clients. In their role, CDEs are encouraged to support people living with diabetes to register with the NDSS. CDEs should refer to the NDSS Privacy Policy for all matters regarding collection of personal information through the NDSS. Please note the ADEA privacy policy applies to members’ interactions with ADEA.
To learn more, visit the official NDSS website.
ADEA receives funds from the NDSS to deliver projects that benefit health professionals serving people living with diabetes and ultimately, people living with diabetes.
The Australian Diabetes Society is the other Health Professional Agent of the NDSS.
All projects and resources featured below are resources developed by ADEA with funding from NDSS. For more information and resources to support health professionals go to: https://www.ndss.com.au/health-professionals/resources/
The National Diabetes Nursing and Education Framework aims to guide development of a skilled nursing workforce, capable of providing a high standard of diabetes care. The framework is a tool that promotes life-long learning and can support the nursing profession to advance in the field of diabetes care and education with a long-term goal of improved community health outcomes.
ADEA continues to monitor the quality and accuracy of the information in the National Diabetes Nursing Framework. An updated Framework will be available soon. ADEA remains committed to responding to any concerns or suggestions raised by learners. If you have any feedback or questions about the Framework, please email NDSS@adea.com.au.
The ADEA together with a range of stakeholder experts are currently developing two new module topics for the Diabetes eLearning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health online platform: Brief Interventions and Diabetes Stigma and Discrimination. These modules offer a culturally appropriate interactive learning environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and practitioners and those health professionals working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples living with diabetes.
The Brief Interventions to support diabetes self-management module topic will provide practical examples of techniques to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living with diabetes, based on the strengths of culturally appropriate and successful behaviour change programs.
The Diabetes Stigma and Discrimination module topic explores the negative attitudes, stereotypes, judgments and prejudice that people living with diabetes may face. Informed by Diabetes Australia and The Australian Centre for Behavioural Research in Diabetes, research papers and global campaigns, this topic supports the learner to recognise diabetes stigma and provides practical steps to reduce the harms of stigma.
Adults with intellectual disabilities are two to three times more likely to develop diabetes. However, there are limited diabetes-specific resources for this population. Due to the complexities of managing diabetes and a disability, it is important that health professionals and carers have the most relevant, up-to-date information to assist them in supporting a person living with diabetes and a disability.
The Diabetes and Intellectual Disability (ID) project developed a range of resources to fill a gap in diabetes education for people with an ID and their support network including health professionals, carers, and support people.
Resources to assist people with an intellectual disability
A number of resources have been developed to assist people with an intellectual disability who have diabetes (and their carers) to:
Resources for Health Professionals
Note: the health professional resources are currently under review and updates will be available soon.
For more information and to access these resources visit: ndss.com.au
It is important for people living with diabetes to be prepared for natural disasters like bushfires, floods, storms or cyclones. Having a plan and being ready for natural disasters reduces the risk of diabetes-related emergencies and life-threatening situations. You can support people living with diabetes by understanding how natural disasters can impact on their health.
In 2023/24, a review of the existing NDSS disaster management resources was conducted. New and updated resources are now available.
Resources for health professionals
There are four videos for health professionals to help support people living with diabetes to plan and prepare for a natural disaster.
There is also a workplace poster highlighting the importance of having a plan and being ready for natural disasters.
Resources for people living with diabetes
For more information and to access these resources go to ndss.com.au/naturaldisasters
These guidelines which were updated in 2024 aim to assist health professionals in providing best practice self-management advice and support for adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes when they experience an intercurrent illness. They may also be suitable for adults with other types of diabetes.
There are also 8 sick day action plans available for CDEs to provide to people living with diabetes. These are:
These sick day action plans can be found here.
ADEA was a key partner in the Diabetes in Schools Program. ADEA developed the tier three face to face training component of the program.
Provision of person-centred care is now acknowledged internationally as a non-negotiable dimension of all health care. The purpose of the Person-Centred Care booklet and Person-Centred Care Toolkit is to provide health professionals with a set of principles and recommendations to optimise the self-management education, support and care provided to people with diabetes in their practice. ADEA is committed to ensuring the most up to date information is available to guide health professionals and are currently reviewing these resources.
Improving Health Literacy for people living with diabetes
Health literacy is not achieved by health professionals simply conveying information to clients about diabetes: it is a shared process with clients, their families and carers and the community to ensure people with diabetes are supported to self-manage and achieve their goals. The purpose of this document is to assist health professionals to prioritise and enable health literacy for people living with diabetes, their families and carers and to advocate for health services that support health literacy. ADEA is committed to ensuring the most up to date information is available to guide health professionals and is currently reviewing this resource.
Workforce Development: Health workforce education program
Aimed at the generalist health workforce (such as enrolled and registered nurses, allied health professionals, and others) who may see people living with diabetes but do not specialise in its management. These 10-minute modules cover information on:
More information can be found here
Other resources for Health Professionals
Understanding HbA1c Measurements and reports
Current HbA1c pathology reporting includes the National Glycohaemoglobin Standardisation Program (NGSP) percentage (%) and the International Federation of Clinical Chemists (IFCC) units millimoles per mole (mmol/mol). This document has been developed to assist in the explanation of HbA1c pathology reporting and includes a HbA1c conversion table and is currently under review.
Additional information and resources can be accessed on the NDSS website here: ndss.com.au/health-professionals/resources/.
Quality review cycle
The NDSS team at ADEA aim to review all resources every three years for currency and relevance. If you would like to contribute to the review process, please contact ndss@adea.com.au. Some resources will be retired as they become superseded by newer resources. If you would like to find out more about the NDSS Team and any of the projects above, please contact ndss@adea.com.au.
Conflict of interest policy statement
ADEA may from time to time receive sponsorship and/or educational grants from suppliers of diabetes products or medicines in support of diabetes consumer awareness raising, educational activities for health professionals, conferences and meetings, and other activities. Where the third party supplier is a current or prospective supplier of products or medicines included (or which could be proposed for inclusion) on the NDSS Product Schedule, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) or other similar scheme accessed by persons with diabetes that is funded (in whole or in part) by the Commonwealth, ADEA provides this assurance that no third party supplier is entitled to, nor will receive, any advantage in terms of the provision of Commonwealth-subsidised diabetes products or medicines to people with diabetes or the provision of Scheme information to people with diabetes or health professionals.