To be eligible to be the principal beneficiary of a special disability trust, a person must have a severe disability. A person with a severe disability is:

• a person who has reached 16 years of age:

• whose level of impairment would qualify the person for disability support pension from Centrelink or who is already receiving invalidity service pension or invalidity income support supplement, and
• who has a disability that would, if the person had a sole carer, qualify the carer for carer payment or carer allowance, or
• who is living in an institution, hostel or group home in which care is provided for people with disabilities, and for which funding is provided (wholly or partly) under an agreement between the Commonwealth and State/Territory governments, and
• who has a disability as a result of which he or she is not working and who has no likelihood of working for a wage that is at or above the relevant minimum wage, or

• a child under 16 years of age who is a profoundly disabled child as defined in subsection 197(1) in the Social Security Act 1991.