An MS patient is entitled to claim for sex therapy under the National Disability Insurance Scheme after a tribunal found her mental, emotional and physical wellbeing would be improved by the treatment.

The woman, in her 40s, had applied for a sexual therapist to be funded under her NDIS plan, but the request had been refused.

She appealed the decision, and in a ruling delivered last week the Administrative Appeals Tribunal said a sexual therapist was a “reasonable and necessary support” that the woman had a right to claim.

The tribunal rejected the argument put forward by the National Disability Insurance Agency that the woman was seeking funding for a “paid friend”.