The introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has the potential to substantially transform care for Australians with disabilities. One of the key components of this system is individual funding – where the person with disability is allocated an amount of resource that they self-direct within a market system. A number of other countries have experimented with individual funding approaches and this review explores this recent experience to identify lessons that will be salient for the Australian context. In doing so, the review analyses evidence relating to the outcomes reported from these systems and sets out lessons concerning their implementation in terms of the further development of the NDIS.