The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is Australia’s first national scheme to support people living with a significant or permanent disability. The scheme allocates funding for individuals to receive access to reasonable and necessary support required to live a normal, fulfilling life and reach their goals. This support is determined on an individual basis and continues for the remainder of your life.
To be eligible for funding, you must meet the criteria set out by the NDIS such as your age, residency status and current support you receive. You can find out more here on the NDIS website.
Through the NDIS’ Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) approach, children under the age of 6 may be eligible to receive funding. If your child has a developmental delay or disability, the ECEI approach helps to connect you with appropriate supports in your area. You can find out more here on the NDIS website.
Your NDIS plan is a document created by the NDIS which contains information about you and your goals. The goals you set for your plan play an important role in identifying what supports you can receive as these should work towards achieving your goals. Your plan is created after your first planning meeting and outlines what support you require and how much funding you have available for those supports.
Plan Management is an option that NDIS participants have for the management of their allocated plan funding. It comes at no additional cost to the participant but must be asked for at either the initial planning meeting or plan review. There are three options for how your plan funding is managed.
If you’d like to have a Plan Manager look after your funding, you must request this at your planning meeting or plan review. This option comes at no additional cost to you or your NDIS funding. Working with Disability Plan Services as your NDIS Plan Management provider will allow you to maintain control of your support services without the difficult administration and record keeping. Learn more about Plan Management here.
If you choose to have your NDIS plan funding managed by a registered Plan Manager, it is their responsibility to keep track of your budget and invoicing on your behalf. At Disability Plan Services, our Plan Managers take care of your budget, provide personalised recommendations to make the most out of your funds, help you prepare for plan reviews, liaise with service providers on your behalf and communicate in a language you can understand. Learn more about Plan Management here.
If you have allocated budget in your NDIS plan for Plan Management, this service comes at no additional cost to you or your plan funding. Choosing Plan Management allows you to remain in control of who you work with but also means you don’t have to worry about the complicated paperwork involved with self-managing your funds. At Disability Plan Services, we are flexible to suit your schedule, can travel to you if required and we take the time to understand you to know the best way to manage your NDIS funding.
The NDIS describes Support Coordination as support that “assists you to build the skills you need to understand, implement and use your plan. A support coordinator will work with you to ensure a mix of supports are used to increase your capacity to maintain relationships, manage service delivery tasks, live more independently and be included in your community.”
As capacity-building support, Support Coordination is an important part of developing your independence and achieving your long-term goals. If Support Coordination is part of your plan, the costs of those services are covered by the NDIS. At Disability Plan Services, our Support Coordinators will help facilitate supports required as part of your plan. We also make sure you understand how your plan works by communicating in a way you can understand. Learn more about Support Coordination here.
The NDIS breaks down the coordination of supports into three sub-categories:
A Support Coordinator helps to maximise your NDIS funding by ensuring you are receiving the best supports for you. They help to build your confidence and make you feel empowered by your plan by communicating in a language you can understand.
Ensuring you have the right supports you need is important in reaching your goal. Support Coordinators work closely with you to ensure they understand what you want, what supports you are currently receiving and figure out how to get you what you need.
The NDIS will only fund supports that are considered reasonable and necessary to help you achieve your goals as set out in your plan. Your supports must also facilitate your participation in society, be value for money, be beneficial to your wellbeing and take into account your existing support network. More information can be found here on the NDIS website.
Supports that you can receive funding for will vary based on your individual needs and goals.
According to the NDIS, the types of supports they fund include:
If support is not directly related to your disability, the NDIS will not fund it. If you have any questions about funded supports, contact us on 1800 312 870.
After your initial NDIS planning meeting where your plan and funds are established, you will have the opportunity to evaluate your plan and make changes at your plan review. Your first plan review will usually happen 12 months after your plan begins.
Your plan review is your opportunity to discuss the supports you have been receiving and make any changes required to reach your goals. Things change over time so it’s important that your plan changes with you too.
Your review can happen either over the phone or face-to-face, whichever is best for you. Appropriately preparing for your plan review will help to ensure you receive the best outcomes for your plan going forward. You can learn more about disability plan reviews here. The team at Disability Plan Services are highly experienced with plan reviews and are more than happy to help prepare you for success at your next review.