August 01 2021
Understanding Your NDIS Plan
You’re finally approved for NDIS support, and you’ve been assessed and received your first plan. Now that it’s sitting in front of
you – what do the three sections actually mean? Here’s a guide to understanding and interpreting your NDIS plan.
Section One: About Me
The first section holds your personal information, including who you are, your family, who forms a part of your daily life, where you currently live, your community involvement, and what your days look like. Everything on here should have originally come from things you have said and accurately represent you and your life.
While this section was used to help create your NIDS plan, it also helps your service providers get to know you, if you choose to share it with them. Gaining an insight into your life and preferences may help new service providers tailor the way they plan their care
provision for you.
Section Two: My Goals
These are the goals you stated in your planning meeting that you are working towards during your plan. It has both short and
medium/long term goals, how you plan to achieve these goals, and what supports you need to make this possible.
Remember that your NDIS plan focuses on helping you achieve your goals and live an independent, normal life. If your
circumstances or capabilities change and your goals change, you can request an unscheduled plan review.
Section Three: My Supports
Your supports section lists all the supports that will help you move closer to achieving your goals. First, you should see your informal supports – this is the help you currently receive, and will continue to receive, from your friends and family.
Next, you’ll see the supports you receive from community services and groups, including education services, health services and government services – which may look like cleaning services, social outings, visits from local volunteers, help with personal care and much more.
Finally, you’ll see your NDIS funded supports. This is your reasonable and necessary support budget to help you reach your goals, and it is broken down into three sections. You’ll see the heading of the section, the title of the support area (e.g. “transport”), your allocated budget, the details of your support, and details on how the support will be paid.
1. Core Supports
Core supports include supports to help you best manage your everyday life and your disability-related needs while keeping you moving towards your goals. Unless you have ‘stated supports’, it’s important to remember that your core supports budget is flexible, enabling you to use the funding how you like across the four support categories below (at times excluding transport).
The four support categories under core supports include:
Assistance with daily life
This can include personal activities like showering and moving around your home, household tasks like cleaning, meal
preparation, assistance with tasks in shared living arrangements
Assistance in the community
This helps you be an active member of the community, participate in social or recreational activities like sports, art classes and library visits, attend day trips, and develop your skills to be able to participate independently in social activities
Consumables
This is for daily items you may need like low-cost assistive technology, mobility equipment, continence products, and other
consumables that promote your independence or mobility
Transport
Helping you get to the places that help you achieve your goals
2. Capacity Building Supports
Capacity building supports help you build your skills and independence, while helping reduce your need for the same level of
support in the future. Your progress in this area will be reviewed every time you have a plan review.
This budget is not flexible across categories but is flexible within the category. This means that you can choose which services and
products you want to spend your budget on within a category (below), but you can’t shift it or combine it across the support
categories.
The different categories you may have support for include the following. Any alternative name is in brackets:
Improved Daily Living (Daily Activity)
Funding to help increase your skills independence and community participation. This includes assessments, training or therapy, e.g. speech therapists, occupational therapist, physiotherapist, nurse assessments and other carers
Improved Life Choices (Choice and Control)
Funding for plan management to help you manage your plan, funding and paying for services
Finding and Keeping a Job (Employment)
Funding for employment-related support, training and assessments that help you find and keep a job, such as the school leaver employment supports
Increased Social and Community Participation (Social Community and Civic Participation)
Funding to help you improve your skills so you can participate in your community and in social and recreational activities, e.g. helping develop a circle of support
Improved Health and Wellbeing (Health and WellBeing)
Funding to help you improve and maintain your health and wellbeing, including exercise or diet advice that enables you to manage the impact of your disability through consultations with exercise physiologists, dietitians and other service providers. This funding cannot be applied to gym memberships
Improved Living Arrangements (Home Living)
Funding to help you find and maintain an appropriate place to live, e.g. assisting with tenancy obligations
Improved Learning (Lifelong Learning)
Funding for things like training, advice and help for you to move from school to further education, such as university or TAFE
Improved Relationships (Relationships)
Funding to help you develop positive behaviours and interact with others, e.g. building the skills to sustain friendships
Support Coordination
Funding for a support coordinator to help you with things like understanding and implementing your plan, choosing providers, identifying community supports and preparing for you for your plan review
3. Capital Supports
Capital supports include your higher-cost assistive technology, equipment, home and vehicle modifications, and Specialist Disability Accommodation. This budget is not flexible, so it cannot be used for anything else outside of what is described in your plan. There are two categories of capital supports:
Assistive technology
Funding for items you need for personal care, communication and recreation. This includes wheelchairs, vehicle modifications, standing frames, pressure mattresses, bathing and toileting equipment, vision equipment, personal readers and more
Home modifications
Funding for modifications made to your home to help improve your mobility and independence. Examples include ramps and bathroom handrails. This also includes Specialist Disability Accommodation for participants who need special housing due to their disability
What Do I Do Next?
If you’ve got your plan, now better understand what your funded supports mean, but aren’t sure where to start accessing them, we can help. The National Disability Council helps connect participants with the right services based on their NDIS plans, from in-home carers to getting you in your own fully customised home. Get started by booking a complimentary call with our team here.
