What Is An NDIS Plan?

The NDIS provides funding to Australian citizens, residents and permanent or special visa holders with a permanent and significant disability to access reasonable and necessary supports and services they need to live and enjoy their life.  The funding is provided in the form of an “NDIS Plan” which outlines the goals of the NDIS Participant.  The funding is to assist in achieving the goals.

An NDIS Plan identifies that the person requires assistance to support their independence and social and economic participation.  NDIS Participants use their funding to purchase reasonable and necessary supports and services that will help them to achieve their goals.

In the NDIS, support for participants falls into three Support Purpose categories:

1. Core Supports
2. Capacity Building Supports
3. Capital Supports

Core Supports enable an NDIS Participant to engage in or complete daily living activities, or social, community or economic participation activities which enables them to work towards their goals and to meet their objectives.

Capacity Building Supports enable NDIS Participants to build their independence and their skills to work towards their goals.

Capital Supports are higher cost items, such as assistive technologies, equipment and vehicle or home modifications, including Specialist Disability Accommodation.  When included in an NDIS Participants plan, many capital items are specifically identified.

How Much Does The NDIS Pay?

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) is an independent statutory agency, and the role of the National Disability Insurance Agency is to implement the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and along with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, oversee the implementation and compliance of the scheme.

It is important to understand that the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is in fact, just that – an insurance scheme to assist people with disability to connect and receive the supports they need to build and improve their skills and independence.  The funding that is provided to participants in the form of an NDIS Plan is tailored to the requirements of the NDIS participant based on their disability(ies) and goals.

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) regularly update pricing arrangements to ensure that NDIS Participants receive value for money in the supports that they are receiving.

What Can NDIS Funds Be Used For?

NDIS Funds can be used for many supports, as long as the support aligns with the disability(ies) the NDIS Participant has been funded for, and the goals set out in their NDIS Plan.

The types of support the NDIS may fund for NDIS Participants include:

• Assistance with daily personal activities;
• Assistance with social, economic and community participation;
• Help with household tasks to allow the participant to maintain their home environment;
• Skill development to manage an NDIS Plan;
• A contribution to transport costs to enable access to supports outside of the home environment to achieve their goals;
• Workplace assistance to successfully get or keep employment in the open or support labour market;
• Therapeutic supports, including behavioural support;
• Assistive and adapted technology;
• Assessment and assistance by skilled personnel to identify, set up and/or training in the use of aids and equipment, home modification design and construction;
• Mobility equipment; and
• Vehicle modification

How To Spend NDIS Funding?

If we are lucky enough to have you as one of our Canny Plan Management clients, we take the time to go through your NDIS Plan with you, so we can complete an initial budget breakdown each time you have a new NDIS Plan approved.  The funding breakdown budgets are flexible based on the needs of your funded disability(ies) and your goals.

Having a budget breakdown helps to provide a view of what is needed to allocate the required hours, frequency, payment rate and total overall amount to the NDIS Participants Core, Capacity Building and Capital Supports as well as what is included in each of those categories.

It also depends on how your NDIS Plan is managed as to how you can spend your NDIS Funding.  Want to know more on NDIS Plan Management -VS- Self Management as well as Help To Manage Your NDIS Plan?  We’ve got everything you need on both!

It’s important to remember that the NDIS Funding you are allocated can only be used for reasonable and necessary supports that are not specific supports as well as not:

• The responsibility of another government system (e.g. medical help) or community services; 
• Related to an NDIS Participant’s unfunded disability(ies); and
• Day-to-Day living costs or everyday items, including household items that are not related to an NDIS Participant’s funded disabilities and the goals in their NDIS Plan.