Who can help you to start your NDIS plan?

Depending on your situation and support needs, you will receive help to start your NDIS plan with one of the coordinators below. You may have already been in contact with these Partners in the Community, at your original planning meeting.

Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) Coordinator

For families and carers of children aged 0-6 years.

Local Area Coordinator (LAC)

For NDIS participants aged seven and over.

ECEI Coordinators and LACs come from organisations in your local community and work with the NDIA to deliver the NDIS.

If ECEI Coordinators or LACs are not available in your area, the NDIA will help you connect to the NDIS and services or to supports in the community.

Support Coordinator

If you need more help coordinating your supports, the NDIA may fund a Support Coordinator. A Support Coordinator can help implement your plan and build your ability to connect with supports and services. Your NDIA Planner may also consider a Support Coordinator if your situation is more complex or you have specific goals you need help coordinating your supports and services to achieve.

“The NDIS has helped me to be more independent, by supporting me with modifications to my new house and helping me get back to driving a car. Driving a car has been huge for  me.

Also, they’ve helped get me back to the gym, which will lead to the ultimate goal of being able to walk a lot more and not have to rely on the chair as much as what I do.” (Roy, NDIS participant)

How your ECEI Coordinator, LAC or Support Coordinator can help you use your plan

Your ECEI Coordinator, LAC or Support Coordinator can help you:

• understand your plan and what supports and services you can pay for with your NDIS funding
• learn what is the responsibility of other services, such as the health or education systems, or your state or territory government
• connect with community and other government services
• find providers who meet your needs and help you achieve your goals
• learn about making service bookings or service agreements with your providers
• if you have questions, concerns or something in your life

Viewing your plan

Your plan will be available on the NDIS myplace portal about 24 hours after it has been approved. You will also receive a printed copy of your plan either in person or in the mail in your preferred format or language.

What is myplace?

The myplace portal is a secure website portal on the Australian Government’s myGov website where you, or a person you trust (a nominee or third party decision maker), can access your NDIS information. If you already have a myGov account for other government services, such as Medicare, the Australian Taxation Office or Centrelink, you can use the same myGov account for the NDIS.

You will be given an activation code to use the first time you access the myplace portal. It is important that you access myplace as soon as possible after you receive your activation code, as the code will expire after 10 days.

If you need an activation code, or your activation code has expired, you can get another one by calling the NDIA on 1800 800 110 or contacting your ECEI Coordinator, LAC or Support Coordinator.

What can you do on myplace?

• See your current plan and previous plans
• Check your contact details
• See messages from the NDIS
• Create and view payment requests
• Create and manage service bookings
• Upload documents, including assessments
• Share your plan, or parts of your plan, with your service providers
• Find service providers

What’s in your plan?

Your NDIS plan will be based on the discussion you had in your planning meeting. Your plan will include the following information:

Information about you

This section includes basic information about your disability, your day-to-day activities, where you live, who you live with, or who cares for you, and any aids and equipment (assistive technology) you may have.

Family and friends

This section includes information about the support you get from family and friends that is not funded but will help you work toward your goals.

Services and community groups

This section includes information about services and supports funded and delivered by the community or other government services, like support groups, health centres, libraries, and public transport.

Your goals

This section includes the current goals you would like to achieve as part of your plan and the long-term goals you have identified for your life. Goal- setting is an important part of the NDIS. Each of your supports and services should be helping you achieve the goals you have in your NDIS plan.

Funded supports

This section tells you what funding you have been allocated across our three support budgets. Within each support budget there is a number of support categories. You may not have all the support categories funded in your plan. Some people might have one or two support categories funded and others may have more. This will depend on your individual needs and may change from plan to plan based on the supports and services you need.

Your funding is based on what is reasonable and necessary, in addition to the support provided by family, friends and other community and government services you need to live your life and achieve your goals. You must only use your NDIS funding on supports and services that are directly related to your disability and will help you to achieve the goals in your NDIS plan.

What are Support budgets?

NDIS plans contain three support budgets: Core Supports, Capital Supports and Capacity Building Supports.

1. Core Supports budget: Core Supports help you with everyday activities, your current disability-related needs and to work towards your goals. Your Core Supports budget is the most flexible, and, in most cases, you can use your funding across any of the following four support categories:

• Daily activities: For example, assistance with showering, dressing, household cleaning and/or yard maintenance.
• Consumables: Everyday items you may need. For example, continence products or low-cost assistive technology such as modified cutlery and hand rails to improve your independence and/or mobility. You may also use these funds to do minor repairs to aids and equipment (assistive technology) for example wheelchair tyre puncture repair.
• Social, community and civic participation: For example, a support worker to help you to participate in social and community activities.
• Transport: This is support that helps you travel to work or other places that will help you achieve the goals in your plan where you are unable to travel by yourself or use public transport. How you can spend your transport funding, including by arrangement with your provider, and how it is paid to you (whether upfront or in regular payments) will be different for each person. Your ECEI Coordinator, LAC, NDIA Planner or Support Coordinator will explain how you can use this budget.

2. Capital Supports budget: Capital Supports include higher-cost pieces of assistive technology, home or vehicle modifications and funding for one-off purchases you may need (including Specialist Disability Accommodation). It is important to remember that funds within the Capital Supports budget can only be used for their specifc purpose and cannot be used to pay for anything else. The Capital Supports budget has two support categories:

• Assistive Technology: This includes equipment for mobility, personal care, communication and recreational inclusion such as communication devices, wheelchairs or vehicle modifications.
• Home Modifications: Home modifications such as the installation of an accessible shower, or Specialist Disability Accommodation.

3. Capacity Building Supports budget: Capacity Building Supports help build your independence and skills to help you reach your goals. Unlike your Core Supports budget, your Capacity Building Support budget cannot be moved from one support category to another. Funding can only be used to purchase approved individual supports within that specifc capacity building (CB) category. The Capacity Building Support categories are:

• Support coordination: This is a fxed amount for a Support Coordinator to help you use your plan and engage with providers.
• CB home living: Support to help you find and maintain an appropriate place to live.
• CB social community and civic participation: Development and training to increase your skills so you can participate in community, social and recreational activities.
• CB employment: This may include employment-related support, training and assessments that help you find and keep a job, such as the School Leaver Employment Supports (SLES).
• CB relationships: This support will help you develop positive behaviours and interact with others.
• CB health and wellbeing: This may include exercise or diet advice to manage the impact of your disability.
• CB lifelong learning: Examples include training, advice and help for you to move from school to further education, such as university or TAFE.
• CB choice and control: Plan management to help you manage your plan, funding and paying for services.
• CB daily activity: Assessment, training or therapy to help increase your skills, independence and community participation. These services can be delivered in groups or individually.