Aligning NDIS funding with goals

If you’re a participant in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), every dollar counts. And experience tells us that getting your goals right can make a big difference when seeking more funding or asking for additional budgets and categories to be added to your plan.

In short, well-crafted, up-to-date goals can equal more funding for you to live your best life – because goals that are on point will better communicate what you need and want, and how you hope to get there.

But setting goals correctly in the NDIS takes both practice and experience, and sometimes that first, second or third attempt at goal-setting won’t be your best. Or your circumstances may have changed and the goals you set earlier may no longer be current or serve you well.

So, how do you fix or update your NDIS goals to align them with the funding you’re after? And who can help? We spoke with Caitlin Nothard, a senior support coordinator at Help Enterprises, and Stephen Dowdy, a specialist support coordinator at Plan Pilot, to get the answers.

We know that goals have a direct impact on funding, but don’t take our word for it. Stephen says that within specific areas – like behaviour support, occupational therapy or speech pathology – clearly written goals identifying a specific need can guide how funding may be allocated.

And Caitlin says the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) uses a participant's goals – together with their previous plan, diagnoses, and allied health reports – to determine the level of funding allocated per plan period and whether a one, two or three-year plan period is implemented.

Setting better goals

It’s confirmed: goals impact funding. But how do you set them? According to Stephen, it’s good to formulate goals that guide funding – with statements like:

‘Kate would like support to access the community and increase her social connections.’

Or

‘Jake’s parents would like him to increase his communication skills to help him find and maintain a job.’

These goals indicate what supports are required. The first goal may lead to an increase in Core Supports funding and the second goal may lead to funding for a speech pathologist and a disability employment service.

According to Stephen, a well-structured goal is called a ‘SMART’ goal, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely. An example of a SMART goal is:

‘During the next 12 months, I’d like to improve my mobility so I can walk to the shops unaided.’

A goal like this indicates the participant may need to be engaged with support workers who can walk with them to build their confidence in their own abilities, link with a physiotherapist and/or an occupational therapist for assessment, and undertake ongoing therapy for gross motor skill functionality.

Echoing this, Caitlin says it's important to create goals that reflect not only the participant’s desires, but also the disability-specific supports that are required.

Conversely, a poor-structured goal like: ‘I’d like to go to Disneyland’ is vague and doesn’t provide guidance for appropriate supports to be engaged to meet the participant’s needs.

Caitlin says a well-structured goal is true to both the aspirations and support requirements of a participant.

How many goals should you have?

Stephen says the number of goals included in an NDIS plan depends on the participant’s current circumstances and disability.

“There should be a minimum of three goals – at least one to indicate any core funding needs and potentially two that identify any allied health supports required,” he says.

“A child diagnosed with autism level 3 and an intellectual disability may have numerous needs, like occupational therapy, physiotherapy, behaviour support and speech pathology – and therefore they may have five or six goals. Alternatively, an adult with mild intellectual disability, who only requires support to access the community and some minor assistance around the house, may only have two goals.”

Caitlin agrees there’s no magic number, but says goals do fall into recurring themes.

“Every participant is unique and has choice and control over their goals and plans,” she says. “These goals can be broad, to cover a range of areas, or they can have a specific focus. We often find recurring themes included in plan goals.”

Caitlin says common themes include:

• Gaining independence
• Improving or maintaining health and wellbeing
• Obtaining employment or volunteering opportunities
• Moving out of home
• Accessing the community
• Supports at home
• Assistive technology
• Home modifications
• Increased learning opportunities
• Discharge from hospital

When to review plan goals – and where to start

Stephen says it’s good to review plan goals during every plan reassessment, however many plans are being rolled over, meaning participants aren’t offered the opportunity to ensure their goals are still relevant to their circumstances.

“Support coordinators should discuss participant goals prior to a plan reassessment, and their NDIA planner or local area coordinator should also discuss goals during the planning meeting to ensure they’re still relevant to the participant,” says Stephen.

According to Caitlin, you can review your goals and plan whenever you want to. If a participant has a support coordinator, they can set regular check-ins to track progress and discuss potential updates.

“If a participant experiences significant impact to their day-to-day life or ability to hit goals, they can request to change their plan with some support from their coordinator,” says Caitlin. “That’s where we can come in to help a participant review their plan goals though a change of situation form.”

A planner or local area coordinator should also be able to work with you to make sure your goals aren’t overlapping or duplicating.”

My goals are wrong – what do I do?

In short, your support coordinator, NDIA planner or local area coordinator can help you develop new plan goals, and request to update them in your NDIS plan. They can assist you to write new goals too.

If you suspect your goals aren’t quite right, be sure to contact them.

Top tips for goal-setting

We asked Stephen and Caitlin to share their top goal-setting tips. Here’s what they told us.

Stephen

• Work out what your needs are in your life and discuss with your planner what you want to get better at or improve.

• Have a think about your current goals – have you achieved them, are they still relevant or do you need a change?

• Have a chat with family/friends. They may identify something that you have not thought of for your goals.

Caitlin

• Think ahead and include medium and long term goals as well as those for the short term i.e. goals for when a participant is at school, transitioning from school and has left school.

• Include goals that cover a range of areas that are as broad or specific as needed.