How does NDIS funding work?

Getting the most from your NDIS plan starts with understanding how your NDIS funding works.

Your unique NDIS plan sets out your goals, the supports that will help you work towards your goals, and the NDIS funding you’ll receive to help you pay for those supports.

Up to four types of support budgets may be funded in an NDIS plan – Core Supports, Capacity Building Supports, Capital Supports and Recurring Supports – and each budget has categories of funding within it.

Let’s take a look!

NDIS plan on PACE NDIS plan not on PACE

How NDIS funding works for participants with an NDIS plan on PACE

PACE is the National Disability Insurance Agency’s (NDIA) new computer system. It’s being introduced slowly and will eventually replace the Agency’s existing system.

If you’re a new NDIS participant, your plan will automatically be built on PACE – but if you’ve been a participant for a while, it might take some time for you to be moved over to a PACE plan.

Why’s that important? Well, the support budgets and categories included in PACE plans are slightly different to those on the ‘old’ computer system.

Here’s the support budgets and categories you may see funded if you have an NDIS plan on PACE:

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Core Supports

Core Supports help you with everyday activities, your current disability-related needs, and working toward your goals.

The following four categories are flexible, meaning you can move funding between them, as long as they’re managed in the same way (e.g. NDIA, plan or self managed).

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Assistance with Daily Life

Funding to cover expenses related to assisting or supervising you to undertake daily tasks. This could include:

- - Personal care
  - Meal preparation
  - Cleaning
  - Gardening
  - Laundr

Assistance with Social, Economic and Community Participation

Funding to cover costs to access and participate in the community, such as:

- - Community, social, recreational or economic activities
  - One-to-one support to attend a social outing or activity
  - Participation in sport and exercise, including joining a club

Consumables

Funding to pay for everyday items and low risk/low-cost products, like:

- - Nutritional supplements
  - Continence products
  - Auslan or Signed English training
  - Low-cost assistive technology

Transport

Funding to cover transport from a provider, for example:

- - When a provider transports you to an activity that is not itself a support
  - When a provider transports you to a support that is delivered by another provider

The following two categories are what’s known as ‘stated’. That means you must use the funding in these categories in the way it’s described in your plan.

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Home and Living

Funding to support you to live as independently as possible, with options including:

- - Supported Independent Living
  - Medium Term Accommodation
  - Individualised Living Options
  - Assistance with daily life tasks provided in a residential aged care facility

YPIRAC – Cross Billing

Funding for some of the fees and charges related to young people in residential aged care, like:

- - The basic care subsidy
  - Care and accommodation costs you’re asked to pay from your own money

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Capacity Building Supports

Capacity Building Supports help you to work toward your goals and build your independence. The categories within Capacity Building Supports aren’t flexible – they’re stated – so you can’t move funding from one category to another.

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Behaviour Support

Funding to pay for supports to help you develop behavioural management strategies to reduce behaviours of concern.

Choice and Control

Funding for a plan manager (like us!) to manage your budget, deal with your providers, speak with the NDIA about your claims, and process your invoices.

Finding and Keeping a Job

Funding to cover supports that help you find and keep a job. This may include employment-related support, training, and assessments.

Health and Wellbeing

Funding to pay for supports that are directly related to managing the impact of your disability on your health.

Improved Daily Living Skills

Funding to cover supports to help you to maintain, develop or increase your skills and capacity for independence and community participation, including assessments, training and therapy.

Improved Living Arrangements

Funding to help you find and keep suitable accommodation to live in, including assistance with securing a rental property and meeting tenancy obligations.

Increased Social and Community Participation

Funding to pay for supports to help you take part in skills-based learning to develop independence in accessing the community.

Lifelong Learning

Funding for supports to assist you to move from school to further education, such as university or TAFE. Examples include training, advice and support.

Relationships

Funding to help you develop positive social skills and interact with others in the community.

Support Coordination and
Psychosocial Recovery Coaches

Funding for support coordinators and psychosocial recovery coaches to help you understand your NDIS plan and build connections with NDIS providers, the community, and other mainstream supports.

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Capital Supports

Capital Supports funding is for higher-cost assistive technology items and equipment, home or vehicle modifications, and other one-off purchases. All supports are stated, meaning you can only use funding for the purposes specified in your plan.

Assistive Technology

Funding to cover specialised technology or equipment to assist you to live more independently, like:

Wheelchairs and other mobility equipment
Vehicle modifications
Electric beds
Bathing and toileting equipment
Vision assistive technology
Assistive products for personal care and safety

Communication devices
Hearing assistive technology
Assistance dogs (including guide dogs)
Prosthetics and orthotics
Custom shoes
Transfer equipment

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Assistive Technology – Maintenance, Repair and Rental

Funding to cover supports to maintain and repair assistive technology and pay for short term rental and trial of assistive technology supports.

Home Modifications

Funding to cover structural modifications to your home to make it easier for you to live there. This also includes assessment, delivery, adjustment, and maintenance of home modifications.

Specialist Disability Accommodation

Funding to pay some of the costs associated with living in a house that’s designed specifically for people with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs.

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Recurring Supports

Recurring Supports funding is for regular, recurring transport supports – like public transport or taxis. You don’t need to make a claim for these supports because the NDIA will make a regular payment to your nominated bank account to cover the costs.

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Transport Recurring

Funding to cover everyday transport needs, including public transport or taxis.

NDIS plan on PACE NDIS plan not on PACE

How NDIS funding works for participants with an NDIS plan that’s not on PACE

If you’re an NDIS participant whose NDIS plan is still on the NDIA’s existing (‘old’) computer system, meaning you haven’t had a new one built on PACE yet, here’s the support budgets and the associated categories that may be funded in your NDIS plan.

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Core Supports

Core Supports help you with everyday activities, your current disability-related needs, and working toward your goals. This budget is flexible, meaning you can move funding from one category to another. However, this is not always the case with the transport category.