Understanding Your NDIS Plan
Your NDIS plan is a personalised document that outlines your goals, the supports you have been funded for, and how much money is allocated to each area. This guide breaks down how your plan is structured and what you can spend your funding on.
What Is an NDIS Plan?
An NDIS plan is created after your planning meeting with the NDIA (National Disability Insurance Agency) or a Local Area Coordinator (LAC). It captures your personal goals, the supports you need, and the funding you have been approved for.
Plans typically last 12 months, though some may be shorter or longer. At the end of your plan period, you will go through a plan review (also called a plan reassessment) where your funding can be adjusted based on your changing needs.
Your plan is yours — you decide how to use the funding within the guidelines, and you choose which providers deliver your supports.
The Three Funding Categories
Every NDIS plan divides funding into three broad categories. Each works differently in terms of flexibility and what you can spend it on.
Core Supports
Day-to-day supports that help you live independently and participate in your community. These are the most flexible — you can generally move funds between core support categories.
Capacity Building
Supports designed to build your skills and independence over time. Funds are allocated to specific categories and cannot be moved between them.
Capital Supports
Higher-cost items and one-off purchases such as assistive technology or home modifications. These funds are tied to specific items approved in your plan.
How Funding Works
Your NDIS funding is not deposited into your bank account. Instead, it sits in the NDIS system and is drawn down as you use services. How payments are handled depends on your plan management type:
- Agency-managed: The NDIA pays registered providers directly on your behalf.
- Plan-managed: A plan manager receives invoices from your providers and pays them from your funding.
- Self-managed: You pay providers upfront and then claim reimbursement from the NDIA.
Your plan management type can differ across categories — for example, you might be self-managed for core supports but agency-managed for capital supports.
Tips for Spending Your Funding
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