We sat down with InFocus Support Coordinator Greer, to understand how Support Coordinators help participants with their NDIS budget. Here’s what she had to say.

What is a Support Coordinators role in budgeting?

As an NDIS Support Coordinator it’s my role to help participants to monitor their plan budgets and the effectiveness of their supports. A Support Coordinator can assist a participant to:

• understand how far their budget will go
• review quotes from providers, break down the pricing and explain how it fits within their budget
• build their capacity to know how to use their budget to work towards their NDIS plan goals
• build their capacity to understand their rights to negotiate what providers are charging

What else might you do?

Support Coordinators can also assist participants to understand when their budget isn’t enough to meet their NDIS plan goals. There are three main reasons why this might happen:

1. The participant is seeking or engaged in supports that do not match their plan goals – this would lead to the Support Coordinator assisting the participant to review and adjust their supports and budget to fit within the goals.
2. The NDIA did not provide an adequate budget to meet the participant’s plan goals – this would lead to an application for an internal review of a decision with the NDIA.
3. There has been a change in the participant’s situation where they require different supports – this would lead to a reassessment with the NDIA of the participant’s plan goals and budget.

Support Coordinators can also assist participants to understand the impact of changes on their plan budget (e.g. moving a shift from a weekday to a weekend, which is at a higher rate), or assist them to make informed decisions about the different ways to receive supports and how this impacts their budget (e.g. the price difference between receiving face to face therapy vs telehealth sessions due to travel associated charges).

A Support Coordinator may use tools and resources to assist participants to manage and monitor their budgets. This could be in the form of an excel spreadsheet where the participant’s plan budget can be entered as well as the provider charges so we can see how far their budget will go.

What should participants do if they need help with their NDIS budget?

If a participant isn’t sure how to manage their budget, they should reach out to their Support Coordinator to seek assistance!