Understanding Your NDIS Plan: A Plain-English Guide

An NDIS plan is a funding document, and it reads like one. Once you know how it is put together, though, it becomes much easier to use well.

The three budget types

Core supports

Core is your everyday funding. It covers assistance with daily personal activities, help around the home, community participation, transport, and consumables like continence products. Core is generally the most flexible budget – in most plans you can move funding between the Core categories as your needs change.

Capacity Building supports

Capacity Building is about building skills so you need less help over time, or different help. It funds therapy, support coordination, employment support, and programs that build independence. Unlike Core, funding here is locked to each specific category. Money set aside for therapy cannot be spent on daily support.

Capital supports

Capital covers larger one-off items: assistive technology, equipment, home or vehicle modifications. This funding is tied to specific quoted items and usually needs a report from an allied health professional.

How your plan is managed

• Agency managed – the NDIA pays providers directly. Simple, but you must use registered providers.
• Plan managed – a plan manager pays invoices for you. You can use registered and unregistered providers, and the plan manager's fee is funded on top of your budget.
• Self managed – you pay providers and keep records yourself. The most control and the most admin.

You can mix these. Many families self manage one part and have the rest plan managed.

Reading the document itself

Work through it in this order:

1. Your goals. These drive everything. If a goal is missing, note it now for your next review.
2. Plan dates. Know your start and end date so nothing lapses.
3. Budget amounts. Note the dollar figure and the stated hours or units in each category.
4. Stated supports. Some items are locked to a specific purpose and cannot be reallocated.

Making your funding go further

• Do the maths early. Divide your Core budget by the number of weeks in your plan. That is roughly your weekly spend.
• Check the portal monthly. Ten minutes in the myplace portal stops surprises at month nine.
• Understand the price limits. Weekday evening, Saturday, Sunday and public holiday rates all differ. A Sunday shift uses far more budget than the same hours on a Tuesday.
• Watch travel and cancellation charges. They are legitimate, but they come out of your budget.
• Keep a simple log. Note what worked, what did not, and any support you needed but could not fund. It becomes your evidence at review time.

When something is not working

If your circumstances change significantly you can request a plan reassessment rather than waiting for the end date. Hospital stays, a change in living arrangements, or a carer no longer being available are all valid reasons.

You do not have to work it out alone. Our team helps participants match their supports to their budget every week, and we are happy to talk it through. Browse our NDIS resources for more, or contact us with a question.