Managing an NDIS plan

Once you have a plan, you choose how the money is handled. It is one of the more confusing choices, partly because two different roles — plan manager and support coordinator — get muddled. They are not the same thing.

The three ways to manage the money

Self-managed: you handle the budget and pay providers yourself. Most freedom — you can use unregistered providers — and most admin. Plan-managed: a plan manager pays the invoices and keeps the books for you, at no cost to your budget, which is a common middle ground. NDIA-managed: the NDIA pays registered providers directly; least admin, least flexibility.

You can ask for plan management when your plan is being made, and you can change how it is managed at a review.

Plan manager vs support coordinator

A plan manager handles the money — invoices, payments, budget tracking. A support coordinator handles the supports — helping you understand the plan, find providers, and put it into action. Some people have both, some have neither.

If the paperwork is the problem, you want a plan manager. If knowing what to do with the plan is the problem, you want a support coordinator.

Which to choose

If you want maximum choice and do not mind admin, self-managed. If you want the choice without the bookkeeping, plan-managed. If you want it simple and are happy with registered providers, NDIA-managed.

None of it is permanent — it can change at your next plan review, so a choice that stops working is not one you are stuck with.

What self-managing actually involves

Freedom with paperwork attached. You choose any provider, registered or not, and you either pay them and claim it back or claim first and pay — through the NDIS portal, keeping every invoice and receipt in case you are ever asked for them.

It suits people who want maximum choice and are organised about records. If the bookkeeping is the part that would sink you, plan-managed gives you almost the same freedom without it.

Do you need a support coordinator?

Not everyone gets one, and not everyone needs one. A support coordinator is funded in the plan when the situation is complex enough that finding and joining up supports is genuinely hard — a new diagnosis, several services to line up, a big change.

If your plan includes support coordination, use it; it is one of the most useful things in there. If it does not and you are lost in the plan, that is worth raising at your review.

What AskFam does and does not do

AskFam works out what you need and points you at services that already exist. It does not employ anyone, does not arrange the work, and takes no fee or commission — from you or from them.

It also has not checked anybody. Where you see a business listed, that is a public listing, not a recommendation. Where somebody offers on a job you posted, that is them describing themselves, in their own words. Ask for what matters to you, and take your time about it.