CORE SUPPORTS
1 Daily living –
Is based around personal tasks of daily life to enable you to live as independently as possible.
- Includes personal care – physical supports (carers) both at home and at work.
- Covers the provision of supports to enable you to maintain your home environment. This may include essential household tasks that you cannot undertake yourself (e.g. gardening, linen service, house cleaning, preparation and delivery of meals etc).
Also includes assistance with and/or supervising tasks of daily life in a shared living environment, which is either temporary or ongoing. This is about using shared care, in addition to your personal care, in shared accommodation.
2 Transport to daily activities –
To enable you to access the community for educational, recreational and work purposes.
The minimum amount of funding you receive should align with the Mobility Allowance payable by Centrelink and will be paid fortnightly in advance by the NDIS.
When an NDIS plan is approved Centrelink will cancel your Mobility Allowance. However you will keep your Health Care Card if you have one.
Funding for transport assistance is generally limited to people who cannot use public transport due to their disability and the NDIS will consider any relevant taxi subsidy scheme you are eligible for.
Think carefully about all the transport needs you will have to meet the activities that may be funded in your NDIS plan. This is an area where people in the trial sites have often underestimated their needs, so cross reference your transport needs against what is approved in your plan before signing off.
3 Consumables-
To assist you with purchasing everyday items you need such as continence products.
Supports such as interpreting, translating, and home enteral nutrition (HEN) products are also included in this category.
Note that some items may require a quote prior to purchase.
4 Community Social and Civic Participation
- Provision of supports (such as personal care) to enable you to engage in community/social or recreational activities. Supports may be provided in a centre or in open communities within this category.
- This category may be used for activities such as camps, vacation and outside school hours’ care, course or membership fees.
The intent of this Support Category is to provide support to enable participants to take part in community activities, particularly when the person is at risk of being socially isolated.
CAPITAL
5 Assistive technology
- Includes all items and equipment you need for daily living and to help you to live more independently or to assist your carer to support you to do so.
- Covers things such as wheelchairs, beds/mattresses, transfer equipment such as hoists and slings, prosthetics and orthotics, equipment related to walking, specialised seating for wheelchairs, equipment for eating and drinking, specialist furniture, bathroom and toilet equipment, communication equipment, environmental control systems etc.
- Some items will need an assessment by an allied health professional such as an OT, physiotherapist or registered nurse.
- The assessment, fitting, training, customisation or other involvement by a professional will need to be included in your plan under Support Category 15 below.
- Equipment rental, equipment repairs and maintenance and any delivery costs also need to be considered and included in your plan.
- Vehicle modifications are also included in this category. They can cover things that enable you to transfer to and from a vehicle, travel safely as a passenger and/or to drive yourself. It may also be possible to cover costs of a rental adapted vehicle for holidays etc under this category.
- There is a comprehensive list of items outlined in the NDIS Price Guide for Assistive Technology available on the NDIS website – ndis.gov.au/document/assistive-technology-price-guide
6 Home modification (assessments and quotes will be required)
- Includes both minor and major changes to your home to enable you to live as independently and safely as possible.
Covers things such as bathroom, toilet and/or laundry modifications, ramps, handrails, stair climbers, lifts etc. Can also cover costs like consultation with a builder, approvals and project management of any works. There is a comprehensive list of items outlined in the NDIS Price Guide for Assistive Technology www.ndis.gov.au/document/assistive-technology-price-guide
CAPACITY BUILDING
7 Co ordination of supports
- Assistance to help you find appropriate supports and coordinate informal (family and friends) and paid supports, such as personal care.
- Often this is in the context where some of your supports may be complicated and/or your needs are changing. You may require help and independent advice to ensure everything is working to your satisfaction.
- Coordination of supports includes helping you resolve points of crisis in your life, helping you develop your support networks, resolving service delivery issues (when things go wrong) and assisting in coordinating supports from a range of sources.
8 Improved living arrangements
- Supporting you to obtain/retain appropriate accommodation. This may include assistance to apply for a rental tenancy or to undertake tenancy obligations in line with your tenancy agreement.
9 Increased social and community participation
- Skill development to increase independence based on taking part in social and community activities.
- This may include lessons to enable you to try out a new activity and test your capability and interest in pursuing this activity further.
- Other activities such as public transport training, wheelchair skills training etc may be covered. Mentoring and peer support are part of this category.
10 Finding and keeping a job
- Designed to help you obtain and/or retain employment in the open market or in an Australian Disability Enterprise (ADE).
- If you are eligible for the Commonwealth Government Disability Employment Service (DES) you may have limited access to NDIS funding.
11 Improved relationships
- Includes social skills development and behaviour intervention supports, where necessary – mainly for people with behavioural issues
12 Improved health and well being
- Physical well-being activities – such as personal training and exercise physiology to support, maintain or increase physical mobility. Designed for you to participate in exercise specific to your physical needs.
- Dietetics – individual advice available to you in regard to managing your diet due to the impact of your disability.
13 Improved learning
- Based on provision of skills training, advice, assistance and orientation to assist you if you are moving from school to further education.
14 Improved life choices
- Based on plan management of supports and financial assistance
- You have four choices to manage your NDIS plan:
- use an NDIS registered plan management provider to undertake the management of some or all of the funding for supports in your plan.
- self- manage your plan (find and organise all your supports yourself, have a service agreement with each one, pay all your bills including wages and keep records required under the law, including tax requirements)
- use the NDIS to manage the funding for your supports (in this case you must use registered providers on the NDIS website), or
- use a combination of the above options.
- A registered plan management provider can provide you with just financial support, or both financial and service support activities.
- Financial support include things such as the organising of providers and their payment, processing of your expenses, development of monthly statements for you, and claiming from the NDIS. Service support includes liaison with you and your support providers in relation to the implementation and overall management of your plan.
(All costs of using a plan manager, if you choose to do this, are covered by your NDIS funding and are in addition to other funding you may receive.)
15 Improved daily living skills
- Covers individual assessment, therapy and/or training (including assistive technology training) by a professional such as an occupational therapist, physiotherapist, registered nurse, podiatrist, psychologist, counsellor etc.
- This area also covers training for carers/parents, driver training and specialist therapy for early childhood intervention.