When the NDIS first starts to engage with you and a plan is created, it’s a bit like getting the keys to a car you’ve never even driven. Budgets, categories, support items and terms appear to change from person to person. The great news is that one aspect is much easier than it seems, and you’ll likely use it more than any other. It’s known as core supports.
This NDIS Core Supports Explained Guide outlines what the NDIS budget is, what this budget can support, whether this budget is flexible, and how you can ensure it lasts throughout the entire plan period. As a participant, parent, carer or nominee, the objective is to help you use your funding with confidence all across Australia.
Your Plan’s “Engine Room”: What “Core Supports” Are
There are 4 types of budgets in an NDIS plan: Core supports, capacity building supports, capital supports and recurring supports. Your plan is tailored to your needs and goals, so you may not have funding available in all four.
Core supports are the parts of the engine room. They assist you in your day-to-day tasks and in participating in your community. Imagine the support person helping you to get ready in the morning, the continence products you rely on every week or the person who attends a local social group with you. This is the budget that is used most frequently by most participants.
The four budgets are compared here:
- Core supports: provide assistance for daily living and for current disability functions.
- Capacity building supports: develop skills and independence, e.g. therapy, support coordination, or support with employment.
- Capital supports: One-off supports that are higher cost, like assistive technology or home modifications.
- Recurring supports: funding for regular transport to participants who are unable to travel or travel independently by public transport.
Four Doors into Everyday Life: Core Support Categories
The funding in your core budget is allocated to support categories. On your plan, you may find some or all of the following; it depends on your plan, so please check the labels on your plan.
Assistance with Daily Life
With the help of their personal skills, students will get to know the daily life of a family member.
This category is the one that covers the support workers who assist with activities of daily living, cooking, cleaning, yard work, etc. This is where many of your hours are if you want to stay in your own home on your own schedule.
Small Things That Add Up: Consumables
Consumables are everyday products related to your disability, including continence products. This may also include low-cost assistive technology, such as a non-slip bath mat or small devices used for assistance with dressing, eating, drinking or cleaning. These purchases tend to be repeated; therefore, it is useful to know what your monthly purchases are.
Be Part of the World: Attend Social and Community Participation
Whether you are looking for a local club, a group activity or a personal interest, if one of your goals is to spend more time in your community, this category can help pay for the support worker that will help you achieve that goal. The NDIS is not meant to pay for the ticket, class fee or membership; it is meant to pay for the support that you need to participate.
The Ability to Get There by Transport Within Core
Some plans would have a transport category in the core budget that could cover the cost of a support worker or provider to assist in the transport to work, study or social activities. Funding for everyday transport, like taxis or public transport, is typically in the separate recurring supports budget, available in three tiers based on need. Look at your plan to see where transport funding is allocated.
Do You Need to Be Flexible or Stated?
The flexible core supports are most familiar to most people, and they stop reading there. That was just half of the story.
Flexible funding is the ability to select which supports you would like to purchase, how many, and how you would allocate your funding within the flexible categories in your budget as long as these supports are reasonable and necessary for you and are aligned with your plan. In reality, if you save money than anticipated on consumables, then the money that can be saved can be used for other daily life needs.
The government has allocated funding that is not stated. If a category is mentioned, it can only be used for the type of support outlined in your plan. Some capacity-building supports and a few core categories can be stated, with capital supports also being stated.
People often get this wrong: you can only transfer money between flexible categories with the same management type (e.g. plan-managed to plan-managed).
If you’re looking for NDIS Core Supports Explained in a single sentence, then it’s this: your Core Support is flexible by default, but the label on your plan will always be the final say.
Who Is in the Wallet and Who Is Managing It – the Individual, a Plan or an Agency Managed Wallet?
The way funds are managed will not affect the amount of funding, but how they are spent.
- Self-managed: you choose providers, pay for them directly and claim the costs back, which may include using registered providers as well as unregistered providers.
- Plan managed: someone who is registered as your plan manager pays your invoices and monitors your spending.
- Agency-managed registered providers are paid by the NDIS.
Many folks select plan management due to the fact that it helps to maintain paperwork simple and yet provides provider options.
Three Illustrative Examples: Real Plans, Real Weeks
Though theory is important, let’s take a look at some fictional examples of accounts of how NDIS Core Supports Explained might play out in real life.
- In Parramatta, NSW, Priya receives a daily life funding of a support person to assist with cooking and cleaning twice a week. She can use some of her flexible money for additional support hours as her consumables budget is less than normal.
- Tom is in Geelong, Vic: Tom wants to participate in a football club in his area. The funding for participation in his community is paid for by his community participation funding, and he pays his own membership.
- In Perth, WA, Margaret: it is a simple case of regular products for Margaret’s incontinence, as well as some low-cost bathroom aids being met from her core budget, with the plan management keeping her invoices in check.
The Fine Print: What Core Supports Won’t Cover
Core supports are designed with reasonable and necessary supports that are related to your disability. Typically do not include the costs of living that everyone has, including rent, groceries, and utilities, which are not directly related to your disability or supports provided by other systems, such as health or education. Any purchase that is not aligned to your plan or NDIS rules cannot be funded from your budget.
Don’t hesitate to ask before purchasing. A simple question you can ask your support coordinator, plan manager or the NDIS could prevent a claim from being rejected.
Tips to Manage Your Core Supports Budget
It’s the challenge of taking items out of your tight budget. The challenge of removing items from a budget that is tight.
- Read your plan 1 line at a time. Identify the categories that are flexible, stated categories and how they are dealt with.
- Make regular withdrawals to monitor your balance. Be sure to log in to the my NDIS app or portal on a regular basis, as this can lead to end-of-plan surprises.
- Have a transparent service contract. Make agreements in writing on hours, rates, notices of termination and cancellation.
- Be familiar with the price ceiling. Many supports have maximum prices set by the NDIS, which change every financial year, and the price can always be lowered if it is agreed.
- Pace your spending. Most funding does not carry over; distribute supports across the plan period.
- Ask for backup. A plan manager/support coordinator will be able to assist you in understanding your budget and locating providers.
Looking Ahead: What New Framework Planning Means
The NDIS is changing to a new framework that includes funding as a list of specific items or as a flexible budget. There’s no getting rid of core supports, but they might not look the same in your plan. This guide covers the NDIS Core Supports Explained system as it is now, and will be updated as things change, so please visit the NDIS website for the most up-to-date information about timing and what it means for you (ndis.gov.au).
Your Funding, Your Rhythm: Where to Go From Here
The key to making your plan more than a plan is understanding your core support budget. After knowing the general categories, the difference between flexible and stated funding and some good spending habits, you are already a step ahead. Use this NDIS Core Supports Explained guide as a guide and regard your plan document as your final say.
Talk to your support coordinator or plan manager, contact the NDIS on 1800 800 110 or reach out to us for a friendly, non-stressful discussion if you would like some assistance in understanding your plan.
FAQ’s
What Do NDIS Core Supports Mean?
There are four support budgets within an NDIS plan; one of them is called the “NDIS core supports”. They provide assistance for daily living and participation in the community, including support workers, consumables, low-cost assistive technology, and some transport. The core supports are typically the most flexible budget and are used most often in a participant’s plan.
In Australia, What Is Included in the NDIS Core Supports Budget?
The NDIS core supports budget can include support for assistance with daily life (e.g. personal care, cooking and cleaning), consumables (e.g. continence products, low-cost assistive technology) and support to assist with social and community participation and, in some plans, assist with transport by a support worker or provider. The categories that you have are listed in your plan.
Are Core Supports of the NDIS Flexible?
Mostly, yes. The NDIS core categories of support are flexible, and you can select the reasonable and necessary supports to purchase and transfer funds between flexible categories of supports with the same management type. Support is described in stated categories, and these are not flexible – they have to be allocated to the support outlined in your plan. See which plan is for you by checking your plan.
What Is the Difference Between Core, Capacity Building and Capital Supports?
NDIS core supports include payment for day-to-day support. Capacity building includes funding for skill development, including therapy, support coordination, and employment support. Capital supports are for one-off and high-cost items, such as assistive technology and home modifications. Generally, core is the most flexible, and capital supports and some capacity building supports are stated.
Is Transport a Part of NDIS Core Supports Funding?
Sometimes. A transport category in the NDIS core budget can be used to cover support costs for a transport service to assist you in accessing your work, study or social events. Funding for taxis and public transport for everyday trips is mostly in the separate recurring supports budget, with three levels.
How Can I Know the Amount of Core Supports Funding I Have Left?
Log in to the my NDIS app or my NDIS portal and view your plan and support budgets. The plan manager should be able to provide a spending statement to plan-managed participants, and plan participants should be able to do this for self-managed participants. Regularly checking helps you to distribute your NDIS funding over the plan period.
Does Funding for Unused Core Supports Carry Over to the Next Time Period?
In most cases, no, unspent funds will not roll over from one plan to the next. Using your core supports for reasonable and necessary supports during the plan period will help minimise waste of funds. You can make a plan review request to the NDIS if your needs change.
