Imagine two people that use the NDIS who enjoy photography. A support worker drives her fortnightly to a camera club meet-up and she enjoys it each time. The other works for months with a master craftsman, masters the camera settings from the ground up and finally sells prints at a community market, where he has created a small portfolio.
These are both positive experiences and can be supported by an NDIS Plan. That is the one that is formally known as Innovative Community Participation NDIS support – and that is a difference that can make the difference in how far a plan goes.
You’re not alone if you’ve come across this term in your plan, or a support coordinator’s plan and they have said it with little explanation. This guide explains how Innovative Community Participation NDIS supports are different from community access, their nature in the real world and the impact of the new funding on NDIS participants from coast to coast in Australia from October 2026.
What Innovative Community Participation Truly Means: Unpacking the Support Item
Innovative Community Participation is a named NDIS supported item: Registration Group 0116_09_008_0116_6_3. It is part of the category of Capacity Building – Increased Social and Community Participation.
Avers It’s unique because of its use. It is intended to allow the use of mainstream community services, not just disability services, to provide providers with new and innovative methods of delivering mainstream community services to participants, rather than existing services accompanied by a disability support worker.
In reality, the purpose of the Innovative Community Participation NDIS funding is to support programs on the basis of a person’s own interests and goals not to fit a person into anything available at the local day program.
People Plan Manager Capacity Building or Core Support?
This is why the distinction really matters. This is a common point of confusion for lots of participants and families, and it is essential to get right.
The Core Supports section contains a budget for Assistance with Social, Economic and Community Participation. This section of your plan pays for support worker time to get involved with life as it happens – netball training, craft group once a week or support in a shop with you.
Currently, the standard hourly rate for this line item under the NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026–27 is $73.58 per hour (per weekday).
Carevo Innovative Community Participation exists outside of your plan. It is a Capacity Building support that supports programs with a clear time-frame and end-point, to increase skills to attend on a more independent basis over time.
Capacity Building categories are ‘stated’ – which means that you can shift funding within the same ‘stated’ category, but not across into a whole new category such as therapy or support co-ordination.
Before you make your plan, it can help you avoid a lot of confusion later.
What This Support Represents in Real Life: From Pottery Wheels to Podcast Studios
The term “innovative” means it is actually being used in relation to this support item. The funded activities may include cultural activities, up to technology-based, and providers are encouraged to implement more than the traditional day-program approach.
It’s important to note that Innovative Community Participation NDIS programs may involve some or all of the following in practice:
- People Plan Manager
- Art, music or drama workshops with a qualified instructor.
- Cooking for real to gain independence in meal planning.
- Adaptive Sports Coaching – From swimming to rock climbing to cycling.
- Job pathway preparation (training and entrepreneurial initiatives)
- Avers Social skills groups (structured) for communication and confidence
- Digital literacy or technology programs are delivered via mainstream community providers.
- Volunteering, gardening groups or community radio, etc., mentored community projects
What’s common to all these is a real interest in capability development instead of just ‘company on the outing’. Confidence is not an emotion that occurs in a vacuum; it’s about what you gain from getting involved.
You can easily box community participation under the “nice to have” category. In reality, it’s probably one of the most discussed (and as such, most important) days of a participant’s week, and it’s a good way to be.
An ability that is developed within a real cooking class or an art studio or sports team is much more likely to be transferred than an ability developed in isolation, because it is being developed in the context in which it will be applied. The authentic engagement in community life also expands a person’s social sphere far beyond their sphere of paid supports, and this is important for long-term wellbeing.
As the years go by, more and more participants are able to continue the same activity without the extra individual support, freeing up funds for other activities in their plan and, crucially, demonstrating sustainable independence.
This has a knock-on effect on families as well. If a person has a social world, such as a class, team or project, the whole social world does not depend on family-organised activities. That subtle, practical change is the core of Innovative Community Participation NDIS services; a good one should ultimately not require a lot more of itself.
Do You Qualify? Knowledge of Goals, Access and Reasonable Necessity
This is a support item that does not have separate eligibility criteria apart from having access to the NDIS. The issue is whether a particular support is reasonable and necessary for the achievement of the goals outlined in your plan in the NDIS vocabulary.
The question is: Is this specific support reasonable and necessary for you to achieve your goals in your plan?
In practice, this translates to:
- Your plan goals must include community involvement, social engagement, acquiring skills, etc.
- Each session, the provider must record how the session supports those goals, as this will be reviewed during plan reassessment by Carevo.
If you’re not sure what is actually covered, then you should ask your local area coordinator, support coordinator or psychosocial recovery coach.
Capacity Building funding is usually tied to a specific provider, program or measurable outcome, and therefore it is more beneficial to have this conversation prior to selecting a provider.
A Shifting Landscape: How the reforms of October 2026 impact this support
If you’re looking into Innovative Community Participation NDIS right now, you’re aware that the funding situation is truly changing.
After the 2026-27 Federal Budget, the funding for social, economic and community participation supports will be reset from 1 October 2026, with a smaller reduction in funding for improved daily living skills supports.
In real terms, this means that for the social, economic and community participation supports, participants’ plans will have 50 per cent less funding; and for improved daily living skills supports, there will be 10 per cent less funding.
This change isn’t implemented on all plans at once, but rather gradually over 12 months, starting when a plan is created, reassessed or renewed.
The funding changes for NDIS supports +2.
It’s important to be aware of what this change does not affect. Supports that relate to work and the health of a person with disability do not form part of this reduction, nor do supports for high intensity needs and intensive/complex behaviour support, and as the change is introduced, participant safety and wellbeing will be prioritised by the government.
The value for the participants and their families is obvious.
When planning is up for review, discuss with your support coordinator how your community participation objectives link to measurable outcomes.
Consider also group-based programs, where a support worker is divided among several members of the group, as they can maximise the reach of a limited budget without reducing the number of times you go out into the community.
Making the first step – selecting the right provider
Not all disability services are truly “innovative,” and that’s important to know before you enter into a contract with any service.
It’s important to ask these questions when you’re comparing providers:
- Do they have a registration as an NDIS provider to provide support for this item?
- Do they have staff who are specifically trained for community engagement or community worker support staff who work with them?
- Do they have current program and/or outcomes that they can refer to?
- How do they monitor and measure progress towards your plan objectives?
- Are there any group-based alternatives that can make your budget last longer in the new funding system?
Any provider worth their salt will be able to discuss all this with you first and will probably be accustomed to having the participants do some side-by-side comparison shopping.
Conclusion
Innovative Community Participation NDIS support wasn’t designed to take the place of the simple and valuable act of getting out and about with support. It’s in addition to that daily support, and it’s a genuine option to move from an activity to developing a skill, a friendship group, or even a little company enterprise.
As the availability of support is becoming more restrictive from October 2026, it is increasingly important to select support that is well documented, clearly goal-oriented, and truly capacity-building. When well designed and executed, this component of an NDIS plan is not merely a calendar, but a life that is lived like everyone else, on everyone’s terms.
FAQ’s
1. What is Innovative Community Participation NDIS:
Innovative Community Participation NDIS support (item 09_008_0116_6_3) is a form of Capacity Building that helps participants develop their skills, confidence and independence by funding a structured and creative program, instead of supporting them by sending a worker to assist them in an outing.
2. What are the differences between Core community participation support and Innovative community participation?
A core community participation contribution would provide the funding to enable a support worker to attend an activity now. Innovative Community Participation is capacity-building funding for structured and usually time-limited programs that develop enduring skills, usually provided by providers who provide more than just support work.
3. Innovative Community Participation funding is available for whom?
It’s available to any NDIS participant when it’s reasonable and necessary to help achieve goals in their plan, for example, to develop social skills, confidence or independence. Before selecting a provider, it’s important to verify this with your support coordinator or local area coordinator.
4. What type of activities do you think Innovative Community Participation funding supports under the NDIS?
It can support art, music and cooking lessons, adaptive sports coaching, technology and digital skills development, cultural events, mentored social groups, and preparation for employment opportunities, provided the activity is structured and connected to your plan objectives.
5. Is there a maximum amount of money allowed for the Innovative Community Participation?
No, in general, this is not the case, unless the Core Community Participation has a fixed price limit, which is determined by the hourly rate. This item is usually priced by the provider and the participant by agreement based on what is reasonable for the program.
6. How will Innovative Community Participation respond to the changes to NDIS funding in October 2026?
Yes, indirectly, as part of a wider funding stream for social and community participation which was caught up in the reset. Continued reductions in budgets of approximately 50 per cent, to be applied gradually over time as plans are re-evaluated or renewed, are being made in the area of work-based and employment supports only. Health and high-intensity needs will not be impacted.
7. What are some steps to take with Innovative Community Participation support?
See if the goals in your NDIS plan mention building your capacity to participate in the community and/or your skill development and social connectedness, and contact a registered provider of structured skill development and social connectedness programs. This funding is detailed in your plan by your support coordinator or plan manager.
