Support Coordination

What is support coordination?

All families and participants need to implement their NDIS plan. This may include engaging providers and ensuring that their service delivery is of satisfactory quality and is helping their child or participant achieve their goals.

Plan implementation may be completed independently by the family and participant, or with assistance from an NDIS registered provider.

Support to implement the plan (known as support coordination) is the provision of assistance, support to families and participants. It is designed to build capacity in implementing all aspects of a child’s or participant’s plan, including informal, mainstream, community and funded supports.

For children under 8 years NDIS acknowledges that the key worker will assist the family with this role. Once a child is over 8 years of age, Coordination Support can be included to take on this role if needed. Families can discuss with their planner their need for Support Coordination.

What activities does a support coordinator usually undertake?

Support coordinators work with families and participants in how they will implement their support budgets/ funding to achieve the NDIS goals described in their plan.

This may include:

• Assessing a number of mainstream, community, informal and provider options
• Choosing providers.
• Negotiating services/ prices to be provided, quotes, develop service agreements and create service bookings with providers that have been chosen by the family or participant.
• Arranging any assessments required to determine the nature and type of funding required (e.g. assessment to determine the type of complex home modifications required)
• Linking to mainstream or community services that may be needed.
• Strengthening and enhancing the families or participant’s capacity to coordinate supports, self-direct and manage supports and participate in the community, including providing participants with assistance to resolve problems that arise, understand their responsibilities under service agreements and change or end a service agreement.

Support coordinators may also undertake some specialist activities including:

• assisting the family and participant get ready for their plan review by helping them assess whether they achieved their goals and got value for money for their plan, identify solutions to problems experienced in implementing the plan and plan new goals​

What activities doesn’t a support coordinator provide?

They do not make a judgement about the adequacy of the plan and do not make requests for an unscheduled plan review on behalf of families or participants.

The families and the participants need for support coordination is expected to decrease as their skills and capacity increases.

Because of this, support coordinator are not funded to provide:

• Participant transport
• Plan administration
• Plan management
• Support rostering
• Advocacy
• Disability supports

How are support coordinators engaged?

Families choose the support coordinator they want.

The planner will send a request for service to this agency. The request includes details of what supports the participant requires.

Support coordination providers consider the request and inform the planner whether it is accepted. A plan handover is then arranged between the planner and support coordinator.

What are support coordinators expected to do?

Support coordinators are expected to:

• Contact the family or participant as soon as possible after the handover with the planner, ideally within two days and meet with the participant within the next five days.
• Understand the role of the mainstream service system.
• Understand the NDIS legislation and rules including provisions relating to reasonable and necessary supports.
• Understand the NDIS Price Guide and flexibility within budgets
• Be registered providers.
• Manage any perceived or real conflict of interest in accordance with the NDIA’s Terms of Business.
• Provide the NDIA with reports on specific goals, outcomes and success indicators within the agreed reporting frequency.

What outcomes do support coordinators deliver for participants?

Support coordination enables families or participants to:

• Gain value for money they receive from their supports.
• Exercise their choice and control and implement their plan.
• Have increased capacity to manage/direct their own supports.
• Have greater opportunities to explore and connect with community and alternative support options.
• Better coordinate multiple supports and services.
• Have the capacity of their informal support network strengthened.
• Be better able to use the NDIS Participant Portal myplace

There are three levels of Coordination Support:

Each one responds to the different levels of need a family or participant may have in order to implement their plan.

Level 1:

Support Connection is a non-ongoing service focused on enabling the participant to connect to supports in the plan. The word “connection” is appropriate for a support that assists participants to establish arrangements with funded providers, and to build a network of informal and mainstream supports.

Support Connection’s focus is helping the participant to start their plan implementation by assisting them to:

• Identify options (funded, mainstream and in informal networks)
• Investigate options
• Understand funding flexibility
• Reach decisions regarding services
• Reach agreement with providers
• Commence service and ensure new support arrangements work well

By providing this support it is expected that families/ participants will gain the skills they need to participate in NDIA processes and gain independence in creating and maintaining supports.

Support Connection may be made available to support the participant to learn how to:

• Activate their plan (i.e. link to service providers)

• Monitor quality and expenditure of services
• Manage flexibility within the plan
• Prepare for review
• May need to address barriers to participation, and resolve service delivery issues.

Level 2:

Support Coordination has the features of Support Connection, with an increased focus on:

• Addressing barriers to participation, and
• Resolving service delivery issues.

The word “coordination” indicates a more intensive engagement than “connection”.

As well as the features of Support Connection, Support Coordination would focus on:

• Regular active management and ongoing adjustment of supports due to participant’s changing needs.
• Management of supports from a range of providers
• Crisis resolution and developing resilience.
• Regular monitoring and outcome reporting for the participant/NDIA

Support Coordination may be made available to enable the family or participant to activate their plan and learn about other aspects of the plan cycle, including preparing for review.

If Support Coordination is required in a review plan, it is included for a specific purpose, such as to support the family or participant to change service provider, or to resolve specific points of crisis or barriers affecting support.

Level 3: Specialist Support Coordination - Used only in exceptional circumstances.