What is Support Coordination?

What is Support Coordination?

Support Coordination is an NDIS funded support that is designed to support participants to make the most of their NDIS funds. It is a capacity building support to implement all supports in a participant’s plan, including informal, mainstream, community and funded supports.

There are three levels of support coordination that can be included in your plan:

  1. Support connection – This support is to build your ability to connect with informal, community and funded supports enabling you to get the most out of your plan and achieve your goals.
  2. Support coordination – coordination of supports: This support will assist you to build the skills you need to understand, implement and use your plan. A support coordinator will work with you to ensure a mix of supports are used to increase your capacity to maintain relationships, manage service delivery tasks, live more independently and be included in your community.
  3. Specialist support coordination – This is a higher level of support coordination. It is for people whose situations are more complex and who need specialist support. A specialist Support Coordinator will assist you to manage challenges in your support environment and ensuring consistent delivery of service.

Depending on your individual goals, plan objectives and aspirations you may receive funding for these supports in your plan.

What activities does a support coordinator usually undertake?

Support Coordinators work creatively and resourcefully with participants in how they utilise support budgets to achieve their goals.

This is likely to include supporting the participant to:

  • Assess a number of mainstream, community, informal and provider options
  • Choose preferred options or providers
  • Negotiate services to be provided and their prices, develop service agreements and create service bookings with preferred providers
  • Negotiate services and prices as part of any quotable supports
  • Arrange any assessments required to determine the nature and type of funding required (e.g assessment to determine the type of complex home modifications required)
  • Decide the budget for each support type and advise any relevant plan manager of the breakdown of funds
  • Liaise with any plan manager to establish the appropriate claim categories and attribute to correct amount funds
  • Link to mainstream or community services (i.e housing, education, transport, health)
  • Strengthen and enhance their capacity to coordinate supports, self direct and manage supports, and participate in the community, including providing participants with assistance to:
    • resolve problems or issues that arise
    • understand their responsibilities under service agreements
    • change or end a service agreement

Are there other activities a support coordinator might undertake?

Support coordinators may also undertake some specialist activities including:

  • Assisting the 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
    • consider new goals
  • Helping participants decide on what actions to take to achieve goals in relation to exploring housing options and life transition planning.

To find out more information about Support Coordination, visit https://www.ndis.gov.au/support-coordination or contact us on 1800 814 778. We are here to support you.