While plan management is an unavoidable task that comes with your NDIS funding, the good news is that there is a variety of management options to choose from to suit your personal needs and circumstances.
In this guide, we explain the differences, benefits, and requirements of each management option to help you choose the one that’s right for you or your loved one.
Option 1: Self-managing your NDIS plan
If you like choice, independence, and flexibility, self-managing your NDIS plan may appeal to you.
When you self-manage your plan, you are completely in charge of your NDIS funds, a role that requires a good understanding of budgeting and money management, communication and negotiation skills, and ‘everyday’ internet and computer literacy.
The role also comes with a variety of responsibilities and tasks including:
- finding quality supports that will help you achieve your goals while offering the best value;
- liaising with providers to establish when, where and how often they will provide their service;
- negotiating fees and prices with providers and creating service agreements (the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits – previously called the NDIS Price Guide – provides comprehensive information on pricing and the maximum prices providers can charge for specific supports).
- meeting employer obligations if you employ your own staff such as cleaners and support workers (who must comply with the NDIS Code of Conduct);
- paying invoices from providers directly from your funds in your nominated NDIS bank account.
- managing your funds so they are effectively used throughout the duration of your plan;
- budgeting and maintaining accurate records, including service agreements, invoices and receipts and your record of spending for financial reporting;
- and monitoring your supports, ensuring they continue to meet your needs and help you achieve your goals.
If you like the sound of this management option but are a little unsure whether it’s a good fit for you, talking to another participant who self-manages their plan, seeking advice from those who know you best, like family and friends, or asking a trusted service provider for advice may help you decide. There are also self-management peer support groups online that can provide insights and advice on this management option.
It’s important to note that all NDIS providers – individuals (sole traders), businesses or organisations – must meet the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission’s strict safety and quality standards (Better Rehab is a registered NDIS provider that meets these standards). You can check whether a provider has an NDIS worker screening clearance on the Scheme’s online database. You also have the right to ask a provider to get a NDIS worker screening clearance.
How you pay for providers
With self-management, you are required to apply for your NDIS funding to be transferred to your nominated bank account. This is the account from which you will directly pay your service providers, including individuals and organisations.
You don’t have to self-manage your entire plan
If you prefer not to take on some of the responsibilities that come with self-managing your plan, you can choose to self-manage the parts that you do and have an NDIS-registered Plan Manager or the NDIA take over the rest (find out more about Plan Managers below). This option not only reduces your management tasks but is a way to gradually ease yourself into self-management.
If you lack some of the financial skills needed to self-manage your plan, or perhaps the confidence, you can use your funds to pay for supports to help you financially manage your plan, such as a bookkeeper, or for a course in financial management.
Remember that with the self-management option, you can ask the NDIS to change your management option and can seek help from your family and friends, such as advice on managing your budget and negotiating with providers.
Option 2: Having a Plan Manager
Plan Managers help participants manage all or some of their funded supports, which includes
- managing your budget, including monitoring expenditure and the balance;
- invoicing and paying your providers;
- providing information on the service providers you can use and helping you expand your choice of providers;
- performing financial reporting to the NDIS.
Your Plan Manager can also help you learn how to self-manage your plan by giving you financial and plan management skills, including managing your spend and negotiating fees with providers.
It’s also important to know that your Plan Manager should work collaboratively with you to help you use your funds to achieve your personal goals. Throughout the duration of your plan, you have a say in how it is managed and have a right to be kept abreast of all decisions made by your Plan Manager.
In fact, your Plan Manager must provide you with regular reports on your NDIS plan expenditure and your balance of funds. They should also alert you if your funds will not stretch to the end of your plan or if a service will cost more than you have allocated in your fund. You can also access and check your plan on the NDIS participant portal myplace that you access via your myGov account.
How to choose a Plan Manager
For starters, you must choose a Plan Manager who meets the requirements of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission) and follows the NDIS Commission Code of Conduct, which is to act with integrity, honesty and transparency. You can quickly and easily check whether a Plan Manager is registered by visiting the NDIS Commission’s register.
Your Local Area Coordinator (LAC) or Support Coordinator – or early childhood partner if your child is receiving NDIS funding – can also help you find a Plan Manager. Alternately, can find a Plan Manager online, including on the NDIS Provider Finder, and through family and friends.
It can be difficult to decide whether a Plan Manager is right for you in just a meeting or two, but there are several ways to assess their competency and suitability. These include
- checking whether they have a track record of efficient financial management
- reading their reviews online
- asking your NDIS LAC, Early Childhood Early Intervention Coordinator or Support Coordinator about them
- asking how much they will charge you
It’s also advisable to check that they have a secure way of storing and managing your information and whether they have any conflicts of interest. This means they don’t provide other NDIS-funded supports to you, which helps ensure their decisions are impartial and based on your best interest.
Who pays for my Plan Manager?
Your Plan Manager will be paid out of your fund by the NDIS. The funding to pay for your Plan Manager is separate from your funding for other providers.
When you’ve decided to have your plan managed by a Plan Manager, the first step is to let your NDIS representative know at your plan meeting, so they can include funding in your plan to cover their fee.
How to hire a Plan Manager
When you have chosen a Plan Manager you need to create a service agreement between you and your Plan Manager. This is a type of contract that specifies the services they will provide, how they will provide them and the duration of their appointment. This agreement can be reviewed by the NDIA, to ensure you and your Plan Manager are complying to the agreement – and as it is covered by the Australian Consumer Law, it comes with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commision’s (ACCC) protections, rights and requirements.
What to discuss in your first meeting with your new Plan Manager
Before your Plan Manager starts helping you manage your plan, the NDIS recommends discussing the following –
- the supports you need to help you achieve your goals;
- the amount of funding in your plan for your supports;
- how your Plan Manager will pay your providers and track spending;
- how you will communicate with them (such as over the phone, in person or via email).
Option 3: Getting the NDIA to manage your plan
You can choose to have your plan managed by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), the independent Commonwealth Government agency that runs the NDIS.
This management option means you choose your registered providers and the NDIA pays them.
The NDIA-managed option, also called Agency-managed funding, has a few provisions, including your providers must be NDIS registered and they can’t charge more than the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits, which could rule out providers of your choice.
The benefits of this plan management option, however, are that you don’t have to appoint and pay providers and you have peace of mind knowing that all your plan’s administrative requirements are being met.
If you choose to have the NDIA manage your plan, you can continue to monitor your plan, including how your budget is tracking and payment requests, on the NDIS participant portal myplace that you can access via your myGov account.
Other plan management assistance options
Assistance from your Support Coordinator
You can also have a local Support Coordinator help you manage your NDIS plan. Support Coordinators can assist you in many ways, from connecting you with local supports, to helping you with budgeting, creating service agreements, and preparing for plan reassessment meetings. Before choosing this management option, you will need to check whether your plan will fund the assistance of a support coordinator.
Assistance from your Local Area Coordinator
Local Area Coordinators can also assist you with managing your plan. Their knowledge of your local disability services and community can help you choose the right supports for you and they can assist with budgeting.
Some considerations when choosing a plan management option
Regardless of which plan management option you choose, you continue to play a role in your plan, including who provides your supports and services and how, when, where and how often.
And if you still feel a little overwhelmed by the tasks and responsibilities of plan management, help is always at hand, from your Local Area Coordinator, Support Coordinator, your NDIS representative, the NDIS website, and from our clinicians who navigate the NDIS every day!
