A trend within the disability sector has seen the growth in providers who offer both Plan Management and Support Coordination. Invariably when this occurs, the two services are sometimes not delivered transparently.

It is our view that Plan Management and Support Coordination should always be delivered by different organisations, otherwise a participant’s choice and control can be impeded. Plan Management and Support Coordination have different skill sets that can require their own auditing reviews. Combining them within one company, may lead to a conflict of interest and not be in the best interest of participants.

The strength of the disability community relies on participants and providers trusting one another to deliver best practice services and supports. If you have spoken to one of our friendly Support Team Members, you may have heard them say that they are here to inform and guide you, not control you.

We support independent Plan Managers who make choices that will best benefit their participants, and to act in a way that seeks to understand each person’s unique situation, and ethically inform how their NDIS funds can help them to make the most of their plan and their life.

First2Care aims to ensure that our participants’ NDIS plans are spent in a way that conforms to the NDIS guidelines and through these efforts contribute to the sustainability of the scheme. As independent Plan Managers, we first need to build our relationship with our participants, discover how they wish to live their life, what supports they need and how those supports can fit into their plan. Then we can support them to make informed decisions on what is reasonable and necessary and how to use their funding as it was intended.