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Support Coordinators: Roles & Responsibilities

Having support coordination included in your NDIS plan can be a great way to get to know your plan and how it can work for you, to build your capacity, and to ensure you are getting the support you need to work towards your goals. Support Coordinators have a lot of different roles and responsibilities. Understanding what they can do for you can help you to maximise your NDIS plan by using your plan to best support your needs and goals.


Two women smiling and talking with one of the women holding a pen
Two women smiling and talking with one of the women holding a pen

What is a Support Coordinator?


A support coordinator can help you to understand your NDIS plan and make the best use of your supports.


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

  1. Support connection – can help to build your ability to connect with informal, community, and funded supports enabling you to make the most of your plan and pursue your goals

  2. Support coordination – assists you to build the skills you need to understand and use your plan as it was intended. A support coordinator 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 – is for people whose situations are more complex and who need specialist support. A specialist Support Coordinator can assist you to manage challenges in your support environment and ensuring consistent delivery of service.

You can use your support coordination funding to work with a support coordinator who has the skills, knowledge, and experience to meet your specific needs.


Roles & Responsibilities of your Support Coordinator


The roles and responsibilities of your individual support coordinator may vary depending on your needs. However, the roles and responsibilities that you can expect from a support coordinator are:


1. To help you better understand your NDIS plan


This includes explaining:

  • Your support budgets

  • What you can use your funding for

  • How your funding is managed

  • What requirements need to be met to access supports (i.e., quotes, what can or cannot be claimed, how much can be claimed and when service booking are needed)

2. Assistance in planning and coordinating your supports


This includes:

  • Helping you find providers, services, and supports that can help you to work towards your goals

  • Discussing community, government, and funded supports that can be used to pursue your goals

  • Discussing how you would like your supports and service delivered

  • Arranging a schedule of services which reflect your goals, needs, and how you want to use your plan, and how they fit into your plan budget

  • Find providers who can meet your needs

3. Connecting you with supports and services


This includes:

  • Finding NDIS, community, and other government services you can access

  • Working with you to choose the right supports and services for your needs

  • Connecting you to providers and services that can help you work towards your goals (including advocacy services if needed)

  • Helping you understand your provider options i.e., registered, and unregistered providers

  • Ensuring that your providers have not been banned by the NDIS Commission

  • Discussing any quotes, assessments or other processes that need to be followed when accessing supports

4. Establishing and maintaining your supports


This includes:

  • Setting up service agreements and service booking that reflect your needs

  • Understanding what providers can and cannot charge – including travel and cancellation policies

  • Finding and fixing any problems that might prevent or delay you from using your NDIS plan as intended

  • Touching base on how your current supports are working for you

  • Creating a contingency plan for if something goes wrong (i.e., a provider cancelling)

  • Finding new providers if current providers are not providing the support that you need

5. Reporting to the NDIA


This includes:

  • An initial plan implementation report outlining what you and your support coordinator have done after the commencement of your plan

  • Mid-term implementation report about how you are going with your plan so far and what the next steps are

  • Plan review report showcasing how your plan was implemented and recommendations for your next plan

6. Capacity Building for Independence


This includes:

  • Working with you, your family, and carers to explore different ways you can exercise your choice and control

  • Helping you communicate how you prefer your supports to be delivered

  • Finding providers who can meet your needs

  • Creating opportunities for you to do these activities more independently

  • Building your confidence and capacity to use NDIS systems and processes, setting up supports and negotiating with providers, and getting the most out of your NDIS plan

  • Helping you to evaluate your current supports

  • Reflecting on what works and what doesn’t work in your NDIS plan, and if there are any changes that could be made to your next plan

7. Preparing for unexpected events


This includes:

  • Planning for changes around how much your family can assist at home, moving house, need to go to hospital, the amount of support your service provider can give

  • Discussing what may prevent you from using your plan & what to do if this occurs

8. Acting in your best interests


This includes:

  • Recommending and providing supports that best suit your needs

  • Declaring and avoiding any conflict of interest

  • Complying with the NDIS Code of Conduct

If you have concerns about quality and safety of your support coordination or other services or you feel unsafe because the same provider delivers both your support coordination and other services, you can contact the NDIS Commission for further investigations.


Specialist Support Coordination


In addition to what your support coordinator would do, a specialist support coordinator can help you to:

  • Address complex barriers that affect your ability to access the right supports

  • Design a service plan for your specific support needs

  • Work with you, your family, and carers to understand what might impact your ability to access and maintain services and supports and find ways to overcome these challenges

  • Work with you, your family, and carers to develop a plan for how everyone can work together to help you pursue your goals

  • Assist with communication

How to access a funding for Support Coordination


Your funding is based on what is ‘reasonable and necessary’ to pursue your goals. If the NDIA consider support coordination reasonable and necessary, then funding can be included in your Capacity Building budget. Funding for support coordination is a fixed amount. If your plan describes the level of support coordination funded, you can only purchase this level of support coordination. If your plan does not describe the level of support coordination funded, you can choose the level of support coordination that best suits your needs.


Read more about the benefits of working with an independent, professional Plan Manager. Alternatively, contact our friendly team on 1300 322 273 or support@first2care.com.au.

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