NDIS Funding Periods: When Your Funding Becomes Available

Your NDIS plan set out how much funding you have for the whole plan. If your plan uses funding periods, you get that funding a bit at a time rather than all at once.

NDIS funding periods do not affect the total funding allocated for your plan. They only change when you access each part of it.

This article explains how funding periods work, what happens to funding you do not use, and what to do if you need more support than expected. It also covers how we keep track of what is left, and what we do when an invoice comes in.

What is an NDIS funding periods?

A funding period is block of time. During that time, you can use a set amount of your funding.

Your plan is organised in three parts:

• Your total funding: the full amount for your whole plan

• Funding components: your total split into groups, such as core, capacity building, capital or recurring supports

• Funding periods: when each part of a component becomes available

Each component has its own funding period. This means the timing for one type of support may be different from another, even in the same plan.

Most funding periods run for 3 months. The NDIA decides how long yours are, and how much is in each one, based on your needs and situation.

You can see all of this in your plan, the NDIS participant portal or the my NDIS app. They show what you have now, what you have spent, and when your next amount arrives.

When can you use your funding?

You can use the funding released for you current funding period.

A new funding period is not a new plan. It simply releases the next part of the funding you already have. Nothing starts over, and no extra funding is added.

It helps to keep your spending in line with what has been released. Once a funding period is used, no more claims can be paid from it until the next period starts.

What happens to funding you do not use?

You do not lose it. Anything left over at the end of a funding period moves across to your next period, as long as you are still in the same plan.

The end of your plan is different. When a plan finishes, leftover funding does not move into your new plan. Your new plan comes with its own amounts.

You can refer to the NDIA explanation in What is NDIS funding.

You can keep buying items and supports as you need them. There is no need to rush. Each purchase must still be an NDIS support and fit your plan.

What if you need more than your period allows?

Funding periods cannot be released early. If you need funding sooner, this has to go to the NDIA, and it is only approved in certain situations. Until the next funding period opens, an invoice cannot be processed.

Your supports needs will not always fit neatly inside one funding period.

If you need more support than expected, you may still be able to claim against your next funding period.

Two things need to be in place. You and your provider agree to claim against the next period. There also needs to be enough funding for the supports you need for that period, and across the rest of your plan.

It is worth knowing what this means for later. Anything claimed against your next period reduces what is available when that period opens. If this happens more than once, your funding may not stretch to the end of your plan.

If you do this, it is worth going over your service agreement and delivery schedule with your provider. Adjusting them keeps your supports covered right through to the end of your plan.

Can a new period pay an older invoice?

Often, yes. Once your next funding period opens, we can look at an earlier invoice using the plan and funding information available.

We check:

• the date the support was delivered

• whether the date falls within your current plan

• which funding component it belongs to

• how much funding is available right now

• whether the support fits your plan

• whether the invoice has everything we need to process it

Keep in mind that paying an older invoice from a new period uses funding meant for that period. It is worth thinking about how this affects the supports you have planned.

Published guidance covers the general rules, but not every situation. We may need to check the details with you.

Claiming timeframes are changing too. For more information about invoice and payment stages, refer to First2Care's NDIS Payment Timeframes: What They Mean for you.

How to keep track of what is left

The amount shown in your portal may not include everything you have already used.

That can happen when:

• a provider has not sent an invoice yet

• an invoice is still being checked

• a claim has not been processed yet

• you have a booking coming up that has not happened yet

So when you are working out what is left, count in the invoices you know are coming. If most of your funding is already spent or committed, check your upcoming bookings before you arrange anything more.

Changing your plan or releasing funding early from a future period is up to the NDIA. Your my NDIS contact can talk you through what is possible.

How First2Care can help

When an invoice comes in, we will check it for you. If something is missing or looks wrong, we contact the provider and explain what needs fixing, then check it again when it comes back.

We handle the financial side of your plan: checking invoices, submitting claims, and keeping your records straight. You stay in charge of who provides your supports.

Plan management is funded separately by the NDIA under Improved Life Choices in the Capacity Building budget. It does not come out of your other supports and costs you nothing out of pocket.

If you would like help making sense of your funding periods, email supports@first2care.com.au or call 1300 322 273.

Frequently asked questions about NDIS funding periods

Do funding periods reduce my total NDIS funding?

No. Funding periods change when you can access each part of it. The total in your plan stays the same.

Are funding periods separate NDIS plans?

No. They are stages within the one plan.

Can funding be released early?

Not usually. Releasing funding ahead of schedule is a decision for the NDIA, and it is only approved in certain situations. Until then, an invoice waits for the next period to open.

What happens to funding I do not use?

It moves across to your next period in the same plan. It does not carry over into a new plan.

Can I claim against my next period early?

Sometimes. If you need more support than expected, a claim may be made against the next period, if you and your provider agree, and there is enough funding for that period and the rest of your plan. Keep in mind this reduces what is available when that period opens.

What if I have used all the funding in this period?

No more claims can be paid from that period. We can explain the options, including whether something can be claimed against your next funding period.

Where can I check my funding periods?

In your NDIS plan, the NDIS participant portal or the my NDIS app. These show the funding available; how much you have spent and when the next amount becomes available.