Self-Management: What You Can Buy With Your NDIS Funding

One of the many benefits of self-managing your NDIS is being creative and finding different supports that help you meet your goals. Some supports you choose may not come from a support person or provider. But as long as they relate to the supports you've included within your plan and your plan goals, you can still use them.

If you're starting out with NDIS self-management, understanding what services you can buy and who you can buy from can be overwhelming. Here are some valuable tips to help you. For more information, visit the NDIS website.

Work Out Who to Buy From

If you're self-managing your NDIS plan, you can buy supports in three different ways:

1. From a Business or Organisation

A business or organisation can arrange support for you or your loved one and manage support workers on your behalf. Depending on their size and set-up, they may or may not be NDIS registered providers. As long as they can help you to meet your plan goals safely and professionally, it doesn't matter if they're registered. You can look for NDIS registered providers on the myplace portal.

To find the right support for you, check reviews, do some online research, and get advice from people within the disability community. You can set up a meeting with different providers to ask questions and ensure they're the right for you. It's good to know that you can change providers if you're unhappy with them. Or if you think you can get better value or enhanced services through another provider.

2. Using Self-Employed Contractors

A self-employed contractor has their own Australian Business Number (ABN) and may or may not be NDIS registered. They're responsible for looking after their own tax, super and insurance.

From your perspective, you need to ensure a contractor has their own ABN. Also check they have appropriate insurance, qualifications and skills to fulfil the job tasks. You should also consider undertaking relevant safety checks.

Typically contractors can charge you an hourly rate, or they'll establish a charge per job. They'll send you an invoice to pay and should also issue you a receipt. Check that the invoice shows the type of support, amount, total cost and ABN when lodging your NDIS claims.

3. Directly Employ Support Staff

One of the many benefits of self-management is that you can employ your own staff directly to support you and your loved one. Employing staff means you can choose someone who has the skills, qualifications and personality to suit you. If you employ staff, you must ensure they have the right skills, training, safety check and qualifications.

Employing staff means you need to do more admin and manage your support in line with your plan budget. But it's very manageable to manage these costs and stay within your funding budget. Particularly if you have a system for organising your spending. Using a dedicated app like Ability8 can help, as it allows you to set up everything and ensure you're compliant. For example, you need to:

• pay wages

• issue payslips

• pay for recruitment of new staff

• pay superannuation

• cover costs for any insurance

Set Up a Service Agreement

If you're working with a service provider, it's wise to set up a different service agreement with each provider. Your service agreement should clearly outline what's included and how the support will be paid for and delivered.

Depending on your provider, they may have a standard agreement, or you may need to create your own. If you need to create your own, the NDIS website has some helpful information.

What You Can Buy

When self-managing, you've got the power to work out how to meet your or your loved one's needs. Including allocating funding to services that help meet your plan goals. Remember, you can't use NDIS funding to pay a family member to provide your support.

The NDIS has developed a handy guide to help you assess whether you can buy it with NDIS funding. It outlines a range of questions to help you. If you answer 'yes' to each question, the support is likely to be relevant to your NDIS plan and goals. But you can check with your NDIA planner or LAC if you're unsure.

The questions include:

1. Will the purchase help you reach your goals in your NDIS plan?

2. Is the support good value and reasonably priced?

3. Can you afford the support? Does it fit within your support budget?

4. Will the support help you improve relationships with family/friends or connect you with your community?

5. Is the support something the NDIS should be funding and not other government sources?

6. Is the support safe?

Self-managing your NDIS with Ability8

At Ability8, we designed our app to enable anyone with a disability the freedom to self-manage their care plan. So you can easily manage care needs in one central location.

We've listened to the disability community to understand your needs and wants. We offer a free 30-day trial on each of our plans, so you can see the difference it can make to your plan management.