What your support coordinator should do

decide how you would like your supports and services to be delivered
arrange a schedule of services which reflects your goals, needs and how you want to use your plan, and fits in your NDIS plan budget.
find providers who can meet your needs
try different providers and new supports to see if they suit you
work with multiple providers.

Your support coordinator should know about services in your local community. You can work with your support coordinator to:

find NDIS, community and other government services you can access
choose the right supports and services for you
connect you to providers and services that will help you pursue your goals, including advocacy services if required.

Your support coordinator can help you understand:

when you must choose NDIS registered providers – for example, when you are NDIA-managing supports or for certain supports as identified by the NDIS Commission
when you can choose unregistered providers – for example, when you are self-managing or plan-managing supports
quality and safeguards arrangements – including making sure the provider hasn’t been banned by the NDIS Commission
if you need any quotes, assessments or need follow any processes – for example, where need modifications to your home or car.

You and your support coordinator should also talk about how your family, friends and community can help you pursue your goals. If you need other government or community services, your support coordinator should help you connect with these supports.

To set up your supports, you can get help from your support coordinator to:

set up service agreements and service bookings which reflect what supports you need – for example, your support coordinator can help you to understand and negotiate what supports and services you want, how you want these to be delivered and what you pay for these supports and services
understand what providers can and cannot charge – including travel and cancellation policies
find any problems that might stop you using your plan and how these can be fixed.

To maintain your supports, you can get help from your support coordinator to:

check how your current supports are working for you
create a plan for what to do when something goes wrong, like with a provider cancels or when you are not happy with the service
find new providers or change providers to make sure you continue to get the supports you need.

If you are not satisfied with the quality or safety of NDIS supports and services, your support coordinator can also help you make a complaint to the NDIS Commission.

Your support coordinator can help you build your confidence and skills to implement your plan yourself, by showing you how to:

use NDIS systems and processes
set up your supports and negotiate with providers
get the most out of your NDIS plan.

You can work with your support coordinator to change how you use your NDIS plan. Your support coordinator can help you:

evaluate how well your current supports are working for you
track how you are going with using your plan and pursuing your goals
think about if your supports still meet your needs and if you want to try different things
change what supports you need or how they are delivered.

When preparing for your plan reassessment, you can talk to your support coordinator about:

what worked well for you, including what outcomes were achieved
what you would like to try, change or improve in your next plan, including what evidence you need to bring you with to your plan reassessment.

Your support coordinator will need to provide the NDIA with reports on how they have helped you use your plan and pursue your goals.

These reports include:

An initial plan implementation report which outlines what you and your support coordinator have done after starting your new plan.
A mid-term implementation report which looks at how you are going with using your plan and includes what you and your support coordinator will be doing next.
Plan reassessment report which reflects on how your plan has been implemented and includes recommendations for your next plan.

Learn more about how support coordinators should monitor plan budgets and support effectiveness

Your request for service will outline which reports your support coordinator need to do and when.

When setting up your service agreement, you and your support coordinator should discuss what reports need to be provided to the NDIA and how your support coordinator should claim for report writing time.

Your support coordinator can claim report writing time for an NDIA-requested report if all the conditions in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits are met.

You can work with your support coordinator to build your confidence and skills so you can choose and control your supports. Your support coordinator should work with you, your family and carers to:

explore different ways you can exercise your choice and control
help you communicate about how you prefer your supports to be delivered
find providers who can meet your needs
create opportunities for you to do these activities more independently.

When doing this, your support coordinator should provide information to you in your preferred language and method of communication to help you make decisions about your supports.

Your support coordinator should not make decisions for you. Instead, your support coordinator should support you to make your own decisions and have the right to take risks.

You can work with your support coordinator to help you prepare for unexpected events. You can work with your support coordinator to:

understand your circumstances and environment
plan for changes like:
- how much your family can help you at home
- moving house
- if you suddenly need to go hospital
- how much support your service provider can give you
work out what might stop you from using your plan
work out what you can do when these situations occur
put supports in place to work through these challenges.

When doing this, your support coordinator should also help you to build your confidence and skills to do this yourself.

Preparing you for unexpected events includes assisting you to access the right crisis services, where needed.

You and your support coordinator should also make sure that a plan is in place to prepare you for these situations. Your support coordinator can help you take action should a crisis situation occur.

Where appropriate, your support coordinator may connect you with crisis services such as the justice, education, child and family protection systems.

Based on your individual circumstances, your support coordinator may also help you to submit a request for a plan reassessment.

Your support coordinator must act in your best interests.

To do this, your support coordinator must:

recommend and provide supports and services that would best suit your needs
declare and avoid any real or perceived conflicts of interest
avoid engaging in, participating in or promoting sharp practices.

All registered and non-registered NDIS providers, including your support coordinator, must comply with the NDIS Code of Conduct .

You should raise your concerns with the NDIS Commission for further investigation if:

you have concerns about the quality and safety of your support coordination or other services
you feel unsafe because the same provider delivers both your support coordination and other services

You can choose to connect with a support coordination provider who does not also provide your other NDIS funded supports.

Specialist support coordination

In addition to what your support coordinator would generally be expected to do, your specialist support coordinator can help you:

address complex barriers that affect your ability to access the right supports
design a service plan for your specific support needs, where needed.

Address complex barriers

Your specialist support coordinator should work with you, your family and carers to:

understand what might impact your ability to access and maintain services and supports
find ways to overcome these challenges
set up a process to overcome these barriers.

Design a service plan for complex support needs

You may need a service plan for your specific circumstances or needs. Your specialist support coordinator can help you to design one.

You can work with your specialist support coordinator to identify all the people in your life who can support you with implementing your NDIS plan.

Your specialist support coordinator can then work with you, your family and carer to design a service plan which:

makes sure everyone can work together to help you pursue your goals
explains how everyone should communicate and cooperate with each other to support you
helps you, your family and carer to manage problems or unexpected situations
makes sure you keep getting the services you need in a crisis.

Once a service plan is designed, your support coordinator can help you, your family and carers to put the plan into action.

Advocacy

If you need advocacy services, you can find organisations who can help you through the National Disability Advocacy Program (NDAP).

Your support coordinator should not act as an independent disability advocate for you. However your support coordinator can help you to understand when you might need a formal advocate.

The Disability Advocacy Fact Sheet outlines what disability advocacy is, why it is important and why independence matters.

What your support coordinator should do

On this page: