We recently polled our FB groups and learnt that over 50% of parents self-managed their child’s NDIS plan and 75% of these parents would recommend self-management to other parents. Your decision to self-manage may be influenced by the complexity of your child’s plan, your confidence in your organisational and record-keeping skills, or your lack of knowledge of what is required.
Considerations for self-management:
- There is more flexibility to decide which providers you use and what supports you buy to meet your plan goals.
- If you decide to use a provider that is not registered, ensure they have the correct qualifications, training and safety checks.
- It requires some organisational and record-keeping skills – you must keep all invoices, receipts, and other evidence to show that you have spent your funding in line with your child’s NDIS plan.
- You will need to contact the NDIA for a code to set up a MyGov link to the NDIS portal.
- There are two ways to pay for your supports:
- Pay the provider upfront and then claim a refund.
- Make a payment request, receive funds, and then pay the provider.
If you are new to the NDIS or your plan is complex, you may want to start with another management method such as plan management which still offers some flexibility. You can change to self-management later or use a combination of methods for different parts of your budget.
To help you develop the necessary skills to self-manage, you can ask your LAC or NDIA planner (before plan review) to add funding to your budget under CORE – Assistance with Daily Life – Capacity Building and training in Self-Management.
NOTE: If you need funding for Auslan tutoring, you must claim it under CORE, so keep this in mind at plan review time.
Download the Real Life Tips infographic.
More information:
- Your guide to self-management [pdf] | NDIS
- Self-management | NDIS
- How to make a claim when self-managing | YouTube
- My NDIS mobile app
