From the beginning of time, we’ve depended upon communities to provide us with connection and deliver the wellbeing benefits that come from it.
You’ve probably experienced it yourself – a time when an off-the-cuff conversation or a simple piece of advice changed the course you were on, fixed a problem you had, or maybe even saved your life.
The good news is, today we can connect to more people than ever before and build communities in the online world that expand our horizons almost limitlessly.
From Facebook Groups – used by more than 1.8 billion people every month – to topic-specific chat rooms and the virtual worlds created through online gaming, communities of people who may never meet in real life are springing up worldwide. And that means an enormous array of insights, advice and support is on offer and available at the click of a button.
But, just as there are risks to opening the door to your home to anyone and everyone, so too are there challenges posed by accessing the virtual world.
Many online communities slowly turn into places to criticise and vent – and because of that, they’re often not inclusive. What that means is that although the virtual space offers more and more conversations for web users to tap into, there are only a limited number where people can truly expect to be heard and supported.
A free-to-access community that’s close-knit, solutions-focused, and there to lift its members up is great for everyone – but especially for vulnerable groups or those requiring a little extra support.
Connection to others became vital in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people around the world were more isolated than ever before, and those with disability often found themselves alone for extended periods and unable to tap into their usual support networks.
Against that backdrop, My Plan Manager launched Kinora, an award-winning online community built for people with disability, their supporters and providers.
In Kinora, you can find like-minded people with similar interests, experiences and challenges – and connect with providers and subject matter experts with the experience to help you get the most out of life. You may not know them, but inside the moderated community you can swap advice and experiences and know you’re not alone.
The Kinora community creates possibilities, offers answers, and provides pathways to achieving better outcomes. It utilises the power of the collective to help remove roadblocks.
And best of all, it’s a positive space, because it was built for one purpose only – to give and receive support – and that purpose has been honoured and carried into the Kinora culture from day one.
Inside Kinora, you can tap into hundreds of conversations to pull out insights and information as you need it. If you’re having trouble in a particular area, you can search that topic in Kinora to see what people have said. Simply type your topic into the search bar and the relevant conversation threads will come up.
If you have a burning question about disability or the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), you can post it and ask the Kinora community to respond. In a community that currently includes more than 10,000 people, there’s a lot of expertise to access and an abundance of opportunities to remove a sticking point fast.
In a deep sea of providers, it can be difficult to find the right one for you. If you want a referral or a recommendation, simply start a new conversation and ask the community for help. Or take a look at the Kinora marketplace, where you can search hundreds of providers by category or keyword.
And don’t forget, joining the Kinora community won’t cost you a cent. It’s completely free!
Leverage the power of community today at www.kinora.com.au.
We know that being a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participant can be life changing. After all, the NDIS has transformed the disability space in Australia.
But your journey through the Scheme – from checking whether you’re eligible to your eventual review – isn’t always straightforward.
At My Plan Manager, we’re here for you and all the twists and turns that might come your way. Because, just like no two people with disability are the same, nor will two people have identical NDIS experiences.
However, there are some common milestones, which is why we’ve mapped out some of the key points on your journey and signposted what to look out for on your way!
The NDIS has a big impact on participants’ lives, so it’s not surprising that the process of applying for, and being accepted into, the Scheme can be complex and time consuming.
But it doesn’t need to be overwhelming – and to help you on the way, we’ve broken the NDIS journey into five key milestones that you may encounter.
This is when you, your family members or support people will contact the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and begin the process of applying for you to become a participant in the Scheme.
The NDIA has lists of disability diagnoses that are likely to be automatically accepted as needing NDIS support. Click here to learn more.
There are also lists of conditions that are likely to result in a person being permanently impaired, and thus also eligible for the Scheme. Here’s what they are.
Anyone can apply to join the NDIS, but you must have evidence of how your disability impacts on your functional capacity, which is your ability to live your day-to-day life. This could be the way your disability impacts you physically (e.g., if you have a wheelchair, mobility aid etc) or it might be a different impact entirely (e.g., if you have an intellectual disability that means you need support to live independently and complete everyday tasks, like cooking, shopping or leaving the house).
What you need to do to apply: Fill out an NDIS Access Request Form or phone the NDIA on 1800 800 110.
Extra information to supply: Do you have allied health professionals or other providers you’re already working with? Ask them to fill out Section 2 of the NDIS Access Request Form.
They may also be able to report on your functional capacity and this could be provided to the NDIA as an assessment, a letter or a report. It’s vital that evidence about your functional capacity is included in the information you supply to support your application, and everything you give to the NDIA should be factual and share what daily life is like for you.
What you need to do before and during your planning meeting: Once the NDIA has accepted your application, you’ll officially be a participant in the NDIS. You, your family members and/or supporters will meet with an NDIA planner or your Local Area Coordinator (LAC). Together, you’ll discuss what your life looks like now and what your hopes and dreams are for the future – and these plans will become your NDIS goals.
As the saying goes, a goal without a plan is just a wish – so make sure to really consider what it is you want to achieve, and the supports you’ll need to do that. Click here for advice on goal setting.
Your goals will be part of your plan (and your budget will be aligned to them) and they’ll become guiding lights for you and the professionals you work with, as they report how their expertise is supporting you to work towards achieving your goals.
Some goals will be a one-off, some will be long term and may be carried over a series of plans, and others might be about maintaining and protecting a skill you already have.
Extra information to supply: Your goals are hyper-personal and are there to guide you to live the life you want to live. Think big and get creative about the areas of your life you’d like to expand and celebrate.
You could consider:
Goals are at the heart of your NDIS plan and because they’re so important, it can sometimes feel overwhelming to design them. Kinora, My Plan Manager’s free online community for people with disability and their supporters, gets it. Here's eight prompts from Kinora for brainstorming the best goals for you.
And let’s be real – while your NDIS plan is based around your goals, there’s not a person on the planet that’s smashing their goals every single day, and neither should you! Life has peaks and troughs. So just remember to zoom out and look at the big picture now and then, to ensure your NDIS supports are still in alignment with your goals.
What to expect at your implementation meeting: Implementation meetings are held with your LAC within 28 days of your plan being completed. They’re not compulsory, but they come highly recommended for participants who are joining the Scheme for the first time.
This is your chance to ask questions about your plan, your funding, and how you can and can’t use it. And, if you have any concerns or worries about your plan, the implementation meeting is a good time to raise them.
During the meeting you’ll also learn how to find the best service providers to work alongside you and how to set up service agreements and bookings. You can find a list of NDIS registered providers here.
Remember – think beyond the disability sector when it comes to your supports. You
might be able to access extra supports, including community and mainstream supports, by thinking outside the box!
What you need to do: Assessments aren’t compulsory, but they’re highly recommended. Held every three months, they are a review designed to see how everything is tracking with your plan. You can do this yourself, or you might wish to review your plan with your LAC or an advocate, or even reach out to your providers.
Why assessments can be useful: A bit like the way a goal without a plan is just a wish, without regular reviews there is a danger you could find yourself going off course with your plan. Conducting a review four times a year helps to keep you on track. It’s a chance to look at:
What you need to do: Be prepared to hear from the NDIA about six weeks before the end of your plan is due. This way, you can make sure you’re prepared for your plan reassessment.
If you or your supporters haven’t had any contact with the NDIA it’s important to be proactive and contact the Agency on 1800 800 110.
Be prepared: This is a really important time to ensure your next plan includes everything you need to ensure you have the support you require. You might look at setting some new goals and at revising the ones you currently have.
It’s also time to request and collect detailed reports from your providers about the work you’ve been completing together and how it’s contributed to your goal progression. Reports should be personalised to you and your journey, and include sufficient detail to support your requests.
The NDIA has this information for providers about how to support you with reporting. It’s worth a read to know what the NDIA is looking for – and you might want to share the link with your providers.
Wherever you are on your NDIS journey, you have the opportunity for small wins, big wins and radical change. Dream big! Fill your team with the right people and the sky’s the limit.
Earlier, we mentioned Kinora, our online community for Australians with disability. Designed to help people with disability and their supporters to connect with peers, NDIS experts, disability sector professionals and service providers, Kinora has loads of free, accessible content to support participants in understanding the NDIS and how to best navigate the Scheme.
It’s a community filled with answers to commonly shared questions and concerns – and there’s strength in numbers, right? Check Kinora out today!
As a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) service provider, it’s clear you’re in the business of empowering people with disability. After all, you wouldn’t be in the industry otherwise.
So, as a service provider, how can you best be of service to your current and future clients at every stage of their NDIS journey?
It’s good to understand the NDIS journey, the way potential participants will traverse that journey, and how you and your business can be of assistance.
Kinora is My Plan Manager’s online community – a platform that connects people with disability with each other as well, as with providers. Kinora has loads of free, accessible content to support participants and their supporters, as well as providers, to understand the NDIS and how to best navigate it.
As a provider, you won’t want to miss this NDIS Basics for Providers webinar. Settle in for 60 minutes and get a thorough understanding of the NDIS and everything providers need to know.
The NDIS journey is one with many critical junctures, where participants will need extra support from their providers. We’ll explain what happens at each point, what participants need to do, and how you, as their trusted professional, can be of assistance.
1. Applying for the NDIS
This is when parents or carers of children with disability and adults with disability and/or their supporters will contact the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and begin the process of applying to become participants in the Scheme.
The NDIA has lists of disability diagnoses which are likely to be automatically accepted as needing NDIS support. Here’s a list of conditions that are likely to meet the NDIA’s disability requirements.
There are also lists of conditions which are likely to result in a person being permanently impaired, thus they are also eligible for the Scheme. You can find out more here.
However, anyone can apply for the NDIS. They must have evidence of how their disability impacts on their functional capacity, which is their ability to live their day-to-day life.
What the applicant needs to do
Fill out an Access Request Form or phone the NDIA on 1800 800 110.
How providers can help
Are you already working with someone who plans to apply to the NDIS? Your evidence about your client’s functional capacity is crucial to the outcome of their access request. This could be supplied as a report, an assessment, or a letter. Professionals should also fill out Section 2 of the Access Request Form.
Important!
Your evidence must be factual and it should not shy away from conveying what life is like for your client on their worst day.
TIP: There are three options for NDIS participants to manage their plans. They can elect to be plan managed, to self manage, or to have the NDIA manage their plan (Agency managed).
Plan managed and self managed participants are free to choose from any providers. However, Agency managed participants are only able to use professionals who are registered NDIS providers. You can find out more about getting registered here.
2. Planning meeting
What the participant needs to do
Now the NDIA has accepted the access request, the person with disability is known as a participant in the NDIS. The participant and their supporters will meet with their NDIA Planner or Local Area Coordinator (LAC), and together they’ll discuss the participant’s current life, hopes, and plans for the future. They’ll also support the participant to set their goals.
How providers can help
If you’re already working with a participant, you can help them prepare for their planning meeting by reporting on what they’re already doing and providing a specific roadmap as to how your supports could assist them to achieve their goals. Remember to consider how you could expand your support to assist the participant:
Important!
Goals are some of the most important parts of a participant’s NDIS plan. It’s where providers can really provide support and advice to families. Need some prompts to help your client get started? Find eight prompts from Kinora on setting goals here.
3. Implementation meeting - for new participants
What the participant needs to do
Implementation meetings are not compulsory, but they come highly recommended for new participants who are joining the Scheme for the first time. Held within the first 28 days after a plan has been finalised, an implementation meeting will be scheduled by the participant’s LAC if they have one.
Participants can use this meeting to ask questions about their plan and how to use their funding, raise any concerns, find out what they can and can’t buy with their funds and – crucially, for you – receive advice about finding providers and setting up service agreements and service bookings.
Participants can also ask about extra supports they could access, like community or mainstream supports.
How providers can help
This is another opportunity for participants to know about you and your services as a provider. If you’re a registered NDIS provider, LACs and participants can find you on the NDIS Provider Finder.
Important!
Only providers who have registered with the NDIS Quality & Safeguards Commission will be listed on the Provider Finder. Registered providers are then authorised to use the logos ‘I/We Heart the NDIS’ and ‘I/We Support the NDIS’, along with the text ‘NDIS Registered Provider’. For more information, click here.
4. Assessment of the plan
What the participant needs to do
Again, this isn’t compulsory, but it’s highly recommended – a review every three months to see how everything is tracking with their plan. Participants may review this themselves, check in with their LAC or an advocate, or reach out to their providers.
How providers can help
Using quarterly reviews is a great way of checking in with participants and seeing how your working relationship is progressing. How have your supports or sessions been of assistance? Is your client still engaged with what you’ve been doing or is it time to introduce some variety – which could be new activities or even a new environment?
Quarterly reviews also allow you to speak with your client about their plan and their spending and what stage their plan is at – if it’s coming towards the end of their plan, now is the time to talk about report writing and supporting documentation that you can help with in the lead up to their plan reassessment.
Important!
Sometimes we can just drift along in our work with clients because everything seems to be on track and clients are satisfied. Of course, that’s great, and that doesn’t mean that every single session or day has to be a winner – after all, is every single person on the planet optimising every moment and smashing a goal every single day? Of course they’re not.
Participant journeys should have peaks and troughs like everyone else. But, as providers, we should always be keeping our clients’ goals front of mind and supporting the journey of progression, whether it’s paused or moving slowly forward.
5. End of the plan
What the participant needs to do
Participants should be prepared to hear from the NDIA about six weeks before the end date of their current plan, in readiness for a plan reassessment. If they haven’t had any contact, it’s important to be proactive and contact the NDIA on 1800 800 110.
How providers can help
This is where your reports about the work between the participant and you will be vital. Remember – NDIA Planners and LACs will not know what progression has occurred without personalised, detailed reporting from you. This will support your participant’s experience of working with you and how it’s supported their progression towards their goals. For more information about reporting for participant plan reassessments, click here.
Important!
The NDIA has provided specific advice about what allied health providers should include in reports for plan reassessments. The prompts will be helpful for many providers, and the Agency has included report writing tips too.
Of course, providers are there for support throughout a participant’s entire plan. You can make it easier for participants and their supports to find you and work with you by being a fair, respectful, and honest provider. That means:
Want to know more about becoming a provider of choice? Join Kinora as a service provider for free and become part of a community that’s working together to ensure participants and providers get great outcomes.
Depending on your disability, and its impact on your daily life, there’s an abundance of support you may be able to access through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), without dipping into your personal savings.
In the NDIS, Core Supports funding is designed to help you with daily activities. While participants typically use it to pay support workers to assist with everyday tasks like household chores or going to appointments, it has the flexibility to cover much more.
This means that, within your Core Supports budget, you can move money from one category to another (with some exceptions that you can find here). While you can’t move funding across your NDIS plan, within the Core Supports ‘bucket’ there’s a great deal of flexibility – if spending aligns with your disability, plan and goals. If you’re not quite sure, just ask your plan manager, support coordinator, NDIA planner or Local Area Coordinator (LAC).
Here’s six ways you might be able to spend your Core Supports funding. Read on – then give us a call to see if these might work for you!
Disability can create barriers to everyday tasks like cleaning the house, mowing the lawn, or fixing a broken cupboard, and the cost of hiring a cleaner, gardener or handyman can quickly add up.
The good news is, you can claim these supports out of Core Supports funding if your inability to complete the tasks alone is related to your disability, and if the supports meet the National Disability Insurance Agency’s (NDIA) reasonable and necessary criteria.
STA is accommodation at a different place to your usual home and is typically provided in a centre or group residence. You can access STA funding (in the right circumstances) for up to 14 days at a time, for a total of 28 days per year.
The cost of your STA – personal care, accommodation, food, and activities you and the provider agree to – may be able to be covered by your Core Supports budget, if you have enough funding in your plan to ensure your approved supports aren't affected by spending on STA.
Supports needs to be delivered by an STA provider, in a traditional STA setting, unless otherwise approved in writing by the NDIA.
STA can be used to build your independence (e.g. develop new skills) or strengthen your informal supports by offering you and them respite – the opportunity to take a break, with the aim of maintaining your current living arrangements.
If you believe your disability means you require non-traditional STA (from a provider offering individual support), the NDIA will need evidence to support your request before funding can be approved (in writing).
You can find more information about STA here and here.
If you have a support worker who assists you with cooking and serving your breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and they can’t come in for a while – or if you’re just looking to become a little more independent at home – you may be able to use your Core Supports funding to have meals prepared and delivered to your door.
If meal preparation isn’t specifically written into your NDIS plan, but it meets the NDIA’s reasonable and necessary criteria, it can be claimed from Core Supports funding for 90 days. After that time, you’ll need written approval from an NDIA planner to continue claiming meal preparation, or you might need to submit a change of circumstances or undergo a plan reassessment.
Last year, the NDIS made it easier for participants to access meal preparation support. Find out more here.
If meal preparation isn’t included in your plan but you’re keen to explore your options, give us a call on 1800 861 272 from 8am-6pm (SA time), Monday to Friday, and we’ll assist you.
Assistive technology is equipment or devices that help you do things you can’t do – or are limited in doing – because of your disability. Using assistive technology can help you to do those tasks more easily or more safely.
There are thousands of products on the market to make your daily life simpler, like adaptive cutlery, non-slip bathmats, laundry and washing line adaptors, and medication management devices. If assistive technology costs less than $1500, it can often be claimed through your Core Supports funding – but check first!
Like all NDIS supports, assistive technology must meet the NDIA’s reasonable and necessary criteria. If you’re not sure if the NDIS will fund a support you want to purchase, here are five questions to help you find out. You can also visit the NDIS website for further advice.
If they help you to participate in everyday activities, you may be able to use your Core Supports funding for a range of disability related health supports.
Specified by the NDIA within the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits, these supports – while medical in nature – may be funded when they directly relate to disability:
| Support type | What it is | Example/s |
| Dysphagia supports | Supports for participants who have trouble eating, drinking, or swallowing. | Meal management and planning, pumps, tubes, and antibacterial wipes. |
| Respiratory supports | Supports for participants who require support to assist them to breathe. | Coughing assistance machine. |
| Nutrition supports | Supports for participants who require support to enable them to eat. | Liquid nutrition products. |
| Diabetes management supports | Supports for participants who require assistance to manage their diabetes. | Funding for a support worker to be trained in the delivery of blood sugar testing. |
| Continence supports | Supports for participants who need assistance with continence. | Absorbent pads, nappies, wipes. |
| Wound and pressure care supports | Supports for participants who require assistance to manage wounds or ongoing loss of feeling in their body. | Dressings, barrier creams. |
| Podiatry supports | Supports for participants who need assistance to develop and implement a care plan to support their feet, ankles, and lower limbs. | Assistance by a podiatrist to fit custom orthotics. |
| Epilepsy supports | Supports for participants who require help to manage seizures. | Seizure monitoring devices. |
There are a range of supports that may relate to disability but are more appropriately funded by the health system. Some examples include end of life/palliative care, direct care supports accessed within a hospital, and emergency electrical generators.
You may have heard, or even experienced yourself, that the NDIS can sometimes be complex, time-consuming and difficult to understand. This can be true, but at My Plan Manager – your NDIS un-complicator – we’re focused on making the Scheme easier for our clients to navigate, so they can achieve the outcomes they’re after.
Time and again we hear from NDIS participants who are struggling to understand how to get bang for their NDIS buck and feeling unsure about where to find the providers who can support them to build their capacity so they can manage their funding and their lives.
They want expertise to ensure they use their plans well and make every dollar count so they can achieve their goals that much faster.
We’ve listened, and Kinora – our free online community of solutions – has created training to empower NDIS participants to manage their plans and their providers, right from the start of their NDIS journey.
Kinora’s capacity building training will show you how to use and maximise your NDIS plan funding and how to find and engage the right providers for you. The cost of the training is $210, and the great news is it may be funded by your Core Supports budget if it’s in accordance with your plan.
Click here to learn more.
We're here to help
Here’s some more information from us about your Core Supports budget – including the different categories within it. And here's our NDIS funding explained resource, which unpacks each NDIS plan budget and the categories within them.
If you have any questions about how to use your Core Supports (and wider NDIS) funding, we’re here to help. You can call us on 1800 861 272 from 8am-6pm (SA time), Monday to Friday, or email us at enquiries@myplanmanager.com.au.
You may have a favourite channel you flick to whenever you watch TV or YouTube. Similarly, there are channels in Kinora, My Plan Manager’s community of solutions, where you can get information and insights from experts in the disability space – fast!
This month, Kinora is launching two new pop-up channels – Explore Mental Health Services and The Right Living Options for You. These channels are direct lines to experts who understand the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and specialise in mental health and living options, and they’re available to answer your questions.
Why these channels may be important for you
Providers are a vital part of your support network and can hold a wealth of knowledge. The problem is, finding the right providers or asking them questions can often be difficult without an appointment or waiting in a queue. This is where Kinora’s two new channels come in.
Explore Mental Health Services (1-31 October)
Get your burning questions about mental health services answered. Questions like:
Recovery coaches are trained professionals who work with clients to:
Kinora has partnered with Recovery Plus Support to run the Explore Mental Health Services channel throughout October. Chat with their coaches from 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday – they can’t wait to hear from you!
To connect to a coach:
You can also reply or comment on a topic that’s already there.
The Right Living Options for You (1 October-30 November)
Through this pop-up channel you can explore Individualised Living Options (ILO), a relatively new package of supports that lets you choose where and how you live in the way that suits you.
Kinora has partnered with Hireup, Australia’s largest NDIS registered online platform, to run the channel throughout October and November. You can ask Hireup team members questions like:
Hireup believes in communities, which can break isolation, build connection and explore new ideas. Their team can help you explore independence, connections and new horizons in living.
To connect to a coach:
You can also reply or comment on a topic that’s already there.
Hireup’s team members will be available to respond to your questions from 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday.
Be quick – these channels are here for a limited time!
Live webinar: The NDIS and your living options – Tuesday 18 October | 12pm AEST
If you want to use your NDIS plan budget to live where, and in the way, you want, join Kinora for this virtual event that will unpack ILO and answer questions like:
The free virtual event will be brought to you by Kinora, Hireup and My Plan Manager.
To join, click here and register.
Explore mental health services as part of your NDIS plan - Tuesday 25 October | 1-2pm AEST
If you have a mental health condition or a psychosocial disability, mental health supports may not be part of your NDIS plan, but your NDIS budget may still be used for meaningful and practical supports to assist you to live a better life.
Kinora will host a live Q&A session with Recovery Plus Support to tackle this topic.
The virtual event is free of charge. To join, log on to Kinora, click this link and post your question.
Attracting new clients in a cluttered market can be hard. Kinora's Marketplace – powered by My Plan Manager – puts National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) service providers from across Australia in front of thousands of potential clients, connecting people with disability to the supports and services they need – when they need them!
By signing up to join the Marketplace, you can gain the competitive advantage that is offered by engaging directly with the broader Kinora community, a network of consumers and providers that is built on trust and focused on solutions.
You can also build your business’ brand awareness, take booking requests and speak with potential clients in your local area and around the country.
Kinora is a free online community created by My Plan Manager to help people with disability, their families and support networks to access NDIS expertise, get answers to burning questions, find services and supports, and build real, lasting connections with like-minded people who can support them throughout their NDIS journey. It’s a community of solutions that anyone can join.
The great news is, we’re just getting started. As our community grows, so too does its demand for quality services and expertise from reliable providers that people can trust.
To find out more about showcasing your business and services to the Kinora community through the Marketplace click here: www.kinora.com.au/providers.
Kinora is a free online community created by My Plan Manager to help you to access NDIS expertise, get answers to your burning questions, find service providers, and build real, lasting connections with like-minded people who can support you throughout your NDIS journey.
Kinora empowers people with disability to live their best lives. Through Kinora people can connect with each other in a safe, supportive and inclusive space that's free from judgement and negative behaviour – because we believe connection is everything.
Kinora was recently recognised in the AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies list as a sector-leading service to the disability community. To find out more about the 2021 AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies list, visit mostinnovative.com.au.
Visit kinora.com.au to learn more.
