We all have war stories about those times when ‘budget’ airfares turned out to be $50 more, shipping costs tipped a ‘cheap’ purchase into a ‘spendy’ one, or a public holiday surcharge added five extra bucks to the price of breakfast at the local cafe.
You’ve experienced it yourself, right?
So you know as well as we do that ‘hidden’ costs can quickly add up and burn a hole in your pocket – and they exist in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) too (think: travel fees on top of the hourly rate for a session with your physio).
Over time, these added charges make a big difference to your NDIS plan funding, and none more so than cancellation fees!
At My Plan Manager, we look at thousands of invoices every week and we see how common cancellation fees are. That’s why we wanted to share a few tips to help you keep them to a minimum.
Before you engage a provider’s services, be sure to check their terms and conditions, especially for information about how they handle cancellations.
According to NDIS Guidelines, providers of disability support worker-related supports can charge 100 per cent of the service fee for cancellations if they’re not made at least seven clear days prior to the scheduled start time of the agreed support. For supports that are not disability support worker-related (like physiotherapy), two clear business days' notice is required.
But – and it’s a big but – providers can only apply a cancellation fee if they can’t fill your appointment with another client or divert their staff member (like a support worker) to another job.
It may sound simple, but an easy way to avoid paying cancellation fees, is to show up to appointments at the scheduled time, and at the agreed meeting place. Of course, that’s easier said than done when unexpected events occur – like illness – or when your support worker cancels their shift and there's no one available to take you to your appointment.
Where it gets even trickier is when a provider cancels, which the NDIS Guidelines say they can do at any time, without penalty – even at the last minute. So, if a support worker cancels on the day of their shift and, for example, you can’t attend an appointment with your Occupational Therapist (OT) as a result, you still have to pay the OT.
That’s where service agreements become vitally important. Here’s why.
The NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits document says:
Importantly, if a provider changes the terms of their cancellation fees after you sign a service agreement, they either need to get your approval first, or cancel the service agreement and issue a new one. They can’t charge you extra fees without your approval.
It’s also worth knowing that if a service agreement you’ve consented to doesn’t comply with the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Limits, the agreement is invalid.
Here are a couple of examples of where service agreements do and don’t apply:
#1. A service agreement you consented to stipulates the provider can charge a cancellation fee if you provide less than 24 hours' notice.
The agreement is acceptable because you’ve negotiated cancellation terms that are better than the terms set out in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits.
#2. A service agreement you consented to stipulates the provider can charge a cancellation fee if you provide less than 10 days’ notice.
The terms of the agreement exceed the NDIA’s maximum notice for cancellation. Regardless of what the agreement states, you can’t be charged for a short notice cancellation if you provided the required notice.
Cancellation fees are common in the NDIS and knowing your rights and proactively advocating for what you want and need in a provider is vitally important to your NDIS journey. To set expectations, and before consenting to a service agreement, you may want to have a conversation with each provider about their approach to cancellation fees.
To help you to engage the right providers for you, we've created this checklist, which outlines what to know and what to ask.
It’s ok to speak up if you believe a provider has charged you incorrectly. This is your consumer right. You may wish to speak with them first to see if they can put things right or, alternatively, you can ask your support coordinator or local area coordinator to do it for you.
If you think a provider hasn’t charged you correctly, be sure to let us know too, and we can cancel the invoice.
We encourage you to sign up to receive SMS notifications from us. These will alert you to who’s claiming from your plan funding and how much, so you can contact us straight away to query invoices as they’re received. If you don’t currently receive SMS notifications from My Plan Manager, you can switch them on at any time by calling us on 1800 861 272 from 8am-6pm (SA time), Monday to Friday.
If you can’t resolve billing disputes with a provider, you can also contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission on 1800 035 544 or visit their website at www.ndiscommission.gov.au.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is complex, so no matter where you are on your NDIS journey, you’re bound to have questions that you need reliable answers to. We know this because – as NDIS plan management experts – we receive questions from our clients every day.
On this page we’ve shared our answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about the NDIS, in case they’re on your mind too.
To make them easier to unpack, we’ve sorted them by these common topics:
Of course, if you have a burning question (or two or three!) that’s not answered here, help is on hand. You can visit the FAQ section of our website or call us on 1800 861 272 from 8am-6pm (SA time), Monday to Friday. You can also email our NDIS plan management experts at [email protected].
Does plan management cost me anything?
No, it doesn’t! Being plan managed means there’s no out of pocket cost to you. That’s because plan management fees are paid from a specific type of funding within your NDIS plan.
It’s a benefit of the NDIS that participants can be supported by a plan manager without having to use the funds set out for their other supports, so if you’d like to engage a plan manager you just need to ask the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) to include funding for plan management in your plan.
Does My Plan Manager release funds directly to my providers and to me?
A lot of people think we hold cash and release funds directly to our clients and providers for items approved by the NDIS, but this isn’t true.
We follow a specific process to get invoices and reimbursements paid – a process that protects our clients, their providers, us and the Scheme. You can read more about that here.
What can I spend my NDIS funding on?
You must spend your funding on the supports set out in your NDIS plan. The NDIA usually describes supports flexibly, so you have more choice in how you use your funding.
For example, your plan may describe a support as '$5000 of therapy'. This means you can choose what type of therapy you buy with this funding. You could use $3000 for occupational therapy, and the remaining $2000 for physiotherapy, or you might spend the full amount on one support type.
Other funding in your plan may be fixed. For example, your plan may say you need to buy specific supports or use specific providers with your funding. If so, you must use your funding in the way it’s described in your plan.
Can NDIS funding pay for expenses like rent, medication, courses or a car?
The NDIS can’t fund day-to-day living costs that everyone has to pay – costs that aren’t caused by or resulting from disability support needs.
Vehicles aren’t typically disability-related supports because people need vehicles whether or not they have a disability, which is why the NDIS won’t fund cars (although it may fund modification of vehicles if that’s required).
Similarly, the NDIS won’t fund rent for the majority of participants. However, some NDIS participants may apply for Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) or Supported Independent Living (SIL) funding. An NDIA planner or Local Area Coordinator (LAC) will help you to establish whether you qualify for SDA or SIL or, in some cases, for both.
The NDIS won’t fund medicine which sits inside the Australian health system, but you may want to speak to your NDIA planner or LAC about approval of supports that are similar to those covered by the health system, but which are needed due to disability.
The NDIS will typically fund a requested support if it’s related to your disability needs and also meets the below funding criteria:
You can find out more about the NDIS reasonable and necessary criteria here.
Can NDIS funding be used in school?
The NDIS won’t fund school fees, textbooks or other curriculum-based items. However, it can fund extra support needed at school due to disability. These are supports that are not primarily related to your education and learning, and that are beyond what the school is responsible for. For more information, click here.
Do I have to tell a provider I'm paying with NDIS funding?
Not at all! You can negotiate and lock in a provider’s rates up front before telling them you’re an NDIS participant.
I’m having trouble finding service providers in my area. What can I do?
You can look further afield but be sure to consider provider travel fees. Providers can charge a participant’s NDIS budget for the cost of travel when they:
If a provider who comes to you – like a mobile physiotherapist – charges the maximum hourly rate under the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits, adding travel to that cost can quickly add up. You can try negotiating a reduction (or elimination) of travel charges to counter this.
If you live in a community where it’s difficult to access good, local providers at a fair price, the NDIS recently introduced Coordinated Funding Proposals (CFPs) to help participants attract specialist providers to underserviced communities. You can find more information about CFPs here.
Can I buy items and claim them from my NDIS funding afterwards?
Yes, you can purchase items out of pocket and submit an invoice or receipt for reimbursement. If you’re not sure if the NDIS will fund an item or a support you want to purchase, here are five questions to ask that may help you to find out.
I’m running out of funding. What do I do?
Call us. Our team has a detailed knowledge of the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits and can support you to use your funding flexibly when it’s running low.
You should also get in touch with your LAC or support coordinator as soon as you feel your funding is getting low.
How do I get things paid for?
Submitting an invoice or a reimbursement to My Plan Manager is easy.
Your providers can send their invoices directly to us (email or via our provider portal), you can email their invoices to us once you receive them, or you can submit an invoice or claim for reimbursement via our client portal and/or mobile app. You can download the app via the App Store or Google Play.
For those using email – to assist with prompt processing, please forward your invoices and receipts directly to our Accounts team via [email protected].
If you’re a My Plan Manager client, and you’re seeking reimbursement, please be sure to include ‘Reimbursement’ in the subject line of your email and make sure we have your up-to-date bank account details on file so we can pay you.
Providers wanting prompt payment should attach a compliant invoice as a PDF. Find out more about invoice payments here. Providers can also use our invoice template to assist with submitting a compliant invoice.
How do I maintain my assistive technology and what happens if it needs repairs?
Here’s everything you need to know about assistive technology repairs, directly from the NDIS.
How long do I need to keep invoices and receipts once I’ve submitted them for processing?
The requirements for keeping invoices and receipts vary depending on how you choose to manage your NDIS plan.
If you’re self managed, you need to keep records of invoices and receipts for five years to show you’ve paid for your supports and used your funding in line with your NDIS plan.
If you’re plan managed, your plan manager is responsible for keeping records on your behalf. As an added bonus, if you’re a My Plan Manager client and you use our client portal or mobile app, you can log in at any time and view any of your invoices.
If you’re Agency managed, the NDIA will store records on your behalf.
I think a provider has claimed from my NDIS plan when they weren’t supposed to. What can I do?
If you use the My Plan Manager client portal and/or mobile app, or you’ve opted to receive SMS notifications from us, you can see who's claiming from your plan and how much, and you can contact us to query invoices if they don’t look quite right.
If you haven’t elected to receive SMS notifications, you can switch them on at any time by calling us on 1800 861 272 from 8am-6pm (SA time), Monday to Friday.
If you suspect someone is doing the wrong thing with your NDIS funding you can report suspicious behaviour by calling the NDIS Fraud Reporting and Scams Helpline on 1800 650 717 or by emailing [email protected].
Do I have to pay for my support worker’s meals?
No, you’re not responsible for covering the cost of your support worker’s meals – including when you dine out together. That’s because each person is responsible for their own food expenses, and the NDIS doesn’t cover your meals or theirs.
If a one-on-one visit with your support worker is going to extend through a regular meal time, you might like to speak with them in advance to let them know your dining preference. Doing this will give your support worker the opportunity to plan ahead by either packing a meal or bringing money to purchase one.
My support worker is going to support me to attend a concert. Do I need to pay for their ticket?
For events, the National Companion Card (if you have one) may cover the cost of a support worker’s ticket. The National Companion Card enables eligible people with disability who require support to participate at venues and activities without incurring the cost of a second ticket for their companion. Click here for more information.
What are the rules of provider travel?
Providers can charge a participant’s NDIS budget for the cost of travel when they:
When a provider charges the maximum hourly rate under the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits, adding travel to that cost can quickly add up. That’s why it’s good to consider local providers if and when you can. You can try negotiating a reduction (or elimination) of travel charges, or you might like to visit providers at their premises.
Are unregistered providers ‘riskier’ to use?
Registered providers are verified by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and bound by the NDIS Practice Standards, which means they’re heavily regulated, compliant with NDIA requirements, and providers of verified, quality services.
However, getting NDIS-registered takes time and is costly, which is often a hurdle for smaller businesses, so they choose not to register – even though they may provide a high quality service that suits their clients and is completely covered by the Scheme.
You have choice and control over your providers, and you can decide whether a registered or unregistered provider is going to best meet your needs. Remember that only plan managed and self managed NDIS participants can use unregistered providers!
How do I find the providers I need, including a good support coordinator?
On way you can find the providers you need is by searching the NDIS Provider Finder or by accessing the myplace portal.
You can also connect to trusted providers in Kinora, an online community created by My Plan Manager to help people with disability and their supporters to connect with peers, NDIS experts, disability sector professionals and service providers.
Other ways to find providers include searching free online directories such as Clickability, Disability Support Guide, Karista, and My Care Space, and seeking word of mouth recommendations from your networks.
We’ve created this checklist of what to know and ask to help you engage the right providers (and avoid those who aren’t the right fit).
Can I delete information from a provider’s report?
Redacting (deleting) information from a provider’s report isn’t allowed. That’s because the provider is the owner of the report, even though it’s about you, and even if you’ve paid for it.
If a provider has made a mistake in their report, you can ask them to correct it, and if you don’t agree with their assessment, be sure to ask what they can do to make the changes you need.
If they don’t agree to change the report, you can write your own statement that highlights your differing views and why you believe the assessment isn’t accurate. Then submit that statement with their report to the NDIA.
Can my relatives be NDIS support workers or support coordinators?
Generally, the NDIA will only fund family members to provide supports in exceptional circumstances, like when:
The NDIA will consider the circumstances of each case and any wishes expressed by the participant, and also take into account what it is reasonable to expect others to provide.
The NDIA will not fund a family member to provide personal care or community access supports unless all other options to identify a suitable provider of supports have been exhausted.
Do I need to put service agreements in place with my providers?
Not at all! Having service agreements with your providers is optional, but they are recommended.
When you provide us with signed service agreements, we can set aside funding for the supports you’ve agreed to receive, to give you confidence and certainty that funding is there each time you need it.
When I get a new plan, do current providers need me to sign a new service agreement?
Yes – if there’s a new program of support. A program of support is an agreement between you and a provider that shows the supports you’ll receive.
I’m not happy with the service delivered by one of my providers. Can I end our service agreement?
Yes, you can, but you may have to pay a cancellation fee if it’s stipulated in the service agreement. You may also need to give the provider some time to cancel their services, which is called a notice – or cancellation – period. We recommend checking the terms and conditions, especially for appointment cancellations and cessation of services, before you sign a service agreement.
Before looking to cancel a service agreement, you may want to talk with your current provider and ask them if they can change their supports to meet your needs and preferences.
The NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits sets out the conditions for providers to claim cancellation fees.
Do I have to sign a service agreement if I don’t agree with information in it? How enforceable is it?
You don’t have to sign a service agreement. But, if you want to sign it but you don’t agree with the information in it, you can talk with your provider about changing it.
Service agreements are covered by Australian Consumer Law and are enforceable by law if the promised services in it aren’t provided.
How do I pay for Short Term Accommodation (STA)?
The best and easiest way to use your NDIS funding for STA is with a specialist provider that provides all your accommodation, personal care, meals, and activities. However, you can claim these items separately for the period you’re staying in STA (so, you can source them from more than one provider) if they’re within the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits.
If STA isn’t stated in your NDIS plan, but you have enough funding available in your Core Supports budget to ensure your approved supports aren't affected by spending on STA, you may be able to use it.
Accommodation for support workers can also be covered under STA, but you can't claim accommodation for your informal supports.
For more information, we’ve unpacked everything you need to know about STA here.
Whose responsibility is it to find, or assist with finding, Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) housing?
If you need help finding SDA vacancies or would like to discuss if an SDA vacancy is suitable for you, talk to your NDIA planner, LAC or support coordinator. You should check that the dwelling meets your needs before committing to a service agreement.
The NDIS also has an SDA finder that can help you to search for accommodation vacancies that match your needs. If SDA has been included in your NDIS plan, the SDA building type and location will usually need to align with your plan.
I’m confused by what my NDIS plan means. Who can help?
You can contact your LAC or support coordinator, or speak to us.
Can I ask for a different NDIA planner if a planning meeting didn't go well?
No, but you can ask for a review if you’re unhappy about a decision the NDIA made when developing your plan. A review means that an NDIA staff member who wasn’t involved in the development of your plan will have a look to decide if the decision was right.
You can ask for a review for a range of reasons, including what supports are included in your plan, how much they’re funded for, and even how your funding is managed. The important thing to remember is that you need to request a review within three months of the date you received a copy of your plan.
If you’d like a new planner because you’re unhappy with the planner you have, you can lodge a complaint with the NDIA.
To gain more plan funding/keep my current funding, the NDIA has asked me to provide reports and assessments, which cost a lot of money. What can I do?
You can claim the cost of reports and assessments from your Improved Daily Living budget if you already have an NDIS plan.
I'm coming up for a plan reassessment – what do I need?
You may need to provide reports or assessments from some of your providers for your plan reassessment meeting. This is to show how your supports and services are helping you work towards your goals.
Reports and assessments can also make recommendations for supports and services you might need in the future. Your early childhood partner, LAC, support coordinator or NDIA planner will discuss this with you, or you may want to ask them yourself.
For more information and tips for preparing for a plan reassessment, click here.
My child is a participant in the NDIS and they’re turning 18. What do I need to do?
When a child turns 18, they legally become an adult and the NDIA encourages adults to be involved in making their own decisions. If they aren’t ready to, or can’t, a person appointed as a ‘nominee’ can act on their behalf or make some decisions for them. This can be part of a plan to transition towards independence.
If you think your child will need a nominee when they turn 18, contact the NDIA, or your child’s LAC or support coordinator well before their 18th birthday to discuss it.
For more information about appointing a nominee, click here.
If your circumstances have changed, you’ll need to let the NDIA know and you may want to ask for a plan reassessment. To let the NDIA know about a change of circumstances, you can:
The NDIA will respond within 21 days by doing one of the below:
The NDIA will contact you to explain its decision, which you can ask to have reviewed if you don’t agree. You can find more information here.
We’re here to help
If there’s a question we haven’t answered here, you can visit the FAQ section of our website or call us on 1800 861 272 from 8am-6pm (SA time), Monday to Friday.
Updated 31 October 2024
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 [email protected].
A lot of people think that a plan manager holds cash and releases funds directly to participants and providers for items approved by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). But this isn’t true.
At My Plan Manager, we follow a specific process to get invoices and reimbursements paid – a process that protects you as our client, as well as us and the Scheme.
Here’s how it works:
Your provider sends us their invoice, or you send us a receipt for reimbursement.
We review the claim to ensure it meets our invoice requirements and aligns with your NDIS plan.
Our technology is the most sophisticated in the sector and allows 32 checks (and counting) to be completed on every invoice – providing confidence that your finances are in safe hands.
It also allows us to scrutinise every invoice to make sure providers aren’t charging more than the rates set out in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits – if they are, we won’t process the claim.
We also verify the services you’ve been invoiced for and make sure they’re being claimed against the correct budgets.
We submit the claim to the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) on your behalf.
The claim will either meet the NDIA’s validation rules or it won’t (it’s not manually reviewed).
To help reduce fraud and non-compliant behaviour, the NDIA has confirmed that, if a claim meets its validation rules, the Agency will release the funds to us within two or three business days.
Some payments may take up to 10 working days to be processed, allowing time for the Agency to undertake more rigorous investigation of claims.
We’ll then make the payment to your provider on your behalf or pay you your reimbursement.
We make a record of each payment, so it's reflected in your plan budget, and you can see it at any time in our client portal and mobile app – and in your monthly budget report, which you can find in the client portal and mobile app too.
Our client portal and mobile app are great for helping you to keep track of your plan budget and see it in real time.
Don’t have access? Contact us and we’ll happily assist. You can email us at [email protected] or call us on 1800 861 272 from 8am-6pm (SA time), Monday to Friday.
While we’re investing into research, technology, and practice to get your invoices paid to the right people swiftly and securely, it’s important to assess and recognise your own risk too, so you can keep your information and funding protected. Here are some tips from My Plan Manager to help protect yourself from fraud.
As a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participant, your plan funds are precious, and you want to make the most of every single dollar.
And – as Australia's leading (and largest!) NDIS plan manager – we know the hacks to help you do just that. After all, we see hundreds of NDIS plans and invoices every day!
In this article, we give you some tips and tricks to remove unwanted costs – meaning you can maximise your plan funding and live your best life. Have a chat to your support coordinator or local area coordinator to see if they can help you to put some or all of these ideas into practice to help you:
Has a provider ever charged you for travel? Providers can charge a participant’s NDIS budget for the cost of travel when they:
If a provider who comes to you – like a mobile physiotherapist – charges the maximum hourly rate under the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits, adding travel to that cost can quickly add up. That’s why it’s good to consider local providers if you can – and try negotiating a reduction (or elimination) of travel charges.
If there’s provider travel involved, then less frequent sessions that run longer in time can help to reduce unwanted travel costs.
For example, you could ask a provider to deliver 8 x 90 minute sessions instead of 12 x 60 minute sessions. Both options equal 12 hours of support, but the first removes four sets of travel expenses.
Be aware there are different provider rates in the NDIS for weekdays, weekends and public holidays. That means it’s cheaper to see a provider during the week, rather than on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday.
Make sure your providers build a schedule of supports that meet your needs, rather than sending through a service agreement that utilises all your available funding.
If a provider asks to see your NDIS plan budget before sending you a service agreement – or if their service agreement equals the total value of a particular budget category – it’s worth digging a little deeper to understand what they’re recommending, and why.
Don’t forget, if you aren’t happy with a provider you’re using, you have every right to change.
Certain services, like rehabilitation and support after a recent medical or surgical event, sit under Medicare – Australia’s universal health care system.
Be sure to first check the support you need isn’t covered there or under a different mainstream service, which might save your NDIS funding.
We occasionally hear of providers charging more when they know a client is a participant in the NDIS. This could be because they see their client’s funding as ‘government money’ to stake a claim to, or they may think NDIS participants are less likely to shop around or negotiate a lower rate.
This practice is sometimes referred to as applying an ‘NDIS tax’ – and the good news is, you can avoid it. How? Negotiate and lock in a provider’s rates up front before telling them you’re an NDIS participant.
Allied health assistants can provide supports under the guidance of an allied health professional at a lower cost and are often students accruing experience in their final year of study. Because of this, they often have the latest knowledge and training in their field.
If you see an allied health professional, you may want to ask if an allied health assistant can provide some or all of your supports at a lower rate to help your funds stretch further.
If you have support workers to help you with daily living activities, be sure to know the range of services they can provide – like supporting you to maintain your garden, clean your home, do your washing, and prepare your meals.
This may mean you won’t have to spend your NDIS plan funding to pay a cleaner, a gardener or a meal delivery service.
Group sessions can provide a great way to get out and about in the community with like-minded peers – and you can often participate in a group where there’s a lower ratio of support (i.e. more participants per support worker).
By joining in a group activity with two other participants (1:3) instead of alone with a support worker (1:1), you can get supports at a third of the cost.
Have an open dialogue with providers about what supports you may be able to utilise in a group setting to help cut costs and still get the full value from activities.
If you’re reading this, you want maximum value from your NDIS budget. The problem is, a lot of providers charge the maximum price in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits, leaving little space for competitive pricing. This is where Coordinated Funding Proposals (CFPs) can help.
CFPs let you form a group of people with the same or similar support needs and combine funding to:
For more information about CFPs, click here.
An allied health practitioner, like an occupational therapist, may recommend assistive technology to maintain your independence and decrease reliance on external supports.
From combi-reachers to walking frames, dressing sticks to portable clothes lines, there’s a seemingly endless range of assistive technology tools designed to support people with disability get the most out of life.
We're here to help
At My Plan Manager, we see hundreds of NDIS plans and invoices every day and know how to cut unwanted costs.
If you have any questions about using your NDIS plan funding, email us at [email protected] or call us on 1800 861 272 from 8am-6pm (SA time), Monday to Friday.
There were two participants in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
The first was a keen spender. She saw her budget like free money and didn’t hesitate to use it. Sure, she was investing it to grow her capacity, but she didn’t pace her spending, which eventually left an NDIS-shaped hole in her pocket.
Because she’d burnt through her entire budget in the first six months of getting her plan, it meant that for the next six months before her plan reassessment, she had zero funds to see the providers who were vital to her quality of life. And that meant she had to lean on her family and friends (who weren’t very reliable) and constantly call in favours – even just to fill her fridge.
At the point of her plan reassessment, she’d spent thousands of dollars out of her own pocket on transport to shops and doctors’ appointments, and capacity-wise, she was pretty much back where she started.
The second participant was a conservative spender, and drastically underspent her NDIS plan funds. At her plan reassessment, the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) saw she’d underutilised her budget and concluded that she didn’t need it. This meant the next plan she received had a much smaller budget, which cut out access to a raft of providers who were important to improving her quality of life*. Her new plan budget contained the bare minimum, and she hadn’t taken every opportunity to achieve her plan goals.
What these people have in common is they didn’t get help with spending their plan funds. They didn’t have expertise to structure their spending, slow them down when they overspent, or encourage them to spend more. And, because they didn’t track their budgets, they were spending in the dark without a clear picture of how much funding they had available.
If you’re a little like either of these people, or if you’ve experienced what they have, it’s not your fault. The NDIS is a huge area to unpack and understanding a plan budget and the best way to spend it can take time and experience. But what’s clear is, if you’re not utilising your NDIS plan funds correctly, you’re not taking every opportunity to reach your plan goals. This is where expertise to guide you with spending your funding is vital.
At My Plan Manager, we see plans every single day and we know the ins and outs of maximising every dollar. Getting help at the start of your plan can set you on the right track to spending, and make it work the best for you. And the good news is, we’re here to assist.
Here are three ways we can help you to maximise your funding and avoid a budget blow out when you call us at the start of your plan.
Taking these steps will help set you up to think proactively about using your plan, rather than getting a call from us to let you know your funding has run out – something we never want to see for any of our clients.
We work with NDIS plans every day – and we see a lot of them! Even if you have a support coordinator, you may be able to push their knowledge further if you have a second option from a plan manager like us. A mix of expertise is valuable.
And, because we’re the biggest provider in the country (and we’ve been around the longest!), it means we do more than just plan management. Our team has a detailed knowledge of the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits and can support you to use your funding flexibly when it’s running low. For example, an iPad which supports you to access your speech therapist via telehealth could be claimed via your Core Supports or Capacity Building Supports budget. We've seen all the invoices and can advise you what the NDIS will and won't fund, and where to claim it from, whenever you need help or a second opinion.
Also, you don’t know what you don’t know. If you haven’t accessed the therapies that you’re entitled to, a therapist may not recommend assistive technology. Or, sometimes, supports in your plan have an expiry date – like mid-cost assistive technology – and if you’re not completely across this, you may miss out too. Having a conversation with us early in the picture can mean you’ll know all the requirements to have a smooth experience with purchasing technology.
If you’d like to speak with us about maximising your plan, we’re here to assist. Call us on 1800 861 272 from 8am-6pm (SA time), Monday to Friday, or email [email protected].
*This scenario isn’t guaranteed to happen, but similar scenarios have happened in the past.
If you’re sending an invoice our way for processing, here’s a quick tip to get the money from the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and into your bank account faster.
But before we get to that, you may want to use this client invoice template, which tells you exactly which details to include in your invoices. Simply fill in the blanks and upload your invoices to our provider portal (here’s a handy ‘how to’ guide) for prompt payment. You can upload up to 10 invoices at once to make the process even simpler.
Alternatively, if you’re not comfortable uploading invoices in this way, you can email them to [email protected].
Be sure to include the following information on every client invoice you submit to My Plan Manager:
Bonus points if you add your client’s NDIS number! This helps us to save time searching to find them in our system, and helps you to get paid quicker.
From 1 August, My Plan Manager’s corporate headquarters will relocate to an accessible, sustainable and collaborative space on King William Street in Adelaide’s central business district.
Outside, the new corporate headquarters can be reached easily via tram, with a tram stop located in front of the building. The building can also be reached conveniently by bus or car. Inside, our new premises have fully accessible lifts, bathrooms and seating, and are being fitted with accessible kitchens.
My Plan Manager’s sustainability goals mean we embrace opportunities to reduce our impact on the environment so we can operate as sustainably as possible now and into the future. The new building has a National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) energy rating of 5.5 out of 6 and the carbon footprint is reduced by solutions such as sensors for heating, cooling and lighting, and efficient recycling and waste systems.
The My Plan Manager team looks forward to welcoming our clients, providers and other guests to our new space at Level 9, 400 King William Street Adelaide SA 5000.
But, did you know that at My Plan Manager, you also have access to a team of experts who can help you - at zero out-of-pocket cost - to maximise your plan to achieve better outcomes? To help you to do this, we’ve prepared five simple tips for using a plan manager.
Understanding what an NDIS plan can cover is a sticking point for a lot of participants, especially when they’re new to the Scheme. That’s why we have a dedicated team of experts who can advise you on what supports, services and providers you can access through your funding, to give you the confidence and certainty to keep moving forward.
To help you get started, we’ve created this free fact sheet that breaks down what each NDIS budget type and support category can cover, to paint a clearer picture of what your plan may fund.
We can also help you to find the right providers and, if ever you happen to run out of funding in one category (which we explain is avoidable in Tip #2), we can show you the different categories you may be able to claim from.
To speak to our team of experts about what your plan can cover, email us at [email protected] or call us on 1800 861 272 from 8am-6pm (ACDT) Monday to Friday.
Just like household budgeting helps to allocate cash to put food on the table, pay utility bills or cover everyday expenses, budgeting your NDIS plan funding can help you to access the supports you need throughout the duration of your plan. A great time to do this is when you start a new plan, or if your plan has been extended or rolled over, and we’re here to help.
If you have a support coordinator, you can also provide them with access to your My Plan Manager client portal, so they can see what funding you have, where you can spend it, and how long it will last – and that means they can also help you to forward plan and budget for the period of your NDIS plan. You can provide your support coordinator (and others) with access to your information through the My Plan Manager client portal by completing this consent form. You can fill the form out on a computer or print it out and complete it in writing. Once completed, you can email it to [email protected].
To speak to our team of experts about budgeting, email us at [email protected] or call us on 1800 861 272 from 8am-6pm (ACDT) Monday to Friday.
At My Plan Manager, we take time-consuming paperwork off your plate so you can focus on what’s important - like growing your capacity to achieve better outcomes. We do the heavy lifting of managing your plan and processing your payments.
However, for your peace of mind, you may want the ability to track your plan spending, see your budget in a snapshot and check the payment status of invoices through the My Plan Manager client portal. You can even do this on the go through the My Plan Manager app.
We know that swift payment of invoices is essential for providers' peace of mind and vitally important for keeping your supports in place, which is why we show every provider how to help us pay your invoices faster and avoid payment delays.
We can answer all your questions about pricing to make sure your providers are charging you correctly. We can check they aren’t charging you more than the rates set out in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (formerly known as the NDIS Price Guide), which lists the maximum prices that registered providers can charge you for specific supports.
If your NDIS plan is Agency managed – i.e., managed by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) – you are restricted to using NDIS-registered providers only. When you work with a plan manager like us, you can choose from a deeper pool of service providers, including those who are not NDIS-registered. This gives you greater choice and control with selecting providers you want to work with.
To speak to our team of experts about the tips we’ve covered above, email us at [email protected] or call us on 1800 861 272 from 8am-6pm (ACDT) Monday to Friday.
