Set NDIS goals with greater SCOPE

You’ve heard of SMART goals, right? Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.

The SMART approach is commonly used in workplaces and schools to help people set goals and track progress. But, when it comes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), goal setting works a little differently.

Your NDIS goals play an important role in your plan because they help tell the story of what you want to do, learn, improve, or achieve in your everyday life, and they influence the type of supports you can access with your funding. That’s why it's worth taking a bit of extra time to get them right.

One of the most common mistakes people make is writing NDIS goals that are too specific. It might seem like a good idea at the time, but a narrowly written goal can sometimes leave less room to explore different supports or activities that could help you work toward the same outcome.

That's why we developed SCOPE – a simple way to think about your goals and make sure they're working for you.

Before your next plan meeting or reassessment, grab a cuppa and write down a few goal ideas. Then work through our SCOPE framework to help turn those ideas into strong NDIS goals.

S - Stretch your goals by thinking bigger

Your NDIS goals are more important than many people realise, because one of the things the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) looks at when considering whether a support should be funded is how it helps you work toward your goals.

But a common mistake people make is building a goal around a specific activity, service, or support – so instead, take a step back and think about the bigger picture. This gives you much more flexibility and leaves room to explore different ways of getting there.

Let's say you'd like to attend cooking classes; while that's a great thing to aim for, it's only one way of achieving a broader goal. Ask yourself: What is it about cooking that appeals to me?

Maybe it's being creative, or improving your motor skills, or even the opportunity it offers for you to meet new people who share your interests.

Rather than writing “I want to attend cooking classes”, you could stretch the goal into something broader, such as, “I want more opportunities to connect with the community so I can build my independence.”. This approach could still fund support to help you attend cooking classes, but it could also cover other activities or different types of services that help you work toward the same outcome.

Practical tip: If your goal mentions a specific service, activity or piece of equipment, ask yourself why you actually want it, because the answer is often the real goal.

C - Capacity building helps you grow your skills and confidence

A big part of the NDIS is helping people build their capacity, which in simple terms means developing the skills and confidence to do more of the things that are important to you. That's because the NDIS is designed to support greater independence and participation in everyday life.

Try thinking about a skill you’d like to develop or part of life you'd like to improve. That might be making friends, getting involved in your community, studying, finding work, or feeling more comfortable doing things on your own.

Many NDIS supports are funded because they help people participate more fully in everyday life, so the more your goal focuses on building skills, confidence, or participation, the easier it becomes to see how those supports can help you work at achieving your goal.

Practical tip: If you're stuck for ideas, try starting your goals with words like learn, improve, develop, strengthen, increase, progress, create or build.

O - Obtainable goals help turn big dreams into action

It’s great to have big lofty goals, because they can give you something really exciting to work toward. Maybe you want to find a job, live more independently, travel on your own, or play sport at a higher level.

When you're writing your NDIS goals though, it can help to focus on the next step in front of you, rather than the finish line.

For example, your long-term goal might be to find paid work, and while that's absolutely something to aim for, if you're still building confidence or skills, it can be hard to know where to begin.

A more obtainable goal could be “I want to develop the skills and confidence to prepare for employment.”. This still supports the bigger goal of finding a job, but it focuses on something you can start working on right now.

Remember, your goals don't need to capture everything you want to achieve for the rest of your life, they just need to reflect where you're heading and what makes sense for you at this point in time. And breaking a bigger goal into smaller steps can make it easier to stay motivated and celebrate achievements along the way.

Practical tip: Think about where you'd like to be in a few years, then work backwards. What's one step you could realistically work toward during the next year?

P - Personal goals are the ones you'll be most motivated to work towards

Sometimes it's easy to end up with goals that sound good on paper, without really capturing what’s important to you, but they’re a lot easier to stick with when they're based on something you genuinely care about. If a goal matters to you, you're more likely to stay engaged and keep working at it.

Have a think about what you enjoy doing, what you want to do more or less of, what gets you excited, and what would make you proud. Try chatting with someone who knows you well – often a friend, family member or support coordinator will remember something you've talked about before or be able to point out a strength or interest you've overlooked.

Practical tip: If you're struggling to come up with ideas, try finishing these sentences and see where it leads you:

• One creative or physical outlet I’ve wanted to try, but never given a go, is…
• When I was younger, one job I really wanted to do was…
• I would feel so proud if I could…
• In my spare time, I most enjoy…
• My day-to-day life would be so much easier with…

E - Everyday life focuses on the difference the goal will make

Most goals are only one part of the picture, and it's worth taking a moment to think about what sits on the other side of them – which is often something much bigger than the goal itself.

For example, improving your communication skills isn't just about speaking more clearly, it could mean feeling confident ordering your own coffee, telling people when something isn't right, making new friends, or having a stronger say in decisions about your life.

Learning to use public transport could mean getting to work on your own, visiting friends when you want to, joining local activities, or having more freedom to go where you choose.

The same goes for learning to cook. Being able to prepare your own meals can mean having more independence at home, trying new foods, sharing a meal with family, or feeling proud of doing something for yourself.

When you think about the everyday impact of a goal, it's easier to see why it matters.

Practical tip: Once you've written your goal, add "so that..." and finish the sentence.

I want to improve my communication skills so that I can tell people what I need and feel more confident speaking up.

Putting SCOPE into practice

Every goal in your NDIS plan starts with an idea about something you'd like to do, learn, improve, or experience, and sometimes a slight change in the way a goal is written can open up possibilities you hadn't considered before.

SCOPE is simply a way of shaping those ideas into goals that give you flexibility, help you grow, feel meaningful to you, and connect back to the things that matter in everyday life.