NDIS PLAN MANAGEMENT - Making Your Life Easier
WHAT HAPPENS ONCE A PERSON HAS BECOME A NDIS PARTICIPANT?
Once a person becomes a participant in the NDIS, the NDIA must facilitate the preparation of the participant's plan. Each participant in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will have a plan, prepared in conjunction with the participant and approved by the NDIA.
The planning process seeks to identify the individual needs of participants’ and determine the range of informal, community, mainstream and NDIA funded supports needed to progress towards their goals.
A participant’s plan is made up of two parts:
• the participant’s statement of goals and aspirations
• the statement of participant supports, which specifies, among other matters, the supports that will be provided or funded by the NDIS.
A participant’s statement of participant supports will also set out the date by which the NDIA will review a participant’s plan (i.e. create a new plan) and how the funding for supports under a participant’s plan will be managed.
CAN THE NDIS PARTICIPANT MAKE A ‘PLAN MANAGEMENT REQUEST'?
A participant can make a plan management request specifying who the participant wishes to manage the funding for supports under their individualized plan.
There are no restrictions on how many plan management requests a participant can make. The participant's plan management request can specify how they want the plan to be managed.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THERE IS NO PLAN MANAGEMENT REQUEST?
Where a participant does not make a plan management request, the statement of participant supports in the plan must provide that the funding for supports is to be managed by the NDIA or a registered plan management provider.
WHY WOULD A PARTICIPANT WANT TO USE A PLAN MANAGER?
Participants who choose Plan Management to have a few distinct advantages:
• You can buy supports from non-NDIS registered providers (like Jim's Mowing, local community members or organisations and Therapists who have chosen not to register).
• You don't have to use the NDIS Portal.
• You have a partner in navigating the NDIS and someone to help you make the most of your Plan.
• You have most of the choice and control of Self-Management without the administrative burden.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BEING PLAN-MANAGED AND SELF-MANAGED? WHAT IS PLAN MANAGEMENT?
When we talk about managing a plan, we mean the way you manage the financial transactions involved with accessing supports as part of your plan. There are four ways to manage plan budgets:
1. Self-managed budgets- Self-managing your plan means the NDIS will pay you directly for the supports you claim under your plan’s budgets.
2. Agency-managed budgets - When the NDIA manages your plan, the NDIS will directly pay your support providers for you. You have to choose registered NDIS providers if the NDIA manages your plan.
3. Plan Management - If it’s the best option for you, you may have funding for a Plan Management service provider included in your plan. In this situation, the NDIS will pay your Plan Manager, who will directly pay for all supports you have asked them to manage. There will be no cost to you.
4. Combination of the above three options can be used together.
WHAT DOES A PLAN MANAGER DO?
Plan Management is, in its essence, a financial intermediary function. As a minimum, a Plan Manager is responsible for:
• Receiving invoices: Directly from the provider or Via participants
• Claiming from NDIS Portal
• Paying Invoices
• Providing a monthly statement to participant including, Summary of expenditure and Breakdown of budget totals remaining
Some Plan Managers may also engage act as a service intermediary or skills builder, supporting a participant to:
• Establish service agreements with providers
• Explore different budgeting options or scenarios
• Build their financial literacy
• Develop self-management capabilities
HOW MUCH FUNDING DO PEOPLE RECEIVE?
In their first plans, Participants typically receive $1,425.01 for Plan Management in non-remote areas. This is a combination of:
• 12 x monthly processing fee at $100.18 per month
• Setup fee of $222.85 (paid in every plan)
Occasionally participants are also funded for an amount of "Plan Management activities" hours at $55.27 per hour. This has become fairly uncommon and is typically only for participants wanting to build their capacity to manage their own Plan.
Plan Management is always included in the Plan in addition to other supports. Participants do not pay a percentage of their Plan and Plan Management supports should not come at the expense of any other supports.
CAN PARTICIPANTS GET FUNDED FOR PLAN MANAGEMENT EVERY YEAR?
Yes, if they want it.
HOW DO SERVICE PROVIDERS ENSURE THEIR INVOICES ARE PROCESSED IN A TIMELY MANNER?
When your customers are using us as their Plan Manager, getting paid by the NDIS becomes more straightforward. We know the NDIS payment system inside-out, so we can simplify the process for you and help you get paid faster – usually within 10 business days.
To help with prompt payment, we ask all service providers to provide clear and complete invoices that only include NDIS-funded services. If you’re unsure of how to create an NDIS invoice,
You can contact us to get a copy of our template. If you’d prefer to use your own, be sure to ensure it’s aligned with ATO guidelines and includes the required NDIS line items. A full list of codes and description of these line items can be found in the Price Guide of the NDIS, available at https://www.ndis.gov.au/providers/pricing-and-payment.html
WHEN IS THE PLAN MANAGER CHOSEN?
At the planning meeting a participant will specify their preferred mode of funds management. They may elect a particular Plan Management provider at this stage or the participant and/or their nominee can make this decision once the plan is approved (may be with assistance from Support Coordinator).
CAN ORGANISATIONS PROVIDE BOTH PLAN MANAGEMENT AND OTHER DIRECT NDIS SUPPORTS?
Yes. As with Support Coordination, providers can offer both services, provided they can demonstrate effective strategies to mitigate the conflict of interest.
WHAT ARE OUR SERVICE AREAS?
We service all of Victoria but our key focus is on providing NDIS plan management in City of Moreland and City of Hume in Melbourne.
We provide NDIS plan management in City of Moreland covering NDIS Brunswick, Brunswick East, Brunswick West, Coburg, Coburg North, Fawkner, Glenroy, Gowanbrae, Hadfield, Oak Park, Pascoe Vale, and Pascoe Vale South. Small sections of the suburbs of Fitzroy North and Tullamarine are also part of the City of Moreland.
We provide NDIS plan management in Hume City covering Attwood, Broadmeadows, Bulla, Campbellfield, Coolaroo, Craigieburn, Dallas, Diggers Rest, Fawkner, Gladstone Park, Greenvale, Jacana, Kalkallo, Keilor, Meadow Heights, Melbourne Airport, Mickleham, Oaklands Junction, Roxburgh Park, Somerton, Sunbury, Tullamarine, Westmeadows, Wildwood and Yuroke.