Getting Support Coordination Funded In Your Ndis Plan

Support coordination is one of the best features of an NDIS plan, one of the easiest to be missing out on, since it’s not automatic. It is only funded by the NDIA when it determines this is reasonable and necessary for you, which is often when the need is explained at the planning meeting or reassessment.

Many people who would benefit from coordination funding never get it, as people do not advocate for it. The following is a guide to getting it right.

If you've been told you don't have Support Coordination funded, or you're not sure whether you qualify, you're not alone. Many participants don't realise this funding isn't automatically included in every NDIS plan.

At Support Network, we help participants understand when Support Coordination may be appropriate, what evidence can strengthen a request and how to prepare for planning meetings with confidence.

Before You Ask For Anything, Make Sure You Know What It Is You Want

You are requesting funding for one of three different types of coordination: Support Connection (Level 1) at $80.06 per hour (2025-26), Coordination of Supports (Level 2) at $100.14 per hour (2025-26, the most common type), or Specialist Support Coordination (Level 3) at $190.54 per hour (2025-26, for high-risk and complex situations). It’s in a separate line of funding, it’s not a reduction of your core supports, and if it is in your plan, you don’t pay anything out of your pocket.

The levels are important as they are used to identify what you are requesting. “Need support coordination” is less strong than “Need Level 2 support coordination as I will be coordinating five providers for therapy and daily support, and this is my first time requiring this level of support coordination.”

The Test The Ndia Is Applying

As with all aspects of your plan, the coordination must be “reasonable and necessary.” In practice, planners finance it when it would be really hard to implement the plan without it. The elements that support a coordination request on a consistent basis:

Complexity of supports. A number of providers, in various categories, that need to coordinate. The more moving parts, the more reliable the case.

Newness. Initial plans, or plans as a result of a significant change: new diagnosis, hospital discharge, housing change. It is difficult to learn the system while living it.

Limited informal support. Be honest and say so if there are no family or network members to assist in the process of navigating.

Barriers to self-navigation. Cognitive impairment, psychosocial disability, problems with communication, or the nature of your disability that renders your admin and phone navigation a real challenge.

Risk. Where poorly designed supports are present which present a significant risk: deterioration in health, instability in housing, crisis. (There are high levels of risk factors that suggest a Level 3.)

Past evidence. If you have a plan that you have not been able to put into practice to a large extent, then you need to have some assistance. Typically underspending is a bad idea at reassessment: this is the only time that it’s good for your argument.

At The Planning Meeting, How To Ask

Don’t wait for someone to offer it; bring it up. At some point during the discussion about your plan, explicitly state, “I’d like support coordination funded, and why.”

Then provide the planner with three things. First, the concrete picture: the number of providers, what types, what needs to be put together from the ground up. Second, the barrier, your honest reasons for not being able to do it on your own: your situation, capacity and network. Third, the goal link. If it is not linked to a goal, then it is not going to get plans working, so connect it to a goal: “without help connecting to these therapies, the funding for them will sit unused and I won’t progress toward X.”

Bring supporting evidence. A letter from your GP, OT or psychologist that you require support with coordinating services is very important. So does an under-spend on a previous plan, or when things went wrong with the support you were receiving and you were unable to fix it.

If You Are Requesting A Specialist (Level 3)

The bar will be raised, and the evidence will have to match. What reassures planners is evidence of real complexity and risk: testimony from the treating professionals about the overlapping problems (health, housing, justice, psychosocial), a history of crisis, and why normal coordination cannot adequately address the situation safely. Requests that are vague, for “more support”, don’t land; specific, professionally documented risk does.

If The Answer Is No

If your request isn't approved the first time, it doesn't necessarily mean you don't need Support Coordination. Sometimes additional evidence or a clearer explanation of your circumstances is all that's needed for the NDIA to reconsider the decision.

You have options. It is important to ask the planner to put the request and the reasons for refusal in writing, as you should be able to understand the decision. If you think it is incorrect, you can ask for an internal review within 3 months and appeal to the Administrative Review Tribunal afterwards. Documentation matters: the most frequently cited reason for coordination requests not succeeding is lack of documentation, and a targeted letter from a treating professional normally changes it the second time around.

While you may not have all the help you need, your Local Area Coordinator will be able to offer you a basic level of implementation support if you are not a funded participant. It’s not the coordinator, but it’s something, use it and document where it doesn’t work, as that will become your next request.

At Reassessment: Retain It Or Continue To Develop It

If you already have coordination funding, don’t assume that it will automatically renew, reassessment is the time when coordination funding gets cut. Be ready to demonstrate what it accomplished: supports connected, problems solved, plan utilisation, capacity built. Your coordinator should help you put this together, this is part of what they are responsible for doing, and this is in their best interests.

The reassessment is where you make the case for a higher level, for more complexity, new risks, while making sure you continue to prove your case using evidence.

The Bottom Line

Coordination funding is available to the participants who make the case, rather than the ones who need it the most. Be clear about the level you are requesting, demonstrate the complexity, be honest about barriers and connect it to your objectives, and support with professional evidence if possible. A typical difference between a plan you can fund and a plan that doesn’t get funded is 15 minutes of preparation which takes place before the planning meeting.

After coordination is in your plan, Support Network provides all three levels of coordination (including Specialist Support Coordination) throughout Australia. Learn more at supportnetwork.com.au or call 1300 671 931.