Once you complete your planning session, your planner will allocate funding into your NDIS budget based on what supports they think are reasonable and necessary to help you achieve your goals. However, how you choose to use your funding may be more flexible.

To help ensure that you have choice and control, your NDIS funding contains a degree of flexibility. This may allow you to purchase supports that aren’t specifically listed in your plan but will still help you achieve your goals.

Budget flexibility works differently across the three types of support purposes.

Can your NDIS budget be used flexibly - Core

Your Core funding is the most flexible budget in your plan. It includes the following categories:

• 01 Assistance with Daily Life
• 02 Transport
• 03 Consumables
• 04 Assistance with Social, Economic and Community Participation

Your Core funding can generally be used for any of these funding categories except when funding has been specifically set aside in your NDIS plan as a ‘stated support’. When this happens, the funding can only be used for the specific support listed.

Another time where flexibility may be limited is when you receive Transport funding through periodic payments directly into your bank account. In these cases, your Core funding cannot be used to purchase additional transport services. Find out more about how transport may be funded through the NDIS.

Can your NDIS budget be used flexibly – Capacity Building

Capacity Building funding can be divided into eight budget categories. These are:

• 07 Support Coordination
• 08 Improved Living Arrangements
• 09 Increased Social and Community Participation
• 10 Finding and Keeping a Job
• 11 Improved Relationships
• 12 Improved Health and Wellbeing
• 13 Improved Learning
• 14 Improved Life Choices
• 15 Improved Daily Living

Flexibility may be possible within each individual budget category. However, unlike with Core, funding cannot be used across budget categories.

Can your NDIS budget be used flexibly – Capital

Capital funding consists of:

• 05 Assistive Technology
• 06 Home Modifications

Capital funding is typically the least flexible of the support purposes. Supports will usually be listed as ‘stated items’ and can only be used for the specific item outlined in your NDIS plan. In these cases, no flexibility is permitted.

Can supports be funded from multiple NDIS budgets?

Certain supports can be used across multiple funding categories. For example, a consultation with a dietitian could be claimed from:

• 12 Improved Health and Wellbeing
• 15 Improved Daily Living
• Core

If you have funding allocated to any one of these categories, and the support is considered reasonable and necessary, you will be able to claim for the support.

This also means that if you have run out of funding in one budget but still have funding left in another, you could still be able to pay for the support using the funding in another category.

Other supports that can be claimed from multiple support categories include:

• Occupational therapy
• Speech pathology
• Physiotherapy
• Psychology
• Exercise physiology
• Nursing

Get increased flexibility through NDIS plan management

At IDEAL Plan Management, we value our client’s right to choice and control. NDIS plan management offers flexibility that isn’t always available when your funding is managed in other ways.

If your plan is NDIA-managed, you can only use support providers that are registered with the NDIS. Alternatively, being plan managed (or self-managed) gives you more flexibility to choose the providers you want so you can better achieve your goals.

Want to know more?

If you want to find out more about NDIS budget flexibility, or our plan management service, give us a call on 1300 800 110 or send an email to manager@idealplan.com.au