Connecting with Local Area Coordinators (LACs), Plan Managers and Support Coordinators will help you navigate your NDIS journey and maximise the value of your time.
Local Area Coordinators (LACs)
If you are aged 7 or older, you can connect with a Local Area Coordinator that NDIS partner organisations provide. Their role is to link you to the NDIS and mainstream and community supports in your area. LACs can assist you with:
Understanding and accessing the NDIS - They can help you navigate the NDIS and provide you with access to group learning workshops.
Creating your NDIS plan - If you are eligible for a plan under the NDIS, your LAC (or sometimes the NDIS directly) will work with you to identify your current situation, supports and goals to help develop your plan. It is important to note that LACs cannot approve an NDIS plan, that is completed by a planner from the NDIA.
Implementing your plan - Once you have an approved and active NDIS plan, your LAC can help you start finding and receiving the services you need. You can also communicate with your LAC at any time throughout your plan with any questions you might have.
Reviewing your plan - Your LAC will work with you to make changes to your plan through a plan review when it is close to expiry (usually every 12 or 24 months, or if you ask for an unscheduled review).
An LAC is a support throughout your whole NDIS journey, from start to finish, that can guide you and assist you no matter the circumstance. It is important to link in with your LAC and gather as much information as you can, whether that be about supports available in your local community or information on how the NDIS works with other government agencies.
For children who are aged 0-6, and cannot connect with an LAC, you are able to be linked in with an Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) Partner. Click here to be taken to the NDIS website for information on an ECEI Partner.
Support Coordinators
You can request support coordination, depending on your specific circumstances, in your planning meeting or review and it is funded as a support under your NDIS plan if approved. A support coordinator will assist you to optimise your plan and ensure that you are getting the most out of your funded supports. Support coordination is not provided directly from the NDIS or from a partner organisation, they are separate, private businesses. There are three levels of support coordination and you can request the one that's right for you in your planning meeting. Support coordinators are responsible for:
Supporting you to understand and implement the supports funded in your plan.
Linking you to community, mainstream and other government services.
Supporting you to build skills and direct your life.
Connecting you to other service providers.
Building your ability to exercise choice and control and to coordinate your supports.
Ensuring service agreements are completed.
Making sure the services you utilise are relevant to your goals.
Helping you prepare for your plan reviews.
Reporting to the NDIA.
Building capacity and resilience.
Managing crisis' (planning, prevention, mitigation and action).
Finding and connecting with a good support coordinator can be hard, but you don't have to decide blindly. You can look up registered support coordination providers using the 'Provider Finder' tool in the myplace portal. You can also ask your LAC (or ECEI Partner) to assist you in finding one. Once you have found one or two that you like, you can speak with them over the phone and request a meeting, ensuring that you are connecting with someone who holds the same values as you and offers what you need.
Plan Managers
If you've ever used an accountant or a bookkeeper, that is essentially what a plan manager is for the NDIS. They will assist you in understanding and managing your plan funding and paying invoices to providers directly out of your plan. Plan management is completely free to you and can be requested at any planning meeting. It has a separate budget that is only used for plan management - so you don't lose funding elsewhere. If you don't request to have plan management added into your plan, it will either be agency or self-managed. You can read more about the different types of fund management options here.
Plan managers are once again a separate and private business and they also must be a registered provider. This means that they undergo audit and approval by third-parties and by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.
Working with a plan management company means they are responsible for:
Claiming funds from your plan to pay invoices from providers on your behalf.
Tracking and budgeting your plan funds.
Organising financial reporting for you.
Holding onto all invoices and information.
Assisting you to choose providers (in some circumstances).
For more information about plan management with My Solutions Plan Management, head over to our services page or send us a message on our contact page.