Understand Your NDIS Plan
Understand how NDIS budget work?
The NDIS budget works by giving participants a choice to purchase support from providers of their choice. This means that the participant controls how they spend their money and can buy supports they believe will best meet their needs.
Participants can choose to purchase support from several different providers, including:
Core Support Budget
Capacity Building Support Budget
Capital Support Budget
1. Core Support Budget
A core support budget is designed to help people with disability live independently by giving them the support they need to cook their meals, choose where they want to go on holiday and make new friends. It can be used for anything from help with personal care to getting around the city by public transport or taxi.
You can use your NDIS core support budget to purchase services from approved providers. These may include:
- Transport, such as taxis and buses
- Personal care, including support workers who help with bathing or dressing
- A wide variety of therapies, including speech therapy and physiotherapy
- Consumables that help you maintain a comfortable life
- Participation in community activities to improve your relationships and social life.
2. Capacity Building Support Budget
The NDIS Capacity Building Support program helps people with disability, their families and carers develop new skills and learn how to run their support services. The program is designed to help people build the capacity to make decisions about what is best for them.
The program provides funding to help people with disability and their families participate in activities that will improve the quality of their lives by:
- improving decision-making skills
- developing new skills or learning existing ones
- increasing independence and reducing isolation
- enhancing confidence in decision-making abilities
3. Capital Support Budget
NDIS capital support can be used to invest in assistive technology equipment or equipment related to your disability. For example, if you have trouble walking and need a wheelchair, you might use NDIS capital support to buy a wheelchair. Or if you are blind and need sunglasses and a cane, you might use NDIS capital support to purchase those items.
NDIS capital support can also be used to pay for things like the construction of a ramp in your home so that you can access it safely and modifications to your car so that it’s easier for you to drive (such as lowering the pedals or changing the height of the seat), or even modifications to your house to make it easier for you to live there (such as widening doorways).
You might be able to get funding for the following:
- Assistive technology equipment that supports communication, mobility or self-care
- Equipment that improves access to education or employment opportunities
- Equipment that helps you participate more fully in daily life
