As part of applying for the NDIS, applicants need to work out where they want to spend the money allocated to their plan. To make the process easier, the NDIA has split the services it offers into three budget categories:

Core Supports
Capacity Building Supports
Capital Supports

It’s important to remember your funding is always based on what is reasonable or necessary to achieve the goals outlined in your NDIS plan. If your goals are to do with daily living assistance, or joining in on community events, then you’ll need to budget for Core Supports.

At Absolute Care & Health, we are a registered NDIS provider. We provide a range of disability services which will help you reach the goals outlined in your plan.

What are the different Core Supports categories?

The Core Supports budget has been designed to help you with daily activities, in relation to your goals. This budget covers the following categories:

Assistance with daily life
Consumables
Assistance with social and community participation
Transport

Assistance with daily life

This category has been designed to help you achieve maximum independence in your daily life. Depending on your goals, this part of your NDIS plan can cover one-on-one assistance with activities like:

Showering and dressing
Help getting in and out of bed
Maintaining a clean home
Preparing food
Community nursing care

These supports may help you gain independence in your home. A support worker can visit you at home, and provide assistance to help you reach your goals.

And, if you experience difficulty doing any of these activities due to your disability, a support worker can do them for you.

Consumables

The NDIA defines consumables as products which you use on a daily basis which relate to your disability. These include:

Disposable items, such as continence pads
Specialised food supplements
Products for eating and drinking, such as straws
Interpreting and translating services
Assistance dog (including guide dog)

Basically, if you need daily products relating to your disability, this support will pay for them. There’s no need to pay for these items out of your own pocket.

Please note: It’s important to understand consumables are different from Assistive Technology, which falls under the Capital Support budget.

This category has been designed to help you achieve goals relating to social, emotional, and intellectual development. You can choose to allocate part of your funding to this support service, so you can participate and contribute to your community. This support may pay for a support worker to assist you:

When shopping
At school or places of further education
Join in community events, clubs, or groups

For example: If you have a goal around engaging more with community events and social groups, a support worker can help you get there, and help with any activities relating to your disability (such as going to the bathroom) while you are there.

Transport

This support covers travel or transport to work and other places, to help you achieve your NDIS plan goals. The amount of funding, and how you spend it, will depend on your situation and disability needs. This covers specialised transport to places like:

School or educational facility
Place of work
Places in the community or community events

This type of support is different from community participation. It pays for things like taxis or Uber to get you to and from your destination if you can’t use public transport due to your disability.

What to do next

Once you understand the Core Supports budget, you can start working out how they will help you achieve your goals. If you are managing your fund yourself, you can start allocating your budget the way you feel it will best serve your lifestyle and disability needs.

Otherwise, you can access a Plan Manager who will assist you in creating your NDIS plan. To understand more about the different ways you can apply for the NDIS, we suggest reading our resource article How to claim through the NDIS. Once your NDIS plan is finalised, you can start receiving supports through an NDIS provider.

What Absolute Care & Health can do for you

At Absolute Care & Health, we are a registered NDIS provider. This means we are government regulated and adhere to compliance standards set out by the NDIA.

But, more than that, we’re dedicated to helping you achieve your goals. You can let us know what kind of support worker you’d like to work with, and we’ll match you with one of our friendly and compassionate team members.

If you have any other questions, find out more about how we work with NDIS plans to help our clients achieve their goals.