The NDIS provides an important opportunity for people with a disability to take control of their support and access the services they really need. In order to ensure that the NDIS works most effectively for your benefit, it’s crucial to consider how best to use your funding so it works to your benefit.

Understand how funding can meet your needs

It’s important to understand what areas of your life are directly affected by your disability and how NDIS funding can help to alleviate them. Maybe you would benefit from home modifications that improve accessibility to your living space. Or you may need assistance with home care or transport services to access community activities.

Whatever support you require, the way your funding is directed should always be influenced by what your goals are, how your disability restricts you from achieving them, and how funding can help to overcome those challenges.

Utilise your full funding allocation

There are plenty of reasons why you may not end up using all of your funding. Some of those may include: 

• Not knowing what the funding is for or how to use it
• Having trouble accessing supports 
• Worried about spending on the wrong thing
• Unable to access supports due to health or other reasons 
• Not knowing your maximum weekly spend.

Engaging a plan manager can be a big help to ensure you stay on track. They can let you know what your overall budget is, how much funding you have left and assist you in making changes to your plan before your NDIS plan expires.

How to avoid underspending in the future

The best way to avoid underspending (or overspending) in the future is to understand your budget. 

Get to know: 

• How much is your overall funding 
• Whether those funding categories are flexible
• What is your maximum weekly spending 
• Who you can ask for help. 

Prioritise your independence and social inclusion

If living with a disability impacts your capacity for autonomous living, or prevents you from accessing social supports in the community, think about how your NDIS plan can change that. 

At Community Access Care, we place great importance on working with our clients and their loved ones to help them live independently. Our services can assist you in developing essential life skills in the home as well as providing transport services to connect you to your community and enable social participation.