To Self-Manage or not to Self-Manage..
NDIS Self-Managed Plans. Pros and Cons.
Self-managing your NDIS funding offers several benefits, but also can be very time consuming.
such as greater autonomy and choice of supports and how they’re delivered.
Self-management may feel like more control and flexibility to choose a provider that best aligns with your plan and goals. With engagement control, you have the option to directly hire staff or arrange for someone else to do so on your behalf (such as a support coordinator).
It gives you full responsibility for managing your NDIS budget, ensuring you see every invoice and check it matches up to the shifts or sessions.
Sounds amazing? Well.. be cautious.. much more responsibility sits on the shoulders of the participant or guardian to stay on top of the plan.
Few things to remember:
Services must directly link to the participants goals: Ensure every service you engage aligned with your NDIS plan goals, and is reasonable and necessary. If in doubt ask the NDIS, your support coordinator or the occupational therapist who may have written the goals for clarification. You don’t want to be stuck with an invoice that the NDIS won’t pay.
Service agreements: Carefully read service arrangements with providers around service delivery, expectations, and payments. You must be able to understand the agreements.
Budget management: You will need to constantly monitor and manage your funding to stay within budget and ensure the funds last the duration of the plan. If the funds run out and you don’t realise the services will cease.
Timely payments: Stay on top of payment requests and ensure all supports are paid on time. You may think about an excel spread sheet to keep track of invoices.
Check the checks: If engaging providers or staff directly, it’s your responsibility to check they have all the correct qualifications and insurances needed to work with the participant.
Payment reviews: You may be asked to providing additional documentation to show spending and ensure it aligns with the NDIS plan.
It’s a lot to manage, and the pressure to keep everything on track can be stressful – particularly with the ongoing changes in the scheme.