News

Short Term Accommodation (STA) supports provide an option for participants to stay in a residence (typically a centre or group residence) outside of their usual arrangements. These are comprehensive supports that allow participants to be supported while providing their regular carer with a break from their usual caring responsibilities.

The new Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits for 2024-25 have been released. These changes are effective from 1 July 2024.

The key changes include:

One of the key changes of transitioning NDIS plans to PACE is that participants will need to nominate certain providers before they will be able to receive payments for their NDIS claims.

The NDIA have announced some changes to their early childhood approach.

If your circumstances have changed since your planning meeting, your NDIS plan may need to be altered so that it can continue to meet your needs.

The Participant, Platform and Process (3P) Improvement Initiative is a new strategy by the NDIA that aims to improve the client experience.

Assistive technology (AT) is a term that the NDIA uses for devices or equipment that help you to do things that you can’t do as a direct result of your disability.

Allied health professionals are one of the largest groups of registered providers with the NDIS. Although the term “allied health” is used a lot when discussing NDIS supports, it’s not always clear exactly what makes allied health different from other health providers.

In the Operational Guidelines, the NDIA provides some examples where gym memberships would not be claimable. They argue that gym memberships are typically a day-to-day living cost that is not disability-related and therefore would not be funded by the NDIS.

Psychologists and Psychiatrists may seem similar but whether they can be funded by the NDIS differs. Psychologists may be funded in many situations, but a psychiatrist’s role may be much more limited.

At IDEAL, we pay invoices within 3 business days. However, prompt payment can depend on whether the correct information is on the invoice.

Although the bulk of NDIS supports are delivered from Australian providers, international suppliers may be used in certain situations. You may wish to use international suppliers to:

Certain supports have price limits that vary depending on when the support was given. If you are you are receiving your NDIS supports on a public holiday, it’s important to understand that increased rates may apply.

When thinking about whether the NDIS will fund health supports like nursing, there are several factors that will be considered.

The NDIS cancellation policy makes it clear when a provider would be able to claim from a Participant’s budget in the case of a cancellation. Both providers and Participants have certain obligations to each other which must be considered before a cancellation fee is charged.

Once you complete your planning session, your planner will allocate funding into your NDIS budget based on what supports they think are reasonable and necessary to help you achieve your goals. However, how you choose to use your funding may be more flexible.

As of 24^th January 2022, the NDIA announced that N

The NDIS may fund assistance dogs if they are specially trained to help you do things that you otherwise couldn’t do as a direct result of your disability. 

Budgeting is an important way to ensure you can get the most out of your NDIS plan. Both overspending and underspending are common issues but there are plenty of strategies you can use to minimise the risk. Here are some top tips to help you with budgeting your NDIS plan.

Support may be provided by the NDIS to enable you to access group activities, whether they are out in the community or in a centre.

All children love toys, but they can also be an important support for many children with disabilities. In fact, there are certain toys that have been purpose-designed to assist a number of children with their disability including:

If you require extra supports when going on a holiday, the NDIS may be able to cover the cost of these supports. Depending on your goals and needs, potential supports that may be covered include:

We’ve been hearing from NDIS Participants, Support Coordinators, and service providers that they’d like more communication surrounding new plans and plan extensions.

At IDEAL Plan Management, we aim to make the plan extension process clearer for you by:

Transport is an essential part of living an ordinary life.

If you are a recent school graduate, it may feel daunting to make the transition from school to work. Fortunately, there are options available through the NDIS which can help ensure you have the support that is needed to progress towards your employment goals.

To include a support in your NDIS plan, your NDIS planner must be satisfied that it is ‘reasonable and necessary’ to meet your ne

We have had numerous enquiries asking whether clients who have had low budget utilisation due to COVID will have their funding negatively impacted in their next plan. To help provide some assurance, we have put together some key points to consider prior to your next plan review meeting.

Meal preparation and delivery may be funded by the NDIS if a participant is unable to prepare food due to factors directly relating to their disability. The NDIA has released a new version of

Need ideas on how to use your Core budget? Core supports are the most flexible budgets in your plan, so there are many interesting ways you could use the funding. Here are 10 things which may be claimed as Core supports.

If an NDIS participant does not have a new plan by the time their current plan ends, the NDIA is likely to extend their plan. This means:

The NDIA requires that all claims from the NDIS must have the ABN of the service provider unless they are exempt. This is needed for both direct payments and reimbursements.

The NDIA has released more detailed information surrounding automatic plan extensions this week, including some eligibility guidelines, and a clearer definition of what an “automatic” plan extension is.

Update:

In positive news, the NDIA has advised that Support Coordination will remain claimable from Core until the end of March. The agency says this extension of this flexibility will allow time for participants to transition to alternative support arrangements.  

Original article:

The NDIA has today announced several changes to COVID-19-related measures, including: 

Update:

In positive news, the NDIA has advised that Support Coordination will remain claimable from Core until the end of March. The agency says this extension of this flexibility will allow time for participants to transition to alternative support arrangements.  

Original article:

Contrary to its previous position on the matter, the NDIA has today advised that Support Coordination will no longer be claimable from Core after February 28. 

Your time is valuable, so we’ll cut to the chase: 
 

As we approach the end of the year, COVID-19 is still changing the way we interact and engage services.  

As such, the NDIA continues to allow measures introduced earlier in the year to help participants access products, services, and plan budgets in an increasingly flexible manner.  

At IDEAL Plan Management, we believe in sharing knowledge to facilitate choice and control for participants, so we have put together this helpful visual guide to keep up to date on the NDIS COVID-19 measures available: 

NDIS Plans can be used to fund disability-related health supports where they directly relate to a participant’s significant and permanent functional impairment and will assist the participant to undertake activities of daily living, as outlined in the NDIS Price Guide.  

As one of Australia’s leading plan managers, we support these principles and the high standards they set out for the industry – all of which we have been dedicated to upholding since our inception in 2016.

Providers required to use Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in New South Wales and Victoria can now claim an extra $1.70 for every hour of daily living support delivered, with the allowance coming directly from the NDIA, rather than from a participant's budget. 

The temporary allowance comes in addition to the earlier introduction of PPE support items, so providers can continue claiming for PPE costs through the Price Guide in agreement with participants.

The Minister from the NDIS announced on the 12th June 2020 the first stages of a post-coronavirus NDIS, following a review of temporary measures to support participants and disability providers during the pandemic.

The NDIA has temporarily allowed extra flexibility for NDIS participants to purchase low-cost Assistive Technology.  As an NDIS participant, you can now use your NDIS consumables or core funding to buy smart devices and fitness equipment, in consultation with your support providers.

NDIS participants impacted by COVID-19 may need additional support coordination. Support coordinators can now access core funding according to the latest announcement from the NDIA.

New NDIS rules have been introduced to help service providers from 25 March. These rules may impact you as an NDIS participant, or your clients if you support anyone with an NDIS plan. NDIS participants impacted by COVID-19 may need additional support coordination. Support coordinators can now access core funding according to the latest announcement from the NDIA.

On 3rd February 2020, the Minister for the NDIS, Stuart Robert, announced that from 1st March 2020, Core Support funding could be used to claim for transportation to and from NDIS funded community-based activities. This is in addition to the time of the support worker, for which they can already claim.