How much time can you spend with your Support Coordinator every month?
If you have Support Coordination funding included in your plan, you may be wondering how you can budget your hours in order to have ample support before your plan’s end date.
You and your support coordinator should work together to estimate how many hours your support coordinator can spend with you every month.
The funds to pay for your support coordinator come from your Capacity Building budget, and this budget is finite. Keep in mind that your support coordinator will not be able to assist you once the funding for this support has been exhausted.
Level 2: Coordination of Supports
NDIS participants that are likely to be granted funding for Support Coordination
- Have limited or no informal support, for example from a relative
- Are new to the NDIS or are going through a significant life transition
- Are likely to get a tangible benefit from Support Coordination
- Will be able to develop the necessary skills to navigate the NDIS independently
As the aim of support coordination is to build your capacity, this funding is usually expected to decrease from plan to plan as you become better able to navigate your supports.
At Afea, our support coordinators provide Level 2: Coordination of Supports. (Learn more about support coordination levels.)
Coordination of Supports focus on supporting participants to direct their lives, not just their services.
Your Afea Support Coordinator will work with you to understand your funding, identify what you expect from services and how you want this designed.
They will coach you and work with you to develop capacity and resilience.
Price Limits for Support Coordination
The NDIS sets the maximum amount a support coordinator can charge per hour. You can look for the following item number in the NDIS price limits:
| Item Number | Item Name and Notes |
| 07_002_0106_8_3 | Level 2: Coordination of Supports |
How many hours do NDIS participants usually get? DSC has shared their analysis following a Freedom of Information request in 2020. You can read their analysis here, which shows that “low support coordination needs” get only up to two SC hours per month or 24 hours in a year.
However, every participant plan is different. Our support coordinators tell us that this really depends on participants’ needs.
They have seen plans with a wide range of support coordination hours included, from as low as 12 hours to something as high as 100 hours for the entire plan duration (typically 12 months).
Allocating Hours
Whatever the case, your support coordinator will likely allocate more hours at the beginning and end of your plan.
This will correspond with your initial meeting and setting up of your services (beginning) and with your plan reassessment (end), which is when you meet with the NDIA for the renewal of your plan.
The months in between will generally require fewer hours as your SC will just check in and make sure everything is going well with your engaged services and supports.
Plan Reassessment
According to our support coordinators, preparing for plan reassessment can take up to five hours. And that depends on how organised you are! Plan reassessment meetings usually require participants to provide evidence and reports, especially if requesting for more funding.
This is why it’s incredibly important to meet with your support coordinator so you can effectively allocate hours for the entire duration of your plan. You wouldn’t want to exhaust your funding too quickly.
Do you need a Support Coordinator?
We offer prompt and reliable communication, with your dedicated Afea Support Coordinator committed to respond within 24 business hours. Find your NDIS champion at Afea. Sign up with us now!
