How to Use Your NDIS Core Supports Funding: A Guide for NSW Participants

Core Supports is the part of your NDIS plan that pays for help with everyday life: getting ready in the morning, keeping the house clean, getting to appointments, buying the continence products you need, and getting out into the community. This post explains what each Core Supports category covers, how flexible the budget is, and some practical ways to make your funding last the whole plan.

What are NDIS Core Supports?

Core Supports help with everyday activities and ongoing needs related to your disability. They’re different from Capacity Building supports, which pay for building skills, and Capital Supports, which pay for equipment and home modifications. Core is the budget most people draw on week to week.

Core Supports is split into four categories. The budget is generally flexible across them, but knowing what each one covers makes it much easier to plan how you spend it.

The four categories of Core Supports

1. Assistance with Daily Life

This is usually the category people use most. It covers help with personal care tasks such as showering, dressing, grooming and meal preparation, as well as household tasks like cleaning, laundry and yard maintenance.

It can pay for:

• Personal care support (morning and evening routines)
• Household cleaning and maintenance
• Meal preparation and help with cooking
• Help with grocery shopping
• Respite care for carers

For example, someone who works part-time might have a support worker come three mornings a week to help with showering, dressing and breakfast, so they get to work on time without being worn out before the day has started.

Tip: Write down your daily routine for a week and notice which tasks take the most energy or cause the most stress. Those are usually the ones worth getting funded help with.

2. Transport

Transport funding helps you get where you need to go when you can’t use public transport on your own or don’t have a car. That includes getting to work, study, appointments and social activities.

It can pay for:

• Taxis and rideshare services
• Specialised disability transport services
• Community transport
• Training to use public transport on your own
• Vehicle modifications (major modifications often come under Capital Supports instead)

For example, a wheelchair user who has always relied on ageing parents for lifts might use transport funding to book wheelchair-accessible taxis for medical appointments and a weekly group, at times that suit them rather than their family.

Tip: If you’re not sure how much transport funding you need, track what getting around costs you for a month. Include taxi fares and the time family members take off work to drive you. Those numbers are useful evidence at your plan reassessment.

3. Consumables

Consumables covers everyday items you need because of your disability. The amounts are usually smaller than in the other categories, but for a lot of people these are things they use every day.

It can pay for:

• Continence aids (pads, catheters, bed protection)
• Skin care products for specific conditions
• Specialised food products, such as thickening powders and nutritional supplements
• Low-cost assistive technology, such as grabbers and adapted cutlery
• Prosthetics and orthotics maintenance

For example, someone with multiple sclerosis might use Consumables funding for continence products and skin creams that help prevent pressure sores, instead of paying for them out of pocket every month.

Tip: Keep receipts for disability-related products, even ones you don’t think will be covered. They show what you actually need when your plan is reassessed.

4. Assistance with Social and Community Participation

This category covers support to participate in social, recreational, and community activities. Isolation is a real problem for many people with disability, and this funding is there to help you get out and spend time with people.

It can pay for:

• A support worker to go with you to social events
• Help to attend classes or courses (but not the course fees)
• Support for sport, hobbies and the arts
• Help getting to community events
• Group activities and programs

For example, a young person who finds new social situations hard might have a support worker go with them to a weekly club at first, then step back as they get comfortable going on their own.

Tip: It doesn’t have to be a “disability service”. If you’d like to try a local yoga class, pottery or a concert, a support worker can help you get there and take part.

How flexible is Core Supports funding?

Core Supports funding is flexible across the four categories, however your plan is managed. Capacity Building supports usually aren’t, because that funding is allocated to specific categories and can’t be moved. So if you have money left over in Consumables, you can generally use it for Assistance with Daily Life instead.

Whether your plan is NDIA-managed, plan-managed or self-managed changes who pays your providers and which providers you can use. It doesn’t change how flexible your Core funding is.

There are a few exceptions:

• Stated supports: if funding is marked as “stated” in your plan, it has to be used the way the plan says.
• In-kind supports: funding marked as “in-kind” in your plan also has to be used as set out there.
• Transport: transport funding can be paid differently from the rest of your Core budget, so check your plan to see how yours works.

It’s worth checking your budget every three months. If one category keeps running short while another has money sitting unused, talk to your plan manager or support coordinator about how to spend it.

Making your Core Supports budget go further

These are the things we see make the biggest difference for the NSW participants we work with.

1. Know your hourly rates

The NDIS sets price limits for each type of support, and standard weekday support costs less than weekend or public holiday support. If your routine supports can happen during standard hours, your budget will stretch further.

2. Look at group supports

Where it suits you, group-based activities give you time with other people at a lower cost than one-on-one support. A lot of participants use one-on-one support for personal care and group activities for getting out and about.

3. Plan ahead for your reassessment

Start keeping notes at least two months before your plan reassessment. Write down where your funding was enough and where it ran short. That record is what you’ll lean on when you ask for the right amount of funding in your next plan.

4. Use technology where it helps

Low-cost assistive technology (under $1,500) often comes under Consumables. Things like medication reminders, adapted kitchen tools or communication apps can cut down how much hands-on support you need, which frees up funding for other things.

5. Get to know your providers

The better a provider understands your goals, what you like and what you find hard, the more useful their ideas about your funding will be. At Skillwise we take the time to get to know the people we support, and that’s often where the good suggestions come from.

Common mistakes to avoid

Saving your funding for emergencies. Being careful makes sense, but unused Core Supports funding usually doesn’t roll over into your next plan. The NDIA may also read a lot of unspent funding as a sign that your funding is higher than you need.

Not asking for help. Plenty of people go without because they don’t realise a support can be funded. If you’re not sure whether something is covered, ask your support coordinator or provider.

Forgetting the “reasonable and necessary” test. Every NDIS support has to meet the reasonable and necessary criteria. Before you ask for something, think about whether it’s related to your disability, whether it’s value for money, and whether it will help you work towards your goals.

Not reading your service agreements. Your service agreement should set out what supports you’ll get, what they cost and how you can cancel or change them. Read it again every so often, not just when you sign.

How Skillwise Disability Services can help

We help NSW participants plan how their Core Supports funding is used. In practice, that means:

• Sitting down with you to work out a spending plan that matches your goals, so your funding lasts the whole plan period.
• Fitting our services around you, whether you need two hours a week or twenty.
• Being upfront about pricing and showing you exactly how your funding is being used.
• Linking what we do back to your NDIS goals, whether that’s doing more for yourself, looking after your health or getting out into the community more.
• Helping you pull together notes on your needs and progress before your plan reassessment.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use Core Supports for therapy services?

Generally no. Core Supports is for everyday help, not therapy. Physiotherapy, occupational therapy and psychology usually come under Capacity Building supports (Improved Daily Living). If you need a support worker to help you during or after a therapy session, though, that could be covered under Core Supports.

What happens to unused Core Supports funding?

It usually doesn’t roll over to your next plan. The NDIA looks at how you’ve spent your funding when it reassesses your plan, and a lot of unspent money may suggest your funding is higher than you need. It’s better to use your funding as planned through the year than to save it.

Will switching from NDIA-managed to plan-managed give me more flexibility?

Not with how you spend your Core funding, because that’s flexible however your plan is managed. What changes is who pays your providers and which providers you can use. With plan management, a plan manager pays your invoices and you can use both registered and unregistered providers. You can ask to change how your plan is managed at any time. Talk to your Local Area Coordinator (LAC) or the NDIA about it.

How do I know if my supports are “reasonable and necessary”?

The NDIS uses set criteria. A support must be related to your disability, be value for money, be likely to be effective and beneficial, and take into account the informal support you get from family and community. Your support coordinator or provider can help you work out whether a particular support is likely to meet these criteria.

Can I use Core Supports to pay for my rent or food?

No. Core Supports can’t be used for everyday living costs that everyone pays, such as rent, mortgage payments, groceries or utility bills. You can use it for the additional costs that come with your disability, such as a support worker helping with meal preparation or grocery shopping.

Taking the next step

Once you know what each category covers and how much room you have to move funds around, it’s a lot easier to plan your spending and get through the year without running short.

If you’re not sure you’re getting the most out of your funding, have a chat with us. Contact our Rooty Hill team or call 0474 151 264. We offer free initial consultations for NSW participants to go through your plan with you and suggest ways to use it better.