NDIS Core Support budget is designated to assist you with your day-to-day activities and expenses tied to your disability. These funds can be applied to fulfill your daily requirements, pursue your aspirations, and cultivate essential life skills.
Remember that your core support budget, much like your entire NDIS plan, is specifically allocated for expenses related to your disability. It cannot be utilized for typical daily costs such as rent and groceries that apply to everyone. However, due to the adaptable nature of your core support budget, you can often creatively utilize it to address your specific needs.
What’s included in your core support budget?
Your NDIS core support budget encompasses four distinct categories: Activities of Daily Living, Consumables, Assistance with Social, Community, and Economic Participation, and Transport.
The Activities of Daily Living budget offers assistance that empowers you to fulfill fundamental daily tasks, from meal preparation and consumption to grooming and dressing. This category encompasses a diverse range of support options, spanning from daily support personnel to temporary respite housing accommodations.
The NDIS Consumables budget is designed to aid you in procuring essential items that facilitate your daily activities. These items are often single-use and need to be regularly purchased, such as continence supplies or wound care products.
Your Participation budget offers assistance aimed at enhancing your involvement in social interactions, community gatherings, and vocational or skill-building activities. Beyond covering the expenses of a support worker for event attendance, these funds can sometimes be utilized for expenses like educational fees or transportation to community functions.
Your NDIS Transport budget is typically issued as a fixed monthly payment and is exclusively intended for transportation-related costs. It cannot be allocated to other types of expenses.
How flexible is your core support budget?
Your core support budget stands as the most flexible segment of your NDIS plan. The funds allocated for your Daily Activities budget, Consumables budget, or Participation budget can be seamlessly transferred among these categories without necessitating a plan review. The rationale behind this flexibility is rooted in the understanding that while your Core Support budget provides consistent assistance for routine daily activities, the NDIA acknowledges the dynamic nature of your daily support requirements. As you progress, your capacity and independence are intended to increase, consequently leading to shifts in your core support needs.
For instance, during the initial plan creation, you might require a support worker to aid you in eating. Simultaneously, your budget might encompass capacity-building support like occupational therapy, which could enhance your self-feeding abilities. Over time, you might reach a point where you can feed yourself independently but require specialized eating utensils for improved grip and handling. In this scenario, you could reallocate funds from your Activities of Daily Living budget to your Consumables budget to acquire the necessary specialized utensils.
Furthermore, your core support budget encourages some degree of innovation, provided you can demonstrate that your funding allocation aligns with your goal-oriented pursuits. Additionally, the NDIA frequently fine-tunes the flexibility of the core support budget, offering you an expanded array of choices.
However, certain parts of your core support budget are not flexible and cannot be redirected to other categories. The non-flexible items in your core support budget include the following:
- Your transport allowance, if there is one in your plan;
- Funds for specialized disability living accommodations for people with high needs;
- In-kind pre-paid support like public school transport; and
- Stated items that are quoted for your plan and stated in your budget as a specific expense, such as an individualized living arrangement.
Flexibility Dependence
The flexibility of your core support budget depends on how your plan is handled. If all your core support money is managed the same way, you can move it around between categories. But if some parts are managed differently, like you managing some and someone else managing others, then moving money between them might not work.
For example, if your daily living support is managed by a plan, and your consumables are managed by you, you can’t switch money from daily living to consumables. This rule doesn’t apply if you want to move money between a plan and the NDIA managing it; it’s only about categories you take care of yourself.
NDIS Core Supports Examples
Below is a list of all the support items in each core support funding category.
Activities of Daily Living
- Assistance with self-care activities
- Specialized home-based assistance for a child
- House or yard maintenance
- House cleaning and other household activities
- Assistance in supported independent living
- STA (short-term accommodation) and assistance (including respite)
- Medium-term accommodation
- Assistance in living arrangements
- Individualized living options
- Self-management capacity building
- Delivery of health support by an enrolled nurse, clinical nurse, clinical nurse consultant, or nurse practitioner
- COVID-19 SIL (supported independent living arrangement) services & supports
Consumables
- Low-cost assistive technology
- AT (assistive technology) rental
- Adult continence items
- Child continence items
- Home enteral nutrition items
- Wound care items
- Disability-related health equipment and consumables set-up and training
- Respiratory items
Assistance with Participation
- Access community, social, and recreational activities
- Group activities
- Supports in employment
- Group activities in the community or a center
Transport
- Transport
- Specialized transport to school/educational facility/employment/community
Conclusion
In conclusion, your NDIS core support budget is a dynamic resource designed to enhance your independence and well-being. With its adaptable allocation across various categories, you have the freedom to tailor your support according to your evolving needs and goals.