Local Area Coordinator (LAC)

What is a Local Area Coordinator (LAC)?

A Local Area Coordinator (LAC) is a worker from a local organisation that the NDIA partners with to help people with disability aged 9 to 64 understand, apply for and use the NDIS. LACs help participants prepare for planning, put their plan into action and connect with community and mainstream services. They do not approve plans or funding — those decisions are made by the NDIA.

The NDIA calls this program local area coordination. It describes it as a program to support people with disability to access a broad range of community and mainstream supports and services, delivered by local area coordinators working for local area coordination partners. The organisations are often called "partners in the community" or simply "NDIS partners".

You will hear "LAC" used in three ways:

• The person: your local area coordinator, often your day-to-day NDIS contact.
• The organisation: the LAC partner that employs coordinators in your region.
• The service: local area coordination itself, which is funded by the NDIA rather than from a participant's plan.

What a Local Area Coordinator does

According to the NDIA's local area coordination partners page, LACs support people with disability to create and work towards their goals, build capacity to make their own decisions, and access the supports they need. In practice the work falls into four stages.

1. Understanding and accessing the NDIS

LACs explain how the scheme works, run information sessions and talk people through whether they might be eligible. If someone is thinking about applying, the LAC can help them understand the access request process and what evidence is useful. Importantly, you can talk to a LAC about supports in your community even if you are not eligible for an NDIS plan.

2. Preparing and developing a plan

If you become a participant, your LAC talks with you about your current situation, informal supports, daily life and goals, and passes that information to the NDIA. A LAC cannot create or approve a plan. An NDIA delegate (a planner) makes the decision about which supports are funded as reasonable and necessary.

3. Putting the plan into action

Once the NDIS plan is approved, the LAC helps you understand what each budget is for, how your funding is managed, and how to find and start with providers. For many participants the LAC is also the contact person for questions during the plan.

4. Checking in and changing the plan

LACs can check in during the plan to see whether it is working, and can help you ask for a plan reassessment or a plan variation when your needs or circumstances change.

Alongside the plan cycle, LACs build links with local community groups, sporting clubs, arts groups and social networks, and help people use mainstream supports such as health, education and transport. This community work is a core part of the role, not an add-on: the NDIS is designed to sit alongside other services, not replace them.

Who LACs work with (and who they don't)

The age split matters, because it decides which partner you deal with.

LAC partners do not operate in every part of Australia in exactly the same way. The NDIA's What is an NDIS partner page lists who delivers local area coordination in each region, and the NDIA can tell you who your contact is.

LAC vs support coordinator, planner and plan manager

These roles overlap in the public mind, but they are paid for differently and have different powers. The quickest test: a LAC is funded by the NDIA and helps you use the scheme; a support coordinator is funded from your plan and helps you build and manage your supports.

A few distinctions people search for most:

• LAC vs support coordinator. Support coordination is a funded support in the capacity building part of a plan. A support coordinator works more intensively on finding providers, resolving problems and building your ability to manage supports yourself. A LAC does some of the same connecting work, but with less depth and without any cost to your plan. If you have support coordination funded, your support coordinator usually becomes your main day-to-day helper (see the NDIA's guide to working with a support coordinator).
• LAC vs NDIA planner. The planner is an NDIA delegate who makes the funding decision. A LAC gathers information and can help you prepare, but cannot approve, increase or change your funding.
• LAC vs plan manager. A plan manager pays provider invoices and tracks spending for plan-managed funding. A LAC does not handle money.
• LAC vs early childhood partner. Both are NDIA partners. Early childhood partners work with children younger than 9 and their families, and include early childhood professionals.

What participants should know about working with a LAC

A LAC can make the difference between a plan that reflects your life and one that misses key needs. To get the most from the relationship:

1. Prepare before planning conversations. Write down what a typical week looks like, who helps you now, what is hard, and what you want to change. Bring reports from your treating professionals.
2. Say what you want, in your words. Your goals and needs should be recorded as you describe them. Ask the LAC to read back what they have written.
3. Ask what happens next and when. The LAC can tell you who will make the decision and how you'll be contacted.
4. Check your plan when it arrives. If it doesn't match what you discussed, ask your LAC to explain it. You can ask for a review of the NDIA's decision; the decision letter explains how and by when.
5. Use your LAC between plans. If your circumstances change, they can help you work out whether you need a change of circumstances notice, a plan variation or a reassessment.

You can bring a family member, friend or advocate to meetings. If you can't make decisions on your own even with help, the NDIA can appoint a nominee, but that is a last resort.

What providers need to know about LACs

For a provider, LAC partners are part of the local referral network. The NDIA's provider toolkit describes LACs and early childhood partners as key partners that providers will work alongside. Practical points:

• LACs help people connect with services, but the participant chooses. Make sure local LAC teams know what you offer, where and for whom — but expect choice and control to stay with the participant.
• Don't offer incentives for referrals. Gifts or payments for referrals create a conflict of interest and sit badly with the NDIS Code of Conduct.
• Good records help reassessments. When a participant asks their LAC for help with a reassessment, clear progress notes and progress reports against goals are often the most useful evidence. The free progress note writer helps workers write notes that stand up later.
• Confirm consent before sharing information. Only share a participant's details with their LAC when the participant (or their authorised representative) agrees.
• Know the limits of the LAC role. A LAC can't approve a quote, extend a service booking or change a budget; those requests go to the NDIA.

Recent and upcoming changes (2026)

Several reforms in 2026 touch the work LACs do:

• New framework planning is delayed to 1 April 2027. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing says the rollout of new framework planning, which includes a new support needs assessment and budget method, will start from 1 April 2027 and be introduced in phases (Securing the NDIS for future generations). Until then, current plans continue under existing rules.
• The NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 passed Parliament on 19 August 2026 and is now law. The government says there are no changes to how people access the NDIS until 1 January 2028, so LACs continue to support people to apply in the same way until then.
• Navigators are still being designed. The 2023 independent NDIS Review recommended a new "navigator" function to help people find supports. At the time of writing we could not find an official start date or a decision that navigators will replace LACs — check ndis.gov.au for the current position.

Common misunderstandings about LACs

• "My LAC decided my funding." They didn't. LACs gather information and help you prepare; an NDIA delegate makes the decision.
• "A LAC costs money from my plan." Local area coordination is funded by the NDIA, not from your plan budgets.
• "LACs are the same as support coordinators." Support coordination is a funded support with more intensive help; a LAC is a free, lighter-touch connection role.
• "Only participants can see a LAC." LACs can help people who aren't eligible for the NDIS to find community and mainstream supports.
• "My child under 9 should see a LAC." Children younger than 9 are supported by an early childhood partner instead.
• "A LAC can recommend the 'right' provider for me." They can share options, but you choose your providers.