Plan management

What is plan management in the NDIS?

Plan management is one of the three ways to manage the funding in an NDIS plan: a registered plan manager pays your providers from your plan and keeps the financial records, while you choose your supports. The other two options are self-management and NDIA-managed (agency-managed) funding. The NDIA adds separate funding to your plan to pay for plan management, so choosing it doesn't reduce the money for your other supports.

When someone says a participant is "plan managed" or "plan-managed", they mean some or all of that participant's NDIS funding is paid out by a plan manager. The term describes the funding arrangement. The organisation that does the work is the plan manager, which has its own page covering what plan managers do, how to choose one and the rules they follow. Plan management sits between the other two options:

• More choice than NDIA-managed funding: you can use unregistered providers as well as registered providers for most supports.
• Less paperwork than self-management: you don't pay invoices, lodge claims or reconcile payments yourself.
• The same price limits as NDIA-managed funding: providers can't be paid more than the NDIS price limits, whether they are registered or not.

How plan management works

Your NDIS plan shows how each part of your funding is managed. You can ask for plan management while your plan is being developed, at your plan implementation meeting, or later. The NDIA's guide to your management options explains that you can mix options in one plan, for example plan-managed core supports alongside self-managed capacity building supports.

When plan management is in your plan, the NDIA includes funding to pay the plan manager in the Capacity Building "Improved Life Choices" budget. The NDIA describes this money as separate from your other supports, and it can only be used to pay a plan manager (NDIA: What is plan-managed funding). The maximum fees a plan manager can charge are set in the NDIS pricing schedule; you can look up the current plan management items in the free NDIS price guide.

Day to day, the money moves like this:

The NDIA's guidance for plan managers says they are expected to check an invoice and lodge a payment request within 5 business days of receiving it, and to pay the provider within 2 business days of receiving the NDIA's payment (How to support a participant as a plan manager). Every payment request a plan manager lodges must be backed by a valid tax invoice and the provider's ABN, unless the provider is exempt from quoting one.

Budgets and funding periods

Most new plans now release funding in funding periods rather than all at once. A plan manager tracks what has been spent and what is left in each budget and period, and sends you regular statements. That visibility is one of the main practical reasons people choose plan management: an invoice that would overspend a budget gets flagged before it is paid, not after. You can also keep your own running total with the free NDIS budget tracker.

What you can buy with plan-managed funding

Plan management changes who pays, not what you can buy. Everything you buy must still be an NDIS support that fits your plan and goals. The rules that apply to plan-managed funding are summarised below.

The rule that surprises people most is that price limits apply to plan-managed funding even when you use an unregistered provider. The NDIS pricing arrangements require plan managers to make sure prices do not exceed the limits, and since 24 September 2026 those maximum prices are set by a ministerial pricing determination (Pricing Arrangements Determination 2026). If a provider will only work at a price above the limit, self-management is the only option that allows it. See NDIS pricing arrangements and price limits for how the limits work.

Some supports also need a registered provider no matter how the funding is managed. For example, supported independent living (SIL) can only be delivered by registered providers since 1 July 2026, and the NDIA told plan managers to reject SIL invoices from 1 October 2026 where the provider is not registered and has not applied (NDIA: changes to payments and claims from 1 July 2026).

Plan management vs self-management vs NDIA-managed funding

The three options differ in who pays providers, which providers you can use, and how much admin lands on you. Self-management gives the most flexibility and the most responsibility. NDIA-managed funding gives the least admin but limits you to registered providers. Plan management is the middle ground.

Who plan management suits

Any participant can ask for plan management, and the NDIA does not require you to show you need it. In practice it tends to suit people who:

• want to use a mix of registered and unregistered providers, such as a local cleaner, a sole-trader support worker or a therapist who isn't registered;
• don't want to pay invoices, claim from the NDIS or keep financial records themselves;
• want someone to watch their budgets and warn them before a category runs low;
• are new to the NDIS and want to build confidence before trying self-management;
• have a nominee or family member who helps with decisions but doesn't want to handle the money.

It suits people less well when they need to pay a provider above the price limit, or want to directly employ their own support workers. Both of those are only possible with self-managed funding.

How to get or change plan management

You can ask for plan management for all of your plan or only some budgets. If you want to change how funding is managed partway through a plan, the NDIA may need to make a plan variation. The usual path is:

A support coordinator, if you have one, can help you compare plan managers, but the choice is yours. Remember that the plan manager is a separate role from the support coordinator: one pays the bills, the other helps you find and connect with supports.

Changes to plan management in 2026–2028

The NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 passed Parliament in August 2026 and changes how plan management will work. According to the NDIA's changes to plan management page and the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing's summary of the changes:

• Claims must be made within 90 days of a support being delivered from 1 December 2026, down from 2 years. This affects how quickly providers need to invoice and plan managers need to claim.
• A government-commissioned panel of plan managers launches from 1 October 2027. Participants using a plan manager who is not on the panel will be supported to move over a 6-month transition period.
• From April 2028, participants must use a plan manager from the panel, and plan managers outside the panel can no longer deliver plan management.
• New record-keeping periods for participants, plan managers and providers started on 27 August 2026.

Details such as how the panel will be chosen and priced were still being consulted on in October 2026, so check the NDIA page before making decisions that depend on them.

What providers need to know about plan-managed participants

If you are a provider, a plan-managed participant means you invoice the plan manager, not the NDIA and not the participant. You don't need to be registered for most supports, but the plan manager can only pay what the rules allow, so an invoice that is easy to check gets paid first. Before you start:

1. Confirm which budgets are plan-managed, and the plan manager's name and accounts email, at the start of every new plan.
2. Record the agreed supports, prices, cancellation terms and travel in a service agreement.
3. Invoice one participant per invoice, one line per support item and date, with support item numbers and prices at or below the limit for the date and region.
4. Put short notice cancellations and provider travel on their own lines so the plan manager can check them.
5. Invoice promptly. The plan manager needs time to check and claim within the 90-day limit that applies from 1 December 2026.

The free NDIS invoice generator lays out a plan-manager-ready invoice with the fields plan managers look for. If a plan manager short-pays or rejects a line, ask which rule it broke; it is usually a price above the limit, the wrong time-of-day item, or a date outside the participant's plan.

Common misunderstandings about plan management

• "The plan manager's fees come out of my support funding." They don't. Plan management funding is separate and can only be used for the plan manager.
• "Plan-managed means I can pay any price." No. Price limits apply to plan-managed funding even with unregistered providers. Only self-managed funding is free of them.
• "My plan manager will find my providers." Not their job. Finding and connecting with providers is the role of a support coordinator or local area coordinator.
• "Plan-managed providers don't need a service agreement." The NDIA recommends an agreement for all providers, and a written agreement is one of the ATO's conditions for a support to be GST-free. See service agreement.
• "Plan management covers my whole plan." Only the budgets your plan says are plan-managed. Check every budget in a new plan, because the mix can change.
• "Invoices can wait." From 1 December 2026, claims need to be made within 90 days of the support, so late invoices risk not being paid.