Support coordination

What is support coordination in the NDIS?

Support coordination is NDIS funding for a support coordinator who helps a participant understand their plan, find and connect with providers, and get the different supports working together. It also aims to build the participant's own skills to manage their supports over time. It is funded at three levels: support connection (level 1), coordination of supports (level 2) and specialist support coordination (level 3).

A support coordinator does not deliver the day-to-day supports and does not pay the invoices. They are the person who helps you put the plan into action: working out what the funding can be used for, finding providers with vacancies, setting up service agreements, and stepping in when something goes wrong. Support coordination is a capacity building support, so the funding sits in its own Support Coordination budget, separate from the money used to pay support workers or therapists.

People use the phrase in three ways:

• The service: the help itself, from understanding the plan to solving a crisis.
• The funding: the support coordination hours in a participant's NDIS plan.
• The person or provider: the "support coordinator" or the organisation that employs them.

The three levels of support coordination

The NDIA funds support coordination at three levels, and the level sets the support item and the maximum hourly price a provider can claim. Each level appears as a separate support item in the NDIS pricing schedule 2026-27, which took effect on 24 September 2026. You can look up the current item numbers and price limits in the free NDIS price guide.

Level 1: support connection

Support connection is the lightest level. It focuses on building the participant's ability to connect with supports themselves: understanding what is in the plan, linking with providers and community services, and setting up the first supports. The goal is that the participant, their family or their informal supports can take over.

Level 2: coordination of supports

Coordination of supports is what most people mean by "support coordination level 2", and it is the level most participants with support coordination have in their plan. A level 2 coordinator works with you to understand the plan and funding in more depth, find the right mix of providers, solve problems like waitlists or gaps, keep services working together, and build your confidence to manage supports more independently over time.

Level 3: specialist support coordination

Specialist support coordination is the highest level. The NDIA describes it as being for participants whose situations involve high complexity, for example where several service systems interact or there are significant risks in the person's environment. A specialist support coordinator should be appropriately qualified and experienced, and the support is often time-limited while the situation is stabilised. See specialist support coordination for the detail.

What a support coordinator does (and doesn't do)

The NDIA's page on the roles and responsibilities of support coordinators frames the job as helping participants use their plan, connect with a range of supports, and build their capacity to do this themselves. In practice a support coordinator will:

• Explain the plan: what each budget can pay for, which supports are stated, and how funding periods release money through the year.
• Find and connect providers: support workers, therapists, SIL providers, plan managers and community services, and help you compare options.
• Help set up service agreements so the supports, prices and cancellation terms are clear before services start.
• Link to mainstream and community supports such as health, education, housing and justice systems, which the NDIS does not replace.
• Monitor the budget with you so the plan doesn't run out early or sit unspent.
• Respond to crises, for example when a provider withdraws or housing breaks down.
• Prepare for the next plan, including progress reports and evidence for a plan reassessment.

A support coordinator does not:

• Pay providers or process invoices — that is the job of a plan manager, the participant (if self-managed) or the NDIA.
• Make decisions for the participant. Choice and control stays with the participant or their nominee.
• Approve or change the plan. Only the NDIA can approve funding or vary a plan.
• Replace a provider's own case management, or provide the daily supports themselves.

Support coordination vs LAC, plan manager and recovery coach

These roles are often confused because they all "help with the plan". The short version: the LAC helps you get and understand a plan, the support coordinator helps you use it, and the plan manager pays for it.

A local area coordinator (LAC) is an NDIA partner in the community and isn't paid from your plan. A psychosocial recovery coach is funded from the same Support Coordination budget but combines coordination with recovery-focused coaching for people with psychosocial disability.

How to get support coordination funded

Support coordination is not automatic. Like any NDIS support it must meet the reasonable and necessary criteria, and the NDIA decides whether to include it and at what level. It is more likely where a participant is new to the scheme, has a complex mix of supports, has limited informal support, or is going through a major change such as moving home or leaving school.

Once it is in your plan, you choose the coordinator. If the relationship isn't working, you can change support coordinator; the NDIA has guidance on changing support coordinators, and your service agreement sets the notice period.

What support coordination providers need to know in 2026

Support coordination is claimed hourly against the item for the funded level, at or below the price limit. Coordinators must use the level that matches the participant's plan; the hours in the plan are a budget, not an entitlement to bill them all. Good case notes that show what was done, for whom and why are the evidence for every claim and for the next plan — the progress note writer can help structure them.

Registration. Support coordination is delivered under registration group 0106 (assistance in coordinating or managing life stages, transitions and supports), and specialist support coordination under 0132. The NDIS Practice Standards include a supplementary module for specialised support coordination. The NDIS Commission's mandatory registration page notes that mandatory registration for support coordination has been paused, so unregistered support coordinators can still work with plan-managed and self-managed participants. All providers, registered or not, must follow the NDIS Code of Conduct.

Conflict of interest. Many organisations offer support coordination alongside other supports. That is allowed, but the conflict of interest must be managed: the participant should get balanced information about other providers, and the coordinator shouldn't steer them towards their own organisation's services.

Reform ahead. The Australian Government has announced a new commissioned NDIS Support Coordination and Connection service planned to start from 1 July 2028. Under the proposal, the NDIA would appoint providers through a merit-based process, and support coordination would no longer be funded individually in each plan. The design is still being consulted on (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing; NDIA news), so check the latest before making long-term business decisions.

Making the most of support coordination hours

Support coordination is funded as a number of hours, and every hour the coordinator spends on your plan is drawn from that budget. Phone calls, emails, research into providers and report writing can all use hours, so it pays to agree how the time will be used. Before you sign, ask the coordinator:

1. How will you track and report my hours? A monthly summary of time used and what it was spent on stops surprises late in the plan.
2. What can I learn to do myself? Capacity building is part of the job, so the coordinator should be teaching you or your family to handle tasks like contacting providers.
3. Who covers when you're away? Crises don't wait for leave; ask who steps in and how they'll know your situation.
4. How do you handle conflicts of interest? Especially if the organisation also delivers other supports.
5. What will you write for my reassessment? A clear progress report is often the strongest evidence for your next plan.

Keep an eye on the budget alongside the rest of your plan. If support coordination hours are being used faster than expected, raise it early: you may be able to change how often you meet, shift some tasks to yourself, or ask the NDIA to review the funding if your needs have genuinely changed. The free NDIS budget tracker shows whether each budget is on track for the funding period.

Common mistakes and misunderstandings

• "My support coordinator manages my money." They don't. Payments are handled by your plan manager, by you if self-managed, or by the NDIA.
• "Level 2 is better than level 1." The levels match need, not quality. Level 1 is designed to build independence quickly.
• "Unused coordination hours carry into my next plan." From 1 February 2027, unspent funds from a previous plan won't carry over into renewed plans.
• "The coordinator decides which providers I use." You decide. A coordinator gives options and information.
• "Every participant gets support coordination." It is only funded when the NDIA decides it is reasonable and necessary.
• Billing every contact at the top level. Claim the item for the level actually funded, and keep notes that support the time claimed.