Self-management

If you are thinking to self-mange your plan, you need to understand your responsibilities as a self-manager. Below are the responsibilities of self-managers:

• Purchasing supports that is relevant to the goals in your NDIS plan.

• Making clear agreements with your providers (an entity or person that providing the service) about the supports you will receive including how they will be provided and paid for.

• Managing your funding so the costs of the support give you value-for-money, and can be met within your budget. PossibleMe has a budget estimation tool allows you to estimate how many sessions you can sign up with your providers.

• Claiming and paying for supports by making payment requests and paying for your support on time. PossibleMe has a built-in feature that can help you track all your payments and claims. Claiming and paying for supports is a breeze with PossibleMe!

• Keeping records of invoices and receipts to show that you have paid for your supports using your NDIS funding. In PossibleMe, if it can be tracked then it will be recorded.

• Meeting your obligations as an employer if you chose to employ staff directly. Make sure you check the ATO website to meet your obligations as an employer.

• Showing how you’ve used your self-managed funding towards reaching your goals during your plan review. If you are PossibleMe user, you know this can done easily because we have incorporated goals achievement tracking and end-of-plan report functionality. Check out our Feature page!

• Advising the NDIA of any major changes in your circumstances that may results you being unable to meet your responsibilities as a self-manager.

• Participating in any payment auditing where you will need to provide invoices, receipts or other evidence to show that you have spent your funding in-line with your NDIS plan. In PossibleMe app, once you’ve checked off each payment you can include the invoice/ receipt number for each support. You can also generate a budget report through PossibleMe.

If you are thinking to self-manage your plan but not sure whether you are ready, you can ask your local LAC or NDIS planner for additional support. You can also visit our resources page here to find out more information on how to manage your plan. You can pay for supports from your plan to help you manage your funding effectively including:

• • Pay for software application such as PossibleMe application to help you manage your plan and keep track of your funding,

  • Bookkeeping and accounting services,

  • Employment services,

  • Support coordination and plan management assistance,

  • Peer support organisations.

Self-management option gives you the flexibility and choice to utilise your funding and as a self-manager you can be creative to maximise your funding to meet your needs and plan goals. The NDIA has provided the follow guidelines to help you decide what you can buy with your NDIS funding.

1. Will the support help you to reach the goals in your NDIS plan? - The support you buy must be linked to the support budgets and goals in your current NDIS plan and related to your disability.

2. Is the support reasonably priced and good value? - The support should give you value-for-money compared to other options. Remember you can choose to pay less and get more support or pay more for a higher quality support that meets your needs.

3. Can you afford the support within your support budget? - Your NDIS funding needs to last for the length of your plan. Work out your budget early so you know what you can afford. This will help you to track your funding and make decisions about any changes to your supports during your plan.

4. Will the support help you to connect with your community and improve the relationships you have with family and friends? - The support you buy should help you to participate in activities with friends and other members of your community, or help you find or keep a job.

5. Is the support something that should be funded by the NDIS and not other government services? - In your NDIS plan the funded supports will not include support that is provided by other government services. For example, dental, health or hospital services, education, housing and public transport are all provided by other government services.

6. Is the support safe? - The support you buy must be legal. It should not cause harm or put yourself or other people at risk.

You cannot use your NDIS funding to pay a family member to provide you with support. This is important for you and your family so you can maintain good relationships.

If you are able to answer ‘yes’ to each of these questions, then the support is likely to be in line with your NDIS plan and goals. If you are unsure you can always check with your LAC or NDIA planner.

What you buy with your self-managed funding will be as individual as you.

Providers have different areas of experience and expertise so it is important to work out what you want and find the right providers. It is good to research providers, check reviews and get advice from family, friends and peers. You can arrange a meeting with your potential providers before you decide who will provide the supports. Your Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) Coordinator, Local Area Coordinator (LAC) or Support Coordinator can also help you. You can change your providers if you are not happy with the supports you are getting or thinking you maybe able to get better value using differ providers.

Businesses and organisations

Businesses and organisations may be NDIS registered providers or not, as long as they can help you meet your NDIS plan goals in a safe and professional way. Normally businesses and organisations will arrange your support and take responsibility for the support workers on your behalf.

Self-employed contractors

A contractor is a person who has an Australia Business Number (ABN), and is generally responsible for their own insurance, tax and superannuation. They may be NDIS registered or not.

Many cleaners, gardeners, tradespeople are self-employed contractor. If you’re thinking to use contractors, you have to make sure they have the following:

• Relevant safety checks,

• An ABN,

• Appropriate insurance,

• The right qualifications and skills to provide the supports you need.

Contractors can charge by per job or an hourly rate and will give you an invoice or a receipt if you have paid for their work. Invoices and receipts need to show what type of support/work, the amount, the cost, ABN, and date.

Directly employing staff

As a self-manager you can choose to employ and manage the people who support you. As an employer you need to do the following:

• Make sure your staff have the right skill, qualifications, training, and where relevant safety checks. NDIA website has more information about worker screening information. The NDIS Worker Screening Database is available to self-managed participants.

• Able to meet the costs of recruiting staff, paying their wages, superannuation and any insurances, from the rate of support calculated in your plan budget.

• Seek advice or support when needed from professionals such as an accountant, financial advisor, employment agency or lawyer. These people can help you set up systems to pay appropriate wages, superannuation and insurances.

You can use the estimation tool in PossibleMe - Budget page to help you estimate how much funds you need to allocate to pay for support staffs wages and others.

The benefits of self-managing your budget are being able to be creative when it comes to finding the right supports to meet your goals. You may find some supports you’ve chosen don’t come in the form of support person or provider and that is fine. They need to be related to the supports included in your plan and goals.

To help you decide how much you should pay, here are a few questions you can ask yourselves:

1. Value-for-money: Is the coat of the support reasonable? Is the price comparable with other providers?

2. Quality: Is the quality of the support high and will it help you achieve your goals?

3. Quantity: How much support will you need for the length of your plan?

4. Budget: Can you afford the amount of support you need within your budget?

The flexibility of self-managing your budget is that you can negotiate the price with your support providers and self-managed participants are not subject to NDIS Pricing and Price Limits arrangement. The NDIS Pricing and Price Limits is the maximum price that the registered providers can charge for specific supports. You can use it as a reference guide when deciding how much you should pay for a support.

NDIA encourage us to have a service agreement in place with each provider, which clearly outlines what will be provided to you and how the supports will be provided, paid for and cancelation notice. Most providers have their own standard service agreement, or else you can create your own. The NDIS website has more information about creating service agreements. You will be responsible for paying your providers on time and meeting your agreed responsibilities with them.

For self-manage participants, there are two methods to pay for your supports with your NDIS funding:

Method 1: Make a Payment Request and then pay your provider. Once you have received an invoice or timesheet from your provider, then you can make a Payment Request. This can be done online through myplace portal or my NDIS app. Money from your NDIS plan budget will be paid to your nominated bank account within 24 to 48 hrs.

Method 2: Pay your provider and then make a Payment request. Once you have received your support, pay your provider using your own money and get a payment receipt. Make a Payment Request through myplace portal or my NDIS app to have the money reimbursed to you. Money from your NDIS plan budget will be reimbursed to you within 24 to 48 hrs.

It will be easier to have a separate bank account for NDIS funding so that you can see what money is coming in and what payments are going out.

NDIS funding will only be paid into the account that is managed by the person who is responsible for self-managing the support. This will be you as a participant, a NDIS nominee or a child representative for a participant under 18 years of age.

Payment request can be made through online myplace portal or my NDIS app. To make a Payment Request through myplace portal, log in to your myplace and select the Payment Request button. You need to enter the following information:

• Start date and end date for the support,

• Payment amount,

• Funds draw from which self-managed support category.

The Payment request need to match the invoice or receipt form your provider or your payroll records if you are employing directly. It should be made against the support category that matches the type of support you are making a request from.

Any invoices, receipts, pay slips and bank statements should be kept for five years as evidence that you have responsibly self-managed your support budgets and payment requests.

The NDIS undertake random audit to ensure self-managed funds are being spent and managed properly. It is important to keep your record organised so that when you are audited you can show NDIA how you spent your funds. You can generate a budget report in PossibleMe to show your payment records to NDIA.

The records of payments you will need to have are:

• The provider’s name,

• Their ABN,

• The date of support,

• A short description of the support provided and how this relates to the support categories and goals in your plan,

• The amount of support provided i.e. how many hours of support,

• The price of the support.