NDIS Support Coordination: From being NDIS registered to what to include in invoices, scroll to find answers to all your questions
Starting new can always seem like a risky venture with tons of questions- where to start from, how do I get NDIS registered, do I have to be registered with NDIS, what is the role of support coordinators and whatnot, but don't worry, we are here to help you understand what your role is, what support coordinators bill for and most importantly what is support coordination.
Who are support coordinators?
Who are Support Coordinators, a question many participants ask, well support coordinators are your go-to people. From managing your funds to planning activities, support coordinators are your friends and mentors who will align your wishes and hobbies with interesting and fun activities that can build you, help you in maintaining relationships and connect you with more like-minded people.
As a support coordinator, you would work with participants and help them access all support available to them. This ranged from maintaining funds to setting up service agreements, your objective is to support them in coordinating their daily activities and tasks.
How Can a Support Coordinator help you?
NDIS defines Support Coordinators' roles in varied terms but in short, it is with respect to-
- Establish SUPPORT: Assist the participant in identifying and considering support options. Help them in understanding their NDIS plan and help them meet their desired goals.
- CONNECT them to other support coordinators, friends, family members, therapists, and doctors. It's necessary for them to go out, have a little bit of fun, and laugh harder. Your goal is to connect them to other peers.
- CRISIS management: Things can go wrong at the worst of times, and as a Support Coordinator your role is to manage it, with utmost sincerity and resilience.
- PLAN management: As a Support Coordinator your main role is to assist the participant in managing their funds and understanding its purpose. Help them work towards shaping their confidence and skills and teaching them how to access the NDIS portal to monitor their spending activity.
- Refine and Reflect: Participants can go through a multitude of challenges and as a Support Coordinator your role is to help them go through it and prepare them for a better tomorrow.
Qualification requirements to become a NDIS registered Support Coordinator
There isn't any hard-fast rule on having a certain diploma or degree in support work or alternative subjects to become a support coordinator, however, you need to have relevant qualifications. Some of the approved qualifications for Support coordination include certificate III, a bachelor's degree or higher in allied health, a diploma, etc. The better your conditionals are, the quicker you can be an approved NDIS registered Support coordinator. If you are still confused about what qualifications are necessary, you can visit their relevant qualifications for NDIS registered Support Coordinators page.
Do Support Coordinators need to be NDIS registered?
Though it's not a hard and fast rule to be NDIS registered support coordinator, it does bring certain advantages to your role with respect to trust and working along with a group of participants. One of the biggest benefits of being a NDIS registered Support Coordinator is that it will allow you to work with a group of participants and that will ultimately lead to being listed on the NDIS provider finder tool which the participants have access to.
If you aren’t registered with NDIS, then you can work with participants who are self-managing their plans. Thus, that lowers your reach and shows you how beneficial it is to be NDIS registered Support Coordinator. Apart from that, it also means that you are approved by the government and brings in a lot of trust from the participants as you are a registered provider.
How to Register as a Support Coordinator With the NDIS?
Registering as a NDIS support coordinator might look like a tiresome task but rather is very simple and goal-oriented. To be a registered NDIS SC provider means you must be associated with NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.
- Prepare your prerequisite information and certificates, including your Australian Business Number (ABN) or your not-for-profit status. Get your police verification and working with children check certificate ready as well. As soon as you have got the said documents ready, you are all set to register for Support Coordinator at the Australian Government’s digital portal.
- The second step is to find an auditor that can verify your certificates and vouch for the quality of your work. The NDIS commission guides registered SCs with what audit they are required to submit on their- Registered NDIS provider requirements page.
- The third and foremost step is to wait for your confirmation from NDIS. Stick to the guidelines and you wouldn't have to worry about anything.
How can you access funding for the support coordination from NDIS?
Prior to the pandemic, one had to be eligible to bag support coordination but as there are rises in different sets of challenges for participants, NDIS has allowed its participants to access support coordination in their respective NDIS plan
- If you are eligible for support coordination and it is included in your plan, then you can use the NDIS core budget to access additional hours of the service in case your capacity-building funds run out.
- If NDIS support coordination is not included in the plan, then you can use the core budget to get support coordination
What can the Support Coordinators Bill For?
As every participant is different so is the billing method, support coordination may be included in the NDIS plans, however, there are three levels of operations when it comes to what can Support coordinators bill for.
- Support Coordination - This includes helping participants understand and implement their plans. The purpose of support coordinators here is to guide them, help them in understanding their requirements, maintain relationships, and live their life more independently.
- Support Connection- SCs are supposed to assist the participants in connecting with other peers, building a community, and making sure that they are living more independently. The idea is to get the most out of their NDIS plan.
- Specialist Support Coordination- As stated the billing varies with the individual, thus specialist support coordination is for more complex needs. Here the objective of support coordinators is to tackle challenges, consistently strive to be independent and live their life more independently.
What can the Support Coordinators Bill For?
To be aligned with each task by writing on a piece of paper or notes section, isn't enough, well not when you are growing. As a support coordinator, your task is not simply managing plans or seeing what accounting software you should use as a Support Coordinator but rather maintaining relationships with participants, seeing if they are aligned with the plan, fund management etc.
This is where eZaango Support Coordination software can ease your tasks with simple automation. For instance, are you worried about invoicing, API integrations with our Support coordination software ensure XERO and other accounting software integrations. This will help you keep track of participant funds.
The objective is to cut down on the time that is related to administration related to invoicing, notes, rosters, client records, lead management and much more. It is a dedicated portal- eZaango support coordination software, that works on saving YOUR time, and YOUR energy so that you can focus on much more important things rather than spending time on bureaucracy. Book our free demo to know. more.
Date: May 9, 2022
