What does an NDIS support coordinator do?
What does a support coordinator do? Learn how NDIS support coordination works, how it is funded, what changes in July 2028 and what to ask before you choose.
Your NDIS plan arrives. It has budgets, categories and a lot of new words. Now you need to turn it into help that fits your week.
That is the job of a support coordinator. This guide explains what a support coordinator does, how support coordination is funded, and what changes in 2028. It finishes with questions to ask before you choose one. You stay in charge of your plan the whole way.
What does an NDIS support coordinator do?
An NDIS support coordinator helps you understand and use your NDIS plan to work toward your goals. They help you connect with NDIS providers, and with community and mainstream services. They also help you build the confidence and skills to coordinate your own supports over time. They report to the NDIA on how your plan is working.
That description comes from the NDIA’s own page, what is a support coordinator. In everyday terms, a support coordinator can help with:
- Understanding your plan. What each budget is for and what it can pay for.
- Finding providers. For example Supported Independent Living, personal care, therapy or community activities.
- Service agreements. Setting up a clear agreement with each provider.
- Keeping supports connected. Helping your providers work together around your goals.
- Changes along the way. A worker leaves, a provider is not working out, or your needs change.
- Getting ready for your next plan. Gathering reports and notes so your next plan fits your life.
What are the levels of support coordination?
The NDIS funds three levels of support coordination: support connection, coordination of supports and specialist support coordination. The first level helps you understand your plan and find providers. The second helps you put a mix of supports in place. The third is for people with more complex needs. Your plan shows which level you have.
Here is how the NDIA describes each level:
- Support connection. Help to understand your plan and connect with providers, your community and mainstream services.
- Support coordination. Help to put a mix of supports in place, so you can manage tasks, live more independently and be part of your community.
- Specialist support coordination. A higher level of help for people facing complex barriers. A specialist support coordinator can design a service plan where needed.
Not every plan includes one of these levels. If you are not sure, ask the NDIA.
What does a support coordinator not do?
A support coordinator does not manage your money and does not make decisions for you. Paying providers is the job of a plan manager, the NDIA, or you if you self-manage. Your coordinator explains your options and helps you act on them. You make the choices.
This difference matters when something goes wrong with an invoice. Talk to whoever manages your funds. Your support coordinator can help you work out who that is.
How is support coordination funded?
Right now, support coordination is funded as its own budget in some NDIS plans. The NDIA decides whether to include it and at what level. If it is not in your plan and you think you need it, raise it with the NDIA. Explain what has been hard to manage without it.
If you already have support coordination in your plan, you keep using it under the current rules until the changes in 2028.
What changes to support coordination are coming in 2028?
From 1 July 2028, the NDIA will appoint providers directly to deliver a new support coordination and connection service. Support coordination will no longer be funded in individual plans. You will choose from a list of funded providers instead. Until then, participants keep using support coordination under the current arrangements.
These changes come from the NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Act 2026. Parliament passed the Bill on 19 August 2026, and it received Royal Assent on 20 August 2026. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing explains the changes on its page, about the changes to the NDIS.
The Government consulted on the design of the new service during 2026. The Department says it will support participants to move across to the new service from 1 July 2028. For now, nothing changes about how you use the support coordination in your current plan.
Can a support coordinator work for a provider that also delivers your other supports?
Yes, but the provider must handle the conflict of interest in the open. The NDIA says one provider running several supports in a plan can make it harder to raise concerns or leave. So you should be told about the link. Your choice of other providers must never change the help your coordinator gives you.
The NDIA sets out these risks on its page, what is a conflict of interest. It also publishes a conflicts of interest checklist for participants. A support coordinator should:
- tell you in writing if their organisation also delivers other supports to you
- show you a range of providers, including other organisations
- respect your choice, whichever provider you pick
You can always choose providers from different organisations. Using one provider for support coordination never limits who you choose for anything else.
How do you choose a support coordinator?
Ask who your contact will be and how fast they reply. Ask how often you will check in, which areas they know and how they will help with your next plan. Clear answers help you compare. You are choosing someone to work beside you. Their answers should make sense to you.
Take these questions to any support coordinator:
Who will be my main contact? Ask whether you will have one named person, and what happens when they are away.
How quickly will you reply to calls and emails? Ask for a clear answer. “Within one business day” tells you more than “as soon as we can”.
How often will we check in? Some people like regular calls. Others only want contact when something changes. Agree on what suits you.
Do you know providers in my area? Local knowledge helps. A coordinator who knows Parramatta and the Hills can suggest supports close to home.
How will you help me get ready for my next plan? Ask how they will help you gather reports and evidence.
How do you handle conflicts of interest? Ask them to explain it in plain words. Then ask for it in writing.
Write the answers down. You can change support coordinators if the fit is not right.
Support Coordination at Altura Care
Altura Care is a registered NDIS provider with an office in Parramatta. We support people in Parramatta, Westmead, Northmead, Rouse Hill, Riverstone and Castle Hill. Our Support Coordination helps you understand your plan, compare providers and keep your supports working together.
If you use our support coordination, you still choose every provider in your plan, including providers other than Altura. We tell you in writing when we deliver other supports to the same person.
Talk to us about your plan
You know what you want your plan to do for you. Bring your plan, or just your questions. We will go through it with you and talk about the next steps, at your pace.
Read more about Support Coordination at Altura Care. Then Enquire now, or call us on 1300 192 611.
Want a hand working out your next step?
Have a chat with someone who will listen and talk it through with you. The chat costs nothing, and you do not have to sign anything.
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