Core, capacity building and capital: your NDIS budget explained

Key takeaway: Your NDIS plan is split into three budgets that each work differently, and knowing which is which helps you use every dollar well.

Your plan has three budgets

When your NDIS plan is approved, your funding is not one big pool. It is divided into three budget types that each serve a different purpose. Core supports cover the everyday help you need to live your life. Capacity building supports are tied to your goals and help you build skills and independence over time. Capital supports pay for larger one off items like equipment and home changes. Each budget has its own rules about how flexible it is and what it can be spent on. Once you understand how the three fit together, your plan starts to make a lot more sense, and it becomes much easier to see what you can actually use each part for.

Core supports

Core is usually the largest and most flexible part of your plan. It funds the everyday support that helps you get through daily life. That includes help with personal care and daily activities, consumables like continence products, participating in your community and social activities, and often transport to get to where you need to go. The big advantage of core is flexibility. In most plans you can move money between the different core categories as your needs change across the year, so if you use less in one area you can put it toward another. Because it is the part you draw on most often, it pays to keep an eye on how quickly you are spending it.

Capacity building

Capacity building funding is all about your goals. Rather than covering everyday help, it pays for support that builds your skills, confidence and independence so you can do more on your own over time. This is where therapy such as occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech pathology and psychology sits, along with support coordination and skill building programs. Capacity building is less flexible than core. It is split into set categories that line up with the goals in your plan, and you generally cannot move money between those categories. Funding set aside for therapy stays with therapy, and funding for support coordination stays with support coordination, so it helps to plan how you will use each category.

Capital supports

Capital supports cover the larger, higher cost items in your plan. This is where assistive technology sits, from a wheelchair or a communication device through to smaller aids, along with home modifications such as ramps or a rail in the bathroom, and specialist disability accommodation for people with very high support needs. Capital funding is the least flexible of the three. It is usually stated funding, which means it is set aside for a specific item and often based on a quote, and it cannot be spent on anything else. If your plan includes capital funding for a particular piece of equipment, that money is there for that item and that item only.

What flexible vs stated really means

You will see the words flexible and stated used a lot when people talk about NDIS budgets, and the difference matters. Flexible funding can be used across the different items within a category, so you have room to choose how you spend it as your needs shift. Much of core works this way. Stated funding is the opposite. It is locked to a specific purpose or item, usually because it was quoted or approved for exactly that thing, and it cannot be redirected somewhere else. A lot of capacity building and almost all capital funding is stated. Knowing which of your funding is flexible and which is stated tells you where you have choice and where you do not.

Making the most of each budget

A little planning goes a long way. With core, it helps to spread your spending across the whole year rather than using it up too quickly, so you are not left short in the final months. With capacity building, book your therapy and support providers early, because good providers fill up and waiting lists can be long, and you want to be using that funding before your plan ends. With capital, get your quotes organised as soon as you can so equipment and modifications are not left to the last minute. When you are ready to find providers for any part of your plan, you can compare providers on Supportd by service type, location and availability, which makes it easier to find someone who suits your goals and can take you on.

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