The Core support categories
Core is one of the support purposes in an NDIS plan, alongside Capacity Building and Capital. In plans made in the NDIA's PACE system, the Core categories are:
- 01 Assistance with Daily Life: personal care, household tasks, meals, overnight support and short term accommodation
- 02 Transport: help to get to work, study, appointments and activities
- 03 Consumables: continence and feeding products and low cost assistive technology under $1,500
- 04 Assistance with Social, Economic and Community Participation: support to take part in community activities, groups and supports in employment
- 16 Home and Living: home and living supports such as Supported Independent Living
- 21 Young People in Residential Aged Care: a specific cross billing category
How flexible Core funding is
Core supports are usually flexible. The NDIA can put several Core categories into one funding amount, so you choose how to spend it across daily life, transport, consumables and community participation, as long as you buy NDIS supports that fit the descriptions in your plan.
Sometimes Core supports are stated, which means the funding can only buy the supports exactly as described. Having different management types for different Core supports can also reduce flexibility. Whatever the setting, you cannot move Core funding into Capacity Building or Capital.
Funding periods
Core funding is usually released in funding periods, often every 3 months, rather than all at once. Unspent funding in one period rolls over to the next within the same plan. The NDIA may give more in the first period for things like set up costs or bulk buying consumables. Check how much is available now, not just the yearly total.
Core and the October 2026 funding reset
From 1 October 2026, social, economic and community participation supports are reduced by 50% when a plan is created, reassessed or renewed. Most of these sit in Core category 04, so many people will see a smaller Core amount for community participation.
The rest of Core is protected: supports in the home such as personal care, cleaning, meals and medication, personal mobility equipment and transport, and continence and menstrual consumables. Within community participation, supports in employment, high intensity supports and intensive and complex behaviour supports are also protected. Your new plan shows the total and the amount available after the change.
Prices for Core supports
Most Core supports have price limits that apply if you are agency managed or plan managed. For 2026/27 the standard weekday daytime limit for a support worker helping with self care is $73.58 an hour in most of Australia, with higher limits for evenings, weekends and public holidays. Self managed participants are not bound by price limits but can use them as a benchmark.
Core supports in new framework plans
From 1 April 2027 participants start moving to new framework plans, which show a flexible budget for most supports and stated funding for a few, instead of Core, Capacity Building and Capital budgets. The October 2026 reset does not apply to new framework plans.
Getting the most from your Core budget
- Track spending each funding period so you do not run short late in the plan
- Agree hours and cancellation terms in service agreements
- If you rely on group programs or community access, ask providers whether a different ratio or schedule would stretch the funding
- From 1 February 2027 renewed plans do not roll over unspent funds, so use the funding through the plan