Your three options
NDIS funding can be self managed, managed by a registered plan manager, or NDIA managed, also called agency managed. You can mix them across your plan. The NDIA will agree to the option you ask for unless one of the reasons below applies.
NDIA management is not a starting point you are pushed into. Funding ends up NDIA managed when you choose it, when you do not choose a way to manage it, or when another option is refused for one of the reasons below.
When you cannot self manage
Under the NDIA's guideline on creating your plan, you, your plan nominee or your child representative cannot self manage if:
- You or they are currently bankrupt or insolvent under administration, including having a personal insolvency agreement you have not kept to
- You or your nominee have been convicted of an offence punishable by 2 or more years in prison, or an offence involving fraud or dishonesty
- The NDIA thinks the funding is unlikely to be spent only on NDIS supports and in line with your plan
- Self management would create an unreasonable risk to you
When a plan manager can be refused too
A registered plan manager reduces many risks, so it is usually the next step if self management is refused. But the NDIA can also refuse plan management if it would be an unreasonable risk to you, or if your funding is unlikely to be spent on NDIS supports in line with your plan. It also looks at whether a provider has harmed you or whether someone may be pressuring you.
Some funding is always NDIA managed whatever you choose, such as in kind supports and cross billing payments for younger people living in residential aged care.
How the NDIA decides on unreasonable risk
An unreasonable risk means it is likely you would experience physical, mental or financial harm if the funding was managed that way. The NDIA says you have the same right as anyone to take reasonable risks with your money, and it should only find the risk unreasonable if there are no suitable supports or strategies to reduce it. It looks at:
- Supports and strategies that could reduce the risk, including ones that worked in a previous plan
- Your informal, community and mainstream supports, such as a family member who helps with budgeting
- Whether you are at risk of exploitation or pressure from someone
- Your capacity to make decisions and manage money, with support from others
- Any court or tribunal order about who manages your finances
What the NDIA should not hold against you
The guideline says the NDIA does not look at the type of impairment you have, only how it affects managing your funding. It also does not count the total amount of funding in your plan, not using all your funds in a previous plan, or a period of bankruptcy that has ended.
If you made a mistake in the past, such as one claim for something that was not an NDIS support, the NDIA considers whether it was a one off, why it happened and whether someone else was involved.
What it means to be NDIA managed
When funding is NDIA managed, the NDIA pays providers directly and every provider for that funding must be registered with the NDIS Commission. Prices cannot go above the NDIS price limits. If you rely on unregistered providers, this can be a big change, so talk to the NDIA about which parts of your plan need to be NDIA managed and which do not.
How to challenge the decision or get it changed
- Ask for the reasons in writing. The NDIA must record its decision and tell you why if it does not agree to your request
- Ask for an internal review of the decision if you disagree
- Ask what supports or strategies would reduce the risk, such as funding for capacity building in self management, or a plan manager instead of self management
- Once your circumstances change, for example a bankruptcy ends, ask to change how your funding is managed
- From 1 October 2027, plan managed participants will choose from a panel of approved plan managers