Support Coordination

Kathleen, Kelly and Michelle are the team that form the Smart Assist Group.

welcome

What does Smart Assist
Group do?

We provide Support Coordination to participants with the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

What is Support Coordination?

Support Coordination is a service available through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in Australia. It helps people with disability to plan, implement, and manage their NDIS plan

Coordination of Supports includes, but is not limited to:

Help you understand your NDIS plan

Your support coordinator will work with you to help you understand your NDIS plan, including:

your support budgets and the kinds of things you can use your funding for

how your funding is managed

what other requirements need to be met to access these supports such as when quotes might be required, what can or cannot be claimed and how much can be claimed.

Plan and coordinate your supports

Your support coordinator should help you find providers, services and supports that work together to help you pursue your goals. You and your support coordinator should talk about the community, government and funded supports.

You can work with your support coordinator to:

decide how you would like your supports and services to be delivered

arrange a schedule of services which reflects your goals, needs and how you want to use your plan, and fits in your NDIS plan budget.

find providers who can meet your needs

try different providers and new supports to see if they suit you or multiple providers.

Connect you with supports and services

Your support coordinator should know about services in your local community. You can work with your support coordinator to:

find NDIS, community and other government services you can access

choose the right supports and services for you

connect you to providers and services that will help you pursue your goals, including advocacy services if required.

Establish and maintain your supports

To set up your supports, you can get help from your support coordinator to:

set up service agreements and service bookings which reflect what supports you need – for example, your support coordinator can help you to understand and negotiate what supports and services you want, how you want these to be delivered and what you pay for these supports and services

understand what providers can and cannot charge – including travel and cancellation policies

To maintain your supports, you can get help from your support coordinator to:

check how your current supports are working for you

create a plan for what to do when something goes wrong, like with a provider cancels or when you are not happy with the service

find new providers or change providers to make sure you continue to get the supports you need.

Capacity building for independence

You can work with your support coordinator to build your confidence and skills so you can choose and control your supports. Your support coordinator should work with you, your family and carers to:

explore different ways you can exercise your choice and control

help you communicate about how you prefer your supports to be delivered

find providers who can meet your needs

create opportunities for you to do these activities more independently.

Prepare for unexpected events

You can work with your support coordinator to help you prepare for unexpected events. You can work with your support coordinator to:

understand your circumstances and environment

plan for changes like:

how much your family can help you at home

moving house

if you suddenly need to go hospital

how much support your service provider can give you

work out what might stop you from using your plan

work out what you can do when these situations occur

put supports in place to work through these challenges.

How are support coordinators engaged?

Most of our participants are referred to us by ‘word of mouth’. Or an NDIS planner will send a Request for our Service to Smart Assist Group to work with you in the Support Coordination role.