The three levels of support coordination
The NDIA can fund three levels of support coordination in a participant's plan, depending on their circumstances:
- Level 1: support connection. Helping the participant understand their plan and connect with providers, their community and mainstream services, so they get the most out of the plan.
- Level 2: support coordination (often called coordination of supports). Putting a mix of supports in place to build the participant's capacity to maintain relationships, manage tasks, live more independently and be included in their community.
- Level 3: specialist support coordination. A higher level of support for people with complex needs and higher risk situations. The NDIA expects specialist coordinators to be appropriately qualified and experienced, and this level must be included in the plan.
Psychosocial recovery coaches do similar work, specifically with people whose disability is psychosocial.
What a support coordinator does day to day
A typical week mixes participant contact, provider liaison and paperwork. In practice that means:
- Going through the plan with the participant: their budgets, how the funding is managed, what can be claimed and when a service agreement is needed.
- Researching options, presenting genuine choices and helping the participant set up service agreements with the providers they pick.
- Linking the participant with mainstream and community services such as health, housing, education, transport and local groups, not only NDIS funded supports.
- Checking that supports are working, helping the participant change providers when they are not, and planning ahead for when things go wrong.
- Accepting requests for service, viewing participant information and claiming through the my NDIS provider portal.
- Writing case notes, tracking hours used against hours funded, and preparing reports for the NDIA.
Throughout, the participant makes the decisions. The aim is to build their capacity so they need less coordination over time, not more.
Registration and the Practice Standards in 2026
Registration with the NDIS Commission is not mandatory for support coordination. You must be registered to work with participants whose funding is NDIA managed; unregistered coordinators can only work with self managed or plan managed participants. The Commission consulted on making support coordination registration mandatory, but its mandatory registration page says that reform is paused. The mandatory registration that started on 1 July 2026 applies to supported independent living and NDIS digital platforms, not support coordination.
Registered providers use two registration groups:
- 0106 Assistance in coordinating or managing life stages, transitions and supports, used for levels 1 and 2. Providers meet the core module of the NDIS Practice Standards and have a certification audit.
- 0132 Specialised support coordination, used for level 3. Providers meet the core module plus the specialised support coordination supplementary module, with a certification audit.
The specialised support coordination module has three outcomes: tailored support that reduces the risk and complexity of the participant's situation, meaningful choice and control over how their funding is used, and transparent, factual advice free of conflicts of interest. Many providers use it as a practice guide for all levels, not just level 3.
Registered or not, every support coordinator must follow the NDIS Code of Conduct.
Change ahead: the 2028 support coordination and connection service
The Australian Government has announced a new commissioned NDIS support coordination and connection service from 1 July 2028, which will replace the way participants currently receive support coordination. Public consultation closed on 2 October 2026 and the government will decide the final design. Until then, the current rules apply, and good practice now is the best preparation for whatever comes next.
Conflicts of interest
Conflicts of interest are the area the NDIS Commission has focused on most in support coordination. A conflict exists when you, or your organisation, could put your own interests ahead of the participant's. The NDIA describes conflicts as actual, potential or perceived. Common examples in this role:
- Steering a participant towards your own organisation's services, or a connected organisation or friend.
- Accepting gifts, referral fees or other incentives from providers.
- Requiring the participant to use a particular plan manager or provider as a condition of your support.
- Refusing a referral because of a dispute between providers.
Manage them by declaring any connection, presenting several genuine options with their pros and cons, letting the participant choose freely, and recording the options and the choice. A policy on its own is not enough: the Commission's recent review of support coordination providers found many had policies but were unclear how to apply them in everyday practice.
Case notes, billing and reports
Support coordinators spend a large share of their time writing. Good case notes record the date, time, duration and type of contact, who was involved, what was done, how it links to the participant's goals and the agreed next steps. Only claim for work you actually did for that participant, as agreed in the service agreement and allowed by the current NDIS pricing arrangements, and be open with participants about hours used.
The NDIA sets the reporting requirements in each request for service:
- an initial plan implementation report, 8 weeks after the plan starts or after you accept the request for service
- regular implementation or progress reports
- a plan reassessment and evaluation report before the participant's next plan reassessment.
Work through each report with the participant so they know what it says, then submit it yourself through the provider portal. Our course Case Notes, Billing and Reports for Support Coordinators covers all three skills with worked examples.
Skills and knowledge a new coordinator needs
- How NDIS plans, budgets, funding periods and plan management options work
- What the NDIS funds and what belongs to mainstream systems
- Capacity building: doing with the participant, not for them
- Choice and control, supported decision making and conflict of interest management
- Recognising risk, crisis planning and knowing when to escalate, including reportable incidents
- The edges of the role: support coordination is not advocacy, case management or crisis response, so know who to connect people with
- Privacy and consent before sharing information
- Objective case notes, accurate billing and evidence based reports
What is free and what is paid
Be wary of anything sold as official support coordination certification: there is no NDIS Commission course for the role. The Commission's free Worker orientation module covers the Code of Conduct and worker obligations and takes about an hour. At the time of writing its wider training portal is unavailable, but the orientation module can be requested from the Commission's site. The Commission also publishes free Code of Conduct videos, and the NDIA publishes free report templates and its conflict of interest position statement.
Our courses are paid. They are written for the support coordination role specifically, with scenarios, a final assessment and a certificate for your staff file, and they work as structured induction alongside the free official material.
Train your team
These courses take a new support coordinator from the basics to confident practice:
45 minSupport Coordination Essentials
Support coordination helps participants understand their NDIS plan, connect with the right mix of funded, mainstream and community supports, and build the skills to direct their own supports over time. This course covers the purpose of the role, the three levels of support coordination, building capacity rather than dependence, connecting people to mainstream and community services, choice of provider and conflicts of interest, role boundaries, managing a caseload and your time, planning for risk, responding to crises and escalating concerns, and how the NDIS Code of Conduct applies to your everyday practice. It is written for new and experienced support coordinators in our team. Duration: 45 minutes.
55 minCase Notes, Billing and Reports for Support Coordinators
Support coordinators spend much of their time writing: case notes, billing records and reports to the NDIA. Good writing protects participants, shows the value of the support and gives planners the evidence they need. This course covers what makes a good case note, how to decide what is billable in line with the current NDIS pricing and claiming guidance, how to have open conversations with participants about the hours they have used, and how to write progress and plan reassessment reports that are evidence based, respectful, written in plain language and clearly linked to the participant's goals and functional impact. Two case studies show these skills in a crisis week and in a plan reassessment report. Duration: 55 minutes.
50 minUnderstanding NDIS Plans, Budgets and Funding Periods
Every support we deliver is paid for from a participant's NDIS plan, so everyone in our team needs a working understanding of how those plans are put together. This course explains what is in an NDIS plan, the four support budgets, the difference between flexible and stated supports, and how funding periods release money in stages. You will learn the three ways a plan can be managed, the everyday NDIS terms you will hear at work, and the planning changes rolling out now. Two case studies show how to handle a request that exceeds a funding period and how to talk respectfully with a participant who is worried about changes. Duration: 50 minutes.
50 minNDIS Access, Planning and Reviews
Support coordinators and team leaders are often the people participants and families turn to when they are applying for the NDIS, preparing for a planning conversation, asking for their plan to change or disagreeing with a decision. This course explains the access requirements for age, residence, disability and early intervention, how to help someone prepare for planning, the difference between a plan variation and a plan reassessment under the current rules, and how reviewable decisions, internal reviews and the Administrative Review Tribunal work. Two case studies follow participants through an access request and a major change in circumstances. Throughout, we focus on supporting participants while respecting their choices and staying within your role. Duration: 50 minutes.
45 minWhat the NDIS Funds and What It Does Not
Participants, families and staff often ask whether the NDIS will pay for something. Since 3 October 2024, the answer is guided by the NDIS supports lists made under section 10 of the NDIS Act, which set out what is and is not an NDIS support. This course explains how those lists work, what replacement supports are, and the idea of reasonable and necessary supports. It explains where the NDIS sits alongside health, education and other mainstream services, and gives you a clear process for responding to requests without making promises. Case studies cover a hospital stay and a family with several requests at once. Duration: 45 minutes.
50 minPlan Management Explained
Around two thirds of NDIS participants use a plan manager, so most of our staff will work with plan managers regularly. This course explains the three ways NDIS funding can be managed, what a registered plan manager does and does not do, and how plan managed participants can use both registered and unregistered providers. It covers what a good invoice includes, how and when payments flow, why maximum prices still apply to plan managed funding, and the changes to plan management that are on the way. Finally, it explains how our staff should work with plan managers day to day, so participants get their supports and providers get paid correctly. Two case studies show how to respond to rejected invoices and to funding that runs tight. Duration: 50 minutes.
40 minNDIS Code of Conduct
The NDIS Code of Conduct sets the minimum standard of behaviour for everyone who delivers NDIS supports, whether they work for a registered or unregistered provider. In this course you will learn who the Code applies to, what each of its seven elements means in day to day support work, and how to apply them in realistic situations with participants. We also cover how the Code connects to our own policies, how to raise concerns, and what can happen when the Code is breached, including action by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. By the end you will be able to recognise conduct that meets the Code and conduct that does not. Duration: 40 minutes.
45 minSupported Decision Making
Every adult has the right to make decisions about their own life, and some people need support to do that. This course explains what supported decision making is and why it matters in disability and aged care. You will learn the core principles, including the presumption of capacity and the right to take risks, practical strategies for helping a person understand options and express what they want, the difference between supported and substitute decisions, and how to record decisions and the support you gave. It draws on the NDIA's Supported Decision Making Policy, Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the registered supporter role under the Aged Care Act 2024. Duration: 45 minutes.
60 minUnderstanding Psychosocial Disability Under the NDIS
Many NDIS participants live with psychosocial disability, and the way we support them can make a real difference to their recovery. This course explains what psychosocial disability is and how it is recognised under the NDIS, including the NDIS Psychosocial Disability Recovery-Oriented Framework. You will learn what personal recovery means, how to put recovery oriented practice into everyday support, why psychosocial disability is often episodic and how to respond to early warning signs, and how to use a trauma informed approach. The course builds knowledge only: always follow each participant's support plan and the guidance of their clinical team, and ask for person specific training where it is needed. Duration: 60 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Do support coordinators have to be registered with the NDIS Commission?
Not in 2026. Registration is only needed to work with participants whose plans are NDIA managed. The Commission has paused its proposal to make support coordination registration mandatory.
What are the three levels of support coordination?
Level 1 support connection, level 2 support coordination (often called coordination of supports) and level 3 specialist support coordination for complex, higher risk situations.
What registration groups cover support coordination?
0106 Assistance in coordinating or managing life stages, transitions and supports for levels 1 and 2, and 0132 Specialised support coordination for level 3. Both need a certification audit, and 0132 adds the specialised support coordination module.
Is there free support coordination training?
There is no official support coordination course. The NDIS Commission's free Worker orientation module, Code of Conduct videos and the NDIA's report templates are useful free starting points. Role specific courses, including ours, are paid.
When are support coordination reports due?
An initial plan implementation report 8 weeks after the plan starts or the request for service is accepted, regular progress reports, and a plan reassessment report before the next plan. Due dates are in the request for service and the provider portal.
Is support coordination changing?
Yes. The government has announced a new commissioned support coordination and connection service from 1 July 2028. The final design is still to be decided.
Source: National Disability Insurance Agency. Checked 10/11/2026. Provider Compliance is not affiliated with the Victorian Government.