Understanding NDIS Plan Management

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) gives participants greater choice and control over the supports they receive. One important decision is how your NDIS funding will be managed.

Participants can choose to manage their own funding, have it managed by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), or engage a registered NDIS plan manager to handle the financial administration on their behalf.

This guide explains how NDIS plan management works, the different funding management options, and what plan managers do.

What is NDIS plan management?

NDIS plan management is a funding management option that allows a registered NDIS plan manager to manage the financial administration of your NDIS plan.

Rather than processing invoices and monitoring budgets yourself, a plan manager pays providers, keeps financial records, tracks your available funding, and helps ensure payments are made in line with NDIS pricing arrangements.

Plan management is designed to reduce administrative responsibilities while still allowing participants to retain choice and control over their supports.

What are the different NDIS funding management options?

NDIS participants can choose one of three funding management options.

Feature	Self-managed	Plan-managed	NDIA-managed
Who manages funding?	Participant	Registered plan manager	NDIA
Administration	Participant	Plan manager	NDIA
NDIS pricing rules	Greater flexibility	NDIS pricing arrangements generally apply	NDIS pricing arrangements apply
Choice of providers	Registered and many unregistered providers	Registered and many unregistered providers	Registered NDIS providers only
Cost to participant	Administrative responsibilities managed personally	Plan management is funded through the NDIS where included in the plan	No direct administration cost
Funding control	Highest level of direct control	Shared administration with participant choice	Managed by the NDIA
Support with invoices and payments	Participant manages	Plan manager manages	NDIA manages

What is an NDIS plan manager?

An NDIS plan manager is a registered NDIS provider that manages the financial administration of an NDIS participant’s funding.

Plan managers work with participants to help administer their budgets while allowing them to focus on accessing supports rather than processing invoices and monitoring payments.

To provide plan management services, providers must be registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.

What does a plan manager do?

A plan manager performs a range of financial administration tasks on behalf of NDIS participants.

These responsibilities commonly include:

• paying provider invoices
• monitoring available budgets
• tracking spending across funding categories
• providing financial reports
• maintaining payment records
• helping participants understand their funding balances

Plan managers do not decide which supports participants receive. Those decisions remain with the participant.

Who is eligible for NDIS plan management?

Any eligible NDIS participant can request plan management as part of their NDIS plan.

Plan management funding is provided separately from most other supports when it is approved within the participant’s plan. This means participants generally do not need to use their support budgets to pay for plan management services.

Participants can discuss plan management during their planning meeting or request changes at a plan reassessment if their circumstances change.

Benefits of plan management

Plan management offers a balance between administrative support and participant choice.

Some potential benefits include:

• reduced paperwork
• professional invoice management
• budget tracking and financial reporting
• flexibility to engage many registered and unregistered providers
• more time to focus on achieving NDIS goals

Supporting your role in NDIS plan management

If you provide NDIS plan management services, managing financial administration accurately and professionally is an important part of supporting participants. Having appropriate business insurance in place can help support your operations and manage potential risks.

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