I’ve often heard providers and participants say their funds are “exhausted” or that there are “no funds left in a participant’s NDIS plan,” only to later discover they had simply used up the allocation for the current funding period. In many cases, significant funds still remained in future funding periods within the same plan.
This confusion is likely driven by inconsistent NDIA messaging and variations in how policy is applied, as well as gaps in provider understanding of NDIS operational guidelines and the frequent policy updates made throughout the year.
When this happens, it’s important for providers and Support Coordinators to understand what options are available to prevent unnecessary disruption.
When a participant’s NDIS budget is exhausted in one funding period, but funds remain in future funding periods, providers have options available to manage these situations.
- A provider can request future funds (within the next funding period) be released early via an s47 plan variation request. However, it is likely the request will not be actioned until the next funding period begins.
- Submit claims for support delivered in a previous funding period once the next funding period’s funds are released, provided the support provided falls within the participant’s plan dates (start and end date) and sufficient funds are available.
The Impact of Not Understanding Funding Periods
I’ve seen first-hand how damaging it can be when providers don’t understand how NDIS funding periods work.
In one situation, a participant’s Core supports allocation for the first funding period was exhausted late in the funding period. However, the participant’s NDIS plan still had around nine months of funding remaining, which would have been released within weeks.
Two providers were involved. One delivering drop-in support and the other providing community participation. Both delivered more support than outlined in their service agreements, and one provider further overserviced by charging at public holiday rates.
Without consulting the Support Coordinator, one provider advised the participant their funding was exhausted and withdrew support. This triggered significant conflict and ultimately caused an irreversible breakdown in relationships.
The impact on the participant was serious:
- they permanently lost one provider
- they missed out on essential support for far longer than necessary
- substantial Support Coordination hours were redirected into repairing a situation that could have been prevented
This experience reinforced how critical it is for providers to understand funding periods and to work within agreed budgets, particularly when participants are relying on consistent support to maintain stability and wellbeing.
Managing Support Coordinator Funding
Support Coordination funding is often limited and can run out earlier than expected for a range of reasons. In many cases, hours are consumed by unplanned complexity, including participant crises, safeguarding concerns, hospital admissions, or urgent changes in accommodation, health, or informal supports.
Support Coordination budgets are also more likely to be exhausted when service agreements are unclear, expectations are not set early, or the Support Coordinator is drawn into tasks that sit outside their role (such as ongoing rostering, complaints management, or administrative work that should sit with providers). When participants have multiple providers, complex funding structures, or frequent plan changes, the time required to coordinate supports can increase substantially.
To manage these situations, Support Coordinators need to review a participant’s NDIS budgets regularly and document their time and activities completed against a participant’s goals and outcomes achieved to clearly evidence how a participant has been supported. It is also essential to set clear priorities with a participant, confirm other provider’s understanding of funding periods and budget limits, and address overservicing early.
Support Coordinator Workflow
Funding periods don’t just affect provider claiming, they also influence how Support Coordination funding should be structured. Many participants require intensive Support Coordination early in their plan, particularly during implementation and commencement of supports.
Activities completed within the first three-months of a participant’s NDIS plan, generally include:
- Developing an understanding of the participant’s support needs, including how their disability impacts daily life and their support environment (particularly for new participants)
- Reviewing the participant’s NDIS plan and goals within the same context
- Conducting a risk assessment and if required, developing a risk management plan
- Preparing an implementation/action plan outlining agreed Support Coordination activities
- Forecasting budget expenditure based on the participant’s chosen supports and providers
- Engaging and onboarding new providers and reviewing service agreements for current providers
- Ensuring all service agreements and schedules of support align with the participant’s plan budgets, goals and broader NDIS guidelines, and gaining copies of Disaster Management Plans
- Closely monitoring new services during commencement and making adjustments as required
- Requesting and collecting implementation updates from providers and initial reports from providers
- Completing and submitting the NDIS Implementation Report
It is imperative Support Coordinators educate participants about the activities and workflow of their role. This will assist participants and Support Coordinators to request a Support Coordination budget to be either front loaded (within the first 3-month funding period) or allocated across a yearly funding period at their NDIS plan reassessment meeting, to enable more flexibility.
How Support Coordination Software Can Help
We have also built a feature within the Budget pages of Support Coordination Software that allows Support Coordinators to track their funding across each of a participant’s funding periods.
This tracker updates in real time, making it easier to monitor spend, plan Support Coordination activity across the full plan, and reduce the risk of avoidable funding issues, service disruption, and unnecessary administrative workload.
Want to find out more about how Support Coordination Software helps you manage funding periods and deliver best practice in Support Coordination? Click here to book a demo or sign up for a no obligation 14-day free trial.