Understanding the different Supports in your NDIS Plan

Your NDIS Plan allocates your funding under three separate support ‘budget areas’. These budget areas are:

1. Capital support
2. Core support, and
3. Capacity building

Depending on your needs, you’ll be allocated a certain amount of funding under one or more of the three budget areas. But, what’s the difference between these NDIS Plan budget areas?

Here’s a quick overview to help you understand each budget area as it relates to your plan.

Capital Support

Capital support is fairly straight forward in that it is for buying equipment and technology (such as a wheelchair or visual equipment), and paying for home modifications (such as widening doorways or installing handrails). The funding isn’t flexible, it has to be used for the purpose for which it’s allocated.

Core Supports

A core support is an ongoing long-term support activity that helps you in everyday life. Your plan might specify one or a variety of core supports.

Core supports are grouped into 4 categories:

1. Daily activities
2. Social, community and civic participation
3. Consumables
4. Transport

Examples of core supports include:

• Accommodation
• Visiting supports
• Showering/toileting
• Budgeting assistance
• Assistance with socialisation and recreational activities
• Personal care
• Provision of consumables and personal care products

How you use your core support budget is up to you. The budget is usually flexible in that you are free to use your allocated budget as you see necessary across any of the four core support categories (unless the item budget is nominated as “stated supports”).

Capacity Building

Capacity building, refers to supports that help you increase your own base skill set. As capacity is built, the amount of support may be reduced or stopped if it is no longer required.

There are 9 categories within the capacity building support budget area.

1. Daily Activity
2. Choice and Control
3. Employment
4. Social Community and Civic Participation
5. Health and Well Being
6. Home Living
7. Lifelong Learning
8. Relationships
9. Support Coordination

Capacity building can include activities such as:

• Independent living skills: cooking, cleaning, self-care, grocery shopping, etc.
• Transition planning, skills development, training
• Transport training: this might include catching buses/trains or arranging taxis
• Assistance with managing the development of your own plan and support staff (eg. Plan Management)
• Assisting people in having choice and control over their own life
• Relationship building: building beneficial and lasting relationships with friends/family
• Health and wellbeing: incorporating fitness/food plans or mental health therapies
• Employment: assistance with applying and interviewing for jobs, and maintaining employment
• Social and community participation: social/sporting groups
• Other daily living skills

Capacity building isn’t always about gaining or regaining total independence, but slowly reducing the level of need and assistance required over time in relation to a particular support. Capacity building is focused on steadily reducing the level of support required, as these new skills are incorporated.

Your capacity building support budget will be allocated to one or more of the 9 support categories within the capacity building budget area. The funding will be allocated to the categories that align with your plan goals. You can choose to use your budget as you wish as long as the activity is within the capacity building budget category to which the funding is allocated.

For more information, visit the NDIS website.