How to Use Your NDIS Plan and Claim for Supports: A Plain-English Guide for 2026

When your plan starts, your funding is grouped into three types of support budget. Understanding which budget a support comes from tells you how flexibly you can spend it, and whether you can move money between categories.

The three budgets work like this:

• Core supports: helps with everyday activities and disability-related daily life, such as assistance from a support worker, consumables (for example, continence aids) and some transport. This is the most flexible budget, and in most cases you can move funding between Core categories as your needs change. Transport is the usual exception.
• Capacity Building supports: helps you build skills and independence, for example therapies, employment supports, support coordination and plan management. This budget is NOT flexible between categories: funding allocated to one category (for example, Improved Daily Living for therapy) cannot be moved to another (for example, support coordination).
• Capital supports: covers higher-cost, one-off items such as assistive technology, home or vehicle modifications, and Specialist Disability Accommodation. This is the least flexible budget. Each item is usually specified in your plan and often requires quotes and approvals before you buy.

Some funding is described as "stated" support, meaning it can only be used for the specific purpose named in your plan and cannot be moved elsewhere. The rest is more flexible. If you are unsure which parts of your budget are stated and which are flexible, your plan documents in the my NDIS app or participant portal set this out, and a plan manager or support coordinator can help you read them.

How your plan is managed decides who pays your providers, what records you keep, and which providers you can use. You can have different management types for different parts of your plan.

The three options are:

• Self-managed: you (or your nominee) pay providers directly, then claim the money back from the NDIS. You have the most choice and can use registered or unregistered providers, but you take on the admin: paying invoices, submitting claims, and keeping records.
• Plan-managed: a registered plan manager receives and pays your providers' invoices for you, tracks your budget, and handles the paperwork. The cost of the plan manager is funded separately in your plan, so it does not come out of your other budgets. You can use registered or unregistered providers.
• NDIA-managed (also called agency-managed): the National Disability Insurance Agency pays your providers directly. There is no upfront cost or admin for you, but you can only use NDIS registered providers.

A key practical difference: only self-managed and plan-managed participants can use unregistered providers with NDIS funds. NDIA-managed participants must use registered providers only. This matters when you are comparing providers, because many smaller or specialist providers choose not to register.

Since law changes in late 2024, the NDIA also has the power to change your management type, for example moving you to agency-managed, if it believes there is a risk that funds may not be used properly. For most participants this will not apply, but it is worth knowing the option exists.

NDIS funding can only be spent on supports that are "reasonable and necessary" and that appear on the official NDIS supports list. A reasonable and necessary support must be related to your disability, represent value for money, be likely to be effective, and take into account support available from family, carers, the community and other government services.

Since 3 October 2024, the NDIS Act has a clear definition of an "NDIS support" set out in two lists: 37 categories of goods and services that ARE NDIS supports, and 15 categories that are NOT. This replaced a lot of the previous case-by-case guesswork.

Things the NDIS does not fund because they are everyday living costs or another system's responsibility include:

• Day-to-day living costs not related to your disability, such as groceries, rent, utility bills and phone bills.
• The cost of an activity itself (for example, a class or event entry fee), although funding can pay a support worker to help you get there or take part if there are disability-related barriers.
• Ordinary lifestyle items like gym memberships or flights for a holiday.
• Supports that are the responsibility of other systems, such as medical treatment and medication (health system), and school education.

There is a limited "replacement support" pathway where the NDIA can agree, at your request, to treat a non-listed support as an NDIS support if it meets strict criteria. This is the exception, not the rule. If you are unsure whether something can be funded, check the official supports list before you buy, because a claim for a non-NDIS support can be rejected and, for self-managers, may need to be repaid.

If you self-manage all or part of your plan, you pay the provider first and then claim the amount back through the my NDIS app or the participant portal. You only need to claim through one platform.

To make a claim, sign in to the my NDIS app or participant portal with your own sign-in details, choose the Claims button, then choose Make a claim. Before you start, have these ready:

• The date the support started and the date it ended (a claim can run over multiple days).
• The support category the purchase falls under.
• The payment amount.
• The provider, business or person's name and their ABN.
• A short description of the support.
• Evidence: a receipt or tax invoice, or a bank statement, or a payroll record if you employ a worker.

Once submitted, self-managed claims are usually reimbursed into your nominated bank account within 2 business days. You have up to 2 years after a support has been delivered to claim it, so a missed receipt is not necessarily lost, but it is good practice to claim regularly so you can track your budget.

Self-managers must keep receipts and records of purchases for 5 years. The NDIS can ask to see how you spent your funding, so keep invoices, receipts, bank statements and any service agreements organised from the start.

If you are plan-managed, you generally do not submit claims yourself. Your provider sends their invoice to your plan manager, who checks it against your budget, pays the provider, and claims the amount from the NDIS. You should still review invoices and keep an eye on your budget through your plan manager's app or statements, but the day-to-day claiming is handled for you.

If you are NDIA-managed, your registered provider claims directly from the agency after delivering a support. You do not pay invoices or submit claims, but you do need to make sure your providers are correctly linked to your plan so payments go through.

On the NDIA's current computer system (known as PACE), you "endorse" your providers through the my NDIS portal, which tells the agency that a provider is authorised to claim against your plan. For NDIA-managed participants in particular, it is important that your providers are endorsed, otherwise the agency may need to confirm by SMS that you are happy to work with them, and payment can be delayed if you do not reply.

Whichever way your plan is managed, you can always see your spending and remaining budget in the my NDIS app or participant portal. Checking it regularly is the simplest way to avoid running out of a category before your plan ends.

The NDIS does not set a single fixed price for each support. Instead, it publishes the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits, which set the maximum a provider can charge for many supports. The current 2025-26 arrangements took effect on 24 November 2025.

For supports delivered by disability support workers, price limits are indexed to wage changes under the relevant award, which produced a 3.95% increase for those supports in 2025-26. As an indicative example, the standard weekday daytime rate for assistance with self-care/daily life is around $70.23 per hour, but you should confirm the exact current limit in the official price guide because these figures are updated regularly.

A few important points about how the limits apply:

• Price limits are caps, not set fees. With self-managed or plan-managed funding you can negotiate a lower price with a provider, which makes your budget go further.
• The published price limits formally apply as the maximum a registered provider can charge an NDIA-managed plan. Unregistered providers used by self-managers or plan-managed participants are not bound to the price guide, so always agree the price in writing first.
• For 2025-26 the NDIA moved many therapy supports to national, standardised pricing, which raised some caps and lowered others depending on the discipline.

Because rates, indexation and individual line items change at least annually (and sometimes mid-year), always check the latest figure on the official Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits page before you assume a price.

You do not have to navigate your plan alone. Two funded supports exist specifically to help, and both come from your Capacity Building budget when they are included in your plan.

Plan management pays a registered plan manager to handle the financial side: receiving and paying invoices, tracking your budgets and doing the claiming. It is funded separately so it does not reduce your other supports. The 2025-26 price limit for plan management is $104.45 per month, and the agency removed the old set-up fee and remote loadings for this service in 2025-26.

Support coordination is different: it helps you understand your plan, connect with providers and build your ability to manage supports over time. It comes in different levels depending on how complex your needs are, and it must be specifically included in your plan, as it is separate from your Core budget. It is time-limited and goal-focused, so the NDIA will look at how it has helped you at your next plan reassessment.

If you are choosing or comparing providers, you can check whether a provider is registered, and what they are registered to deliver, on the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission's provider register. Whether a provider is registered or not, they must follow the NDIS Code of Conduct, and the Commission can investigate complaints and act on breaches by registered and unregistered providers alike.

Most claiming problems come down to a handful of avoidable issues. A little discipline at the start of your plan saves a lot of stress later.

Practical habits that keep your plan running smoothly:

• Check your remaining budget in the my NDIS app or portal before booking new or ongoing supports, so you do not run a category dry before your plan ends.
• Agree prices and terms in a written service agreement, especially with unregistered providers who are not bound by the price guide.
• Keep every receipt, invoice and bank record. Self-managers must hold these for 5 years; it is sensible for plan-managed participants to keep copies too.
• Claim regularly rather than in one big batch. You have 2 years, but frequent claiming keeps your budget tracking accurate.
• Only buy supports on the NDIS supports list. If you are unsure, check before you spend, as a rejected claim for a non-NDIS support may need to be repaid.

If a claim is rejected, the app or portal will usually show a reason, often a missing detail (such as the provider ABN), the wrong support category, or a support that is not an NDIS support. Fix the detail and resubmit, or ask your plan manager or support coordinator for help. If you disagree with an NDIA decision about your funding, you can ask for a review of that decision through the formal NDIS process.

Finally, keep your contact and bank details up to date in the portal so reimbursements are not delayed, and note your plan's end date so you can start any reassessment conversation in good time.