The National Disability Insurance Scheme (or NDIS) is a way for people who have a disability, that inhibits everyday activities, and is likely to last for their whole life, to get the care and support they need. The NDIS is managed by the NDIA (National Disability Insurance Agency).

The NDIS can provide support to individuals within a variety of areas including; studying,  job hunting, socialising and making friends within and around their community.   

To be eligible you’ll need to meet some basic criteria relating to your age, Australian Residency status and the nature of your disability. The NDIS also needs to be available in your area. You can find out if you meet the access requirements and check when the NDIS is rolling out in your area at www.ndis.gov.au.

As of 1 July 2019, the NDIS is expected to be available right across Australia in every state and territory.

The NDIS covers the cost of supports across a wide range of areas, from education, employment and community participation through to living arrangements, independence, health and wellbeing.  What is covered in your plan will really depend on your individual situation and life goals. The NDIS uses the “reasonable and necessary” framework to determine what support you can be funded for. The NDIS can also fund Plan Management and Support Coordination.

Reasonable and necessary are the words the NDIA use when talking about what the NDIS will fund.

Reasonable:
Means that something is fair. 

Necessary:
Means something you must have. 

The NDIA pay for reasonable and necessary supports that will help you to be more independent, join in the community and get the services and equipment you need.

A few questions you might want to consider in determining if a product or service is reasonable and necessary:

• Disability Related – Do I need this because of my disability?

• Goals – Does it help me reach/move towards my goals, objectives and aspirations in my plan? 

• Value for money – Are the costs reasonable, thinking about both the benefits and the cost of other ways that might get similar results? 

The NDIS, ‘National Disability Insurance Scheme’, is the scheme that people with disability are part of, these people are called participants. The NDIA, ‘National Disability Insurance Agency’, is the government body that is implementing and running the scheme.

There are three places the NDIS money is coming from:

First, existing money spent by state and territory governments on disability services is now going into the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Second, funds for the NDIS come from the increase in the Medicare levy that occurred in July 2014 from 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent.

Finally, any NDIS funding not offset by the above sources must come from general budget revenue or borrowings.

Your NDIS plan is a document all about you and your life goals. It is based on the details you provide in your initial planning meeting with your Local Area Coordinator (LAC). Your plan contains a breakdown of the different supports required to help you achieve your goals, along with how much funding has been allocated to each category.

If you want to later change something in your plan, you can always ask for a review of your plan. Make sure you explain as clearly as possible how and why you need to make the adjustments (for example, if your personal circumstances have changed).

How the NDIS will change your support programs is up to you. If you’re happy with the supports you have, and if they’re reasonable and necessary, then nothing needs to change. But if you want to, you can change your supports when you make your NDIS plan. 

In a step by step guide, we give a couple of good  tips on how to prepare, such as: Learn the basics about what it can fund and how it works. Start your planning early and don’t wait until your first meeting to think about what you want. And of course, aske for help from our friendly team at any time.

There are three options to manage your NDIS funding:

• Plan Management
• Self Management
• NDIA managed

However, your funds are managed, you still have choice and control to ensure your services are working for you and fit in your budget.  Details of your funding is always available on you myplace portal on the NDIS website.

Plan management

Plan management allows you to:

• have choice and control over the providers you use;
• use NDIS registered providers;
• use non-registered providers (Plan Manager must be a registered provider);
• negotiate pricing to pay less than the NDIS price guide;
• make value for money decision in line with your plan;
• view your plan on the myplace portal to keep track of your budget.

JA Management services will:

• pay your providers for the supports you purchase;
• help you keep track of your funds (App);
• take care of financial reporting for you;
• assist in choosing your providers.

Self management

Plan management allows you to:

• have choice and control over the providers you use;
• use NDIS registered providers;
• use non-registered providers (Plan Manager must be a registered provider);
• negotiate pricing to pay less than the NDIS price guide;
• make value for money decision in line with your plan;
• view your plan on the myplace portal to keep track of your budget.

JA Management will:

• pay your providers for the supports you purchase;
• help you keep track of your funds via our app;
• take care of financial reporting for you and provide a monthly statement;
• assist in choosing your providers.

Plan Managers deal with all the tricky paperwork and administrative tasks related to your plan – like keeping track of your spending, maintaining accurate financial records, handling claims with the NDIS and making sure your providers get paid, tracking your spending and keeping a note of all your paperwork. They can even help you with a list of service providers in your area. That means you can focus on the more important stuff, like realising the goals in your plan. 

Realise your goals, plan for your future and budget with confidence.

Live the life you want to lead with Australia’s leading NDIS Plan Manager

Our Plan Managers and NDIS experts can help you:

• We’re with you every step of the way of your NDIS plan cycle
• Understand what you can buy in your plan
• Know your rights with the NDIS
• There’s no cost to you
• We provide fast payment for your providers
• You can use the providers you want (NDIS registered or not)
• You can join today and claim tomorrow
• You can access free resources, information and advice from experience plan managers
• You can access JA Management’s plan management app to track your budgets in real time, connect with providers near you and share with family, friends and your support network. 
• Stress less, discover more.

Signing up with us is really easy. Get started with our online enquiry form.
We will contact you within 1 business day. To get everything started, we will ask you to complete and sign our Customer Service Agreement and send us a copy of your plan.

You can easily keep track of your budgets and your spending in your own online JA Management App dashboard. If you sign up with us we will give you access to this very handy and easy to use app.

If Plan Management is part of your plan, then the cost of those services is covered by the NDIS. Plan Management is available to all participants – you just have to ask for it!

We are independent and not a service provider ourselves, we’ll only suggest options that we think are right for you. You can also find service providers in your local area by contacting your local NDIS office, calling the helpline on 1800 800 110 or checking the list of registered service providers in your area at www.ndis.gov.au.

The NDIS asks service providers to register with them. However, not all providers choose to register.  The main difference between unregistered and registered providers is that only registered providers can claim their invoices with the NDIS directly. Using a Plan Manager allows you to access an unregistered provider easily. 

Participants can forward invoices from their Service Providers to us or they can arrange to have their Service Providers email/post invoices directly to us.  Once we get the invoice, we will store it and process it.  Following this, we make a payment request through the NDIS Portal.  When this is processed and we receive the funds we will make the payment to the Service Provider.

If you have paid for a product or service upfront using your own funds, we can process a reimbursement back to you.  For us to be able to do this we will need a copy of the tax receipt.

The standard turnaround time for the payment is approximately 5-7 business days from the date that we receive an invoice or a receipt. 
The standard turnaround time to sign up a new NDIS Participant to JA Management is approximately 2 business days from the time we get the completed Service Agreement.

A nominee is a person who is appointed by a participant to act or make decisions on behalf of a participant. 

Nominees have a duty to determine the wishes of the participant and make decisions that are in their best interests for their personal and social wellbeing.

There are two types of nominees:

1. Plan Nominee

A plan nominee can undertake all activities that a participant would undertake including, all activity relating to their plan and the management of their funds.

If there is anything specific that you don’t want your plan nominee to decide, you can ask for this to be noted when you appoint them.

2. Correspondence Nominee

A correspondence nominee can undertake all activities that a participant would undertake, except for:

• The preparation, review or replacement of the participants plan
• Managing the funds for supports in the participants plan

You may consider having a nominee in place for times when you are unavailable to make decisions or need someone to speak with the NDIA on your behalf. The unexpected can happen and it is good to have a plan in place, just in case.

Local area co-ordinators can help you with the NDIS, talk to supports, and help you with community supports. 

You can find more information here: https://www.ndis.gov.au/understanding/what-ndis/whos-rolling-out-ndis/lac-partners-community. 

If you move from an NDIS area to somewhere the NDIS hasn’t yet started, your funding will go with you. You’ll need to let the NDIS know about your move as they might need to review the supports in your plan.    

You can tell the NDIS about a move by filling out a special form called the change of circumstances form. You can find the form at the Change of Circumstance page: https://www.ndis.gov.au/participants/using-your-plan/changing-your-plan/change-circumstances#change-of-circumstances-form.

NDIS application forms are generally sent to people with disability and their families.

If you were part of an existing state scheme these should have been sent to you, but if you’re new to the NDIS you’ll need to call 1800 800 110.

NDIS Participants can sign up online using our online sign up form or we can email or post a blank copy of the Service Agreement to you.  Get in touch with the team to discuss the best way to get things started.

Get in touch with one of the friendly team via phone, email or the online contact form and we will be more than happy to answer any questions you have!