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What is LAC?

Also known as: Local Area Coordinator

An LAC, or local area coordinator, works for an NDIS partner organisation funded by the NDIA to help people aged 9 to 64 understand and use the NDIS. LACs help people apply, connect with community and government services, and use their plans. They do not approve plans, decide supports or allocate funding, which is the role of an NDIA planner.

NDIS partners are independent community organisations, not NDIA employees, and they help people with disability even if they are not participants. When an LAC works with someone aged 9 to 64 to explore community and government services, the NDIA calls this community connections. Children younger than 9 work with an early childhood partner instead.

What an LAC does

  • gets to know the person, their situation and the supports they are looking for
  • connects them with community and government services nearby
  • helps them gather the right information and evidence to apply to the NDIS
  • helps them understand the NDIS, including their rights
  • helps participants understand and use the supports in their plan.

What an LAC cannot do

NDIS partners do not approve NDIS plans, decide about NDIS supports or allocate funding. Those decisions are made by an NDIA planner.

Community connections

If a person aged 9 to 64 is not eligible for the NDIS, or is still deciding whether to apply, a local area coordinator can help them explore and access government and community services. The NDIA calls this community connections. For children younger than 9 the equivalent is early connections, delivered by an early childhood partner.

LACs can also connect people with community groups and activities, such as sporting clubs, performing arts groups and other social networks.

LAC compared with a support coordinator

An LAC is provided through the NDIA's partner arrangements and is available to people who are not participants. A support coordinator is a support funded in a participant's plan, delivered by a provider the participant chooses, with three levels from support connection to specialist support coordination.

Working with LACs as a provider

An LAC may be a participant's main contact for questions about their plan. Reports from support coordinators help NDIA planners and NDIS partners prepare for participant check-ins and plan reassessments, so clear, goal-based reporting from providers makes those conversations easier.

Questions people ask

Is an LAC the same as a support coordinator?

No. An LAC works for an NDIS partner organisation funded by the NDIA. A support coordinator is a provider paid from the participant's plan.

Can an LAC approve my NDIS plan?

No. NDIS partners do not approve plans, decide supports or allocate funding. That is the role of an NDIA planner.

What age group do local area coordinators support?

People aged 9 to 64. Children younger than 9 work with an early childhood partner.

Do you need to be an NDIS participant to see an LAC?

No. NDIS partners help people with disability whether or not they are participants, including helping them apply.

Checked against the official sources on 2 October 2026. Rules change: confirm the current position with the agency before you rely on it.

Related terms

Early childhood approachThe early childhood approach is how the NDIS supports children younger than 9 with delays in their development or disability, and their families. Delivered mainly by early childhood partners, it offers early connections and short-term Early Supports without needing a diagnosis, and helps families apply to the NDIS when a child is likely to meet the eligibility requirements.Support coordinationSupport coordination is a funded NDIS support in which a coordinator helps a participant understand and use their plan: finding and connecting providers, negotiating service agreements, building the participant’s capacity to manage their own supports, and resolving problems when supports break down.NDIAThe NDIA is the Commonwealth agency that administers the NDIS. It assesses eligibility, approves participant plans and budgets, sets the price limits providers may charge, and pays claims submitted by registered providers. It is distinct from the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, which regulates provider conduct.ParticipantA participant is a person whose access to the NDIS has been approved and who holds an individual, funded NDIS plan. The term is used in place of “client” or “patient” throughout the scheme, reflecting that the person directs their own supports rather than receiving a service allocated to them.NDISThe NDIS is Australia’s national scheme for funding supports for people with permanent and significant disability. Each participant receives an individual plan with funded budgets, and chooses the providers who deliver their supports. It is administered by the National Disability Insurance Agency and funds around 700,000 Australians.

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