Rostery

What is Support coordination?

Also known as: Coordination of Supports

Support 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.

In RosteryNDIS support coordination softwareA caseload where the case note is the billing unit, with budgets, quotes and progress reports.

It is funded under Capacity Building, not Core, and comes in three levels: Support Connection, Support Coordination, and Specialist Support Coordination for participants with complex or high-risk circumstances.

Coordinators bill in time increments against a budget that is usually tight, so accurate time capture against the right participant and the right support item is the whole commercial discipline of the role. Unbilled coordination time is the most common way a coordination business quietly loses money.

The three levels of support coordination

  1. Support connection: helps a participant understand their plan and connect with providers, community and mainstream services.
  2. Coordination of supports: puts in place a mix of supports that build the participant's capacity to maintain relationships, manage tasks, live more independently and be included in their community.
  3. Specialist support coordination: a higher level of support for participants with complex situations, delivered by appropriately qualified and experienced coordinators. It must be included in the plan before a provider can deliver it.

The Pricing Schedule 2026-27 lists hourly items for each level, plus a coordination of supports item for employment.

What a support coordinator does

  • helps the participant understand and use their plan to meet their goals
  • connects them with NDIS providers and with community and mainstream services
  • builds their confidence and skills to coordinate their own supports
  • sends the NDIA regular progress reports on whether the plan is meeting their needs.

Support coordination sits in the Capacity Building budget and is usually funded as a time-limited support.

Requests for service and registration

In the NDIA's new computer system, the participant names a preferred support coordination provider and the NDIA sends a request for service through the my NDIS provider portal. The provider has 4 days to accept or reject it before it goes to another provider. Accepting records the provider as one of the participant's 'my providers' and commits it to the NDIA's reporting requirements.

Registration is not mandatory for support coordinators, but only registered support coordinators can work with participants whose funding is Agency-managed.

Support coordination and recovery coaching

For participants with psychosocial disability, the NDIA may fund a psychosocial recovery coach instead. Because coordination is part of the recovery coach role, the NDIA will generally not fund both in the same plan.

How Rostery helps

Rostery includes a support coordination module, with case notes, goals and reports kept in the participant's record.

Questions people ask

What are the 3 levels of NDIS support coordination?

Level 1 is support connection, Level 2 is coordination of supports and Level 3 is specialist support coordination for participants with complex needs.

Do support coordinators need to be registered?

No, but unregistered support coordinators can only work with participants who self-manage or plan-manage. Registration is needed to work with Agency-managed participants.

Can you have a support coordinator and a recovery coach?

The NDIA will generally not fund both, because coordination is part of the recovery coach role. It may consider funding both in limited circumstances.

Is support coordination in every NDIS plan?

No. It is funded when the NDIA decides it is reasonable and necessary, and it is usually time-limited.

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

Capacity BuildingCapacity Building is the NDIS budget category funding supports that build a participant’s skills and independence rather than assisting with daily tasks. It covers therapy, employment supports, improved living arrangements, and support coordination. Unlike Core, funding is allocated to specific sub-categories and cannot be moved between them.Service agreementA service agreement is the written agreement between an NDIS participant and a provider setting out what supports will be delivered, how much they cost, and the terms covering cancellations, changes and ending the arrangement. The NDIS Practice Standards expect one for each participant, agreed before supports begin.Support item numberA support item number is the code identifying a specific NDIS support for claiming, in the form 01_011_0107_1_1. It has five parts: the support category, a sequence number, the registration group, the outcome domain and the support purpose. Every claimed line must carry a valid item number that matches the support actually delivered and sits within the participant’s funded budget.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.Psychosocial recovery coachA psychosocial recovery coach is an NDIS-funded worker who supports participants with psychosocial disability in their recovery. Coaches help participants build capacity and resilience, plan and organise supports, and connect with mental health and other services. The support was introduced on 1 July 2020 and is generally funded instead of support coordination, not alongside it.LACAn 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.

Rostery handles this in practice

SCHADS interpretation, NDIS price-guide validation, claiming and the evidence an audit asks for — built for Australian providers.