The way the N.D.I.S. helps with the costs of housing support depends on the sort of help you need with daily living in your home. They will fund ‘people based supports,’ and supports to do with the actual building you live in, called ‘bricks and mortar supports.’
People Based Supports
The N.D.I.S. will fund people (such as occupational therapists, developmental educators or support workers) to teach or train you in daily living skills. Training or support may focus on improving your capacity for cooking, cleaning, and behaviour and financial management. The N.D.I.S. call these, ‘Capacity Building’ Supports. In your N.D.I.S. plan you may find these kinds of supports included under the heading ‘Improved Daily Living.’
The N.D.I.S. will fund people to help you with things you are not able to do or need assistance to do. This may be for jobs like cleaning and gardening; or for workers to assist you with personal care tasks like, showering and dressing, or with care and assistance overnight. The N.D.I.S. calls this, ‘Assistance with Daily Life,’ and you may have funding for these kinds of supports included under the heading ‘Core Supports’ in your plan.
You may choose to employ your own staff with the funding for these supports, or use an organisation to provide staff.
If you live in a group home, that is, a house owned or managed by an organisation that also has staff to support you, the process is slightly different. The organisation that owns or manages the property and employs and manages the staff, will put in a quote to the N.D.I.S. that says how much the support you need will cost. The N.D.I.S. calls this ‘Supported Independent Living’ or ‘SIL.’ The N.D.I.S. will pay the organisation who supports you directly, and you may not see the details of this in your N.D.I.S. plan.
‘Bricks and mortar’ support
These supports may provide funding for changes to your home to make it easier for you to do things on your own and move around your home more safely. These kinds of changes are called ‘Home Modifications.’ The ‘Home Modifications’ section in your N.D.I.S. plan may include funding for an assessment of work that needs to be done, planning, getting quotes and making the changes or home modifications that are needed.
A very small number of people approved to access the N.D.I.S. may apply for money to help pay for a specially built disability accessible house. The N.D.I.S. call this ‘Specialist Disability Accommodation,’ or S.D.A. This is only for people with very high support needs. You, or someone on your behalf, can talk to your National Disability Insurance Agency (N.D.I.A.) Planner, a Local Area Coordinator partner, or your Support Coordinator if you want to be assessed for this type of funding.
It is important to remember that the N.D.I.S. will not pay your rent, bond, power, telephone or water costs. There are other government services that help with those costs. You can find out more about these in the Housing and budgeting section of Finding Your Way.
GET STARTED
Think about your goals for where and how you want to live.
What sort of help do you need to work on your goals?
Is it, ‘people-based’ help? Or is it about the building itself?
Find out more about the different sorts of housing and living supports and services you can get by clicking here.
You can also find out more about Housing and the N.D.I.S. by going to their Housing and Living Supports and Services web page.
If you have an NDIS plan, your Core Supports funding can help to pay for the ‘people based’ supports that you might need in your home.
To find out more; you can register with a Peer Support Network by calling ACD Tasmania on 1 8 0 0 2 4 4 7 4 2 or Speak Out on 0 3 6 2 3 1 2 3 4 4. You can also talk to a Local Area Coordinator partner, your Support Coordinator; or call into a National Disability Insurance Agency office.
To find out more about NDIS funded category terms, and prepare you to ask for what you need in your plan, have a look at the N.D.I.S. Pathway Booklet 3 – Using your NDIS plan in PDF and Word
ACTION STEPS
Here you can find a simple list of the best actions to take if you are interested in this topic:
1 . Think about how and where you want to live.
If your goal is to live as independently as possible, think about how you can do this. Talk to people who can help you with planning for what you need.
2 . If you are eligible for, or already accessing the N.D.I.S., talk to your Support Coordinator, your Local Area Coordinator partner or your Planner about what the N.D.I.S. can do for you.
3 . Find out about renting or buying a home, and about supported accommodation options that may be available.
4 . Think about the support you need.
Do you need support all day and night, or for certain times of the day for specific activities like showering or shopping? The N.D.I.S. can provide flexible funding to suit your needs.