Self-Managed vs Plan-Managed NDIS: Which Suits You?

Three ways your NDIS funding can be managed

Every NDIS plan is managed in one of three ways, and it decides which providers you're allowed to use:

• Self-managed — you pay providers and claim the money back through the NDIS portal. Any provider, registered or not.
• Plan-managed — a plan manager pays your providers and handles the NDIS claiming for you. Any provider, registered or not.
• NDIA-managed (agency-managed) — the NDIA pays providers directly, but you can only use NDIS-registered providers.

The important thing for choosing a small, local provider: both self-managed and plan-managed let you pick an unregistered provider like Keystone Community Care. Only NDIA-managed funding is limited to registered providers. That's exactly why Keystone, as an unregistered provider, works with self- and plan-managed participants.

What plan-managed means

With plan management, a separate organisation — your plan manager — receives your providers' invoices, pays them from your NDIS budget, and does the claiming and record-keeping. You still choose your own providers and approve the spending; you just don't touch the paperwork. Plan management itself is funded by the NDIS in a separate part of your plan (Improved Life Choices), so it doesn't cost you anything out of your support budget.

Plan-managed tends to suit people who want choice of provider without the admin — including those new to the NDIS.

What self-managed means

Self-management means you take responsibility for the money directly: you pay your providers, then claim reimbursement from the NDIS. It gives you the most control — you can use any provider, negotiate rates (some providers charge below the price guide), and design supports flexibly within your plan. The trade-off is the admin: you keep receipts and invoices and submit claims, and you must hold those records for at least five years.

Side by side

Which one suits you?

Plan-managed is usually the better fit if you:

• want to choose your own providers but not deal with invoices and claims;
• are newer to the NDIS, or supporting someone and short on time;
• like the reassurance of someone else tracking the budget.

Self-managed is usually the better fit if you:

• want maximum flexibility and to negotiate your own arrangements;
• are comfortable keeping receipts and claiming through the portal;
• want to make your funding stretch as far as possible.

You don't have to pick one for everything — many people are self-managed for some supports and plan-managed for others, and you can ask to change the management type at a plan review.

Where Keystone fits

Keystone Community Care supports both self-managed and plan-managed participants across central Brisbane (inner city, northside, southside, bayside and the Redlands) and the central Gold Coast (Southport to Coolangatta). We charge at or below the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits either way, put the rates in writing before your first shift, and there's no sign-up fee, no minimum term and no lock-in. If you're self-managed we invoice you; if you're plan-managed we invoice your plan manager. Not sure which you are? Do the one-minute check or call Heidi on 0403 886 293 and we'll read your plan with you.

Common questions