Your NDIS plan sets out your goals and the funding the NDIS has approved to help you work towards them. That funding sits in up to four support budgets, often called the NDIS funding categories: Core, Capacity building, Capital and Recurring. This guide explains what each budget pays for, the ways your funding can be managed, where to see your plan online, and what is changing in 2026 and 2027.
There were 782,013 NDIS participants at 30 June 2026, according to the NDIS quarterly report. Every plan uses the same structure, so once you know how the budgets work, your own plan is much easier to read.
NDIS funding categories: the four support budgets
An NDIS plan can hold up to four support budgets. Inside each budget are support categories, which describe what the money is for. Not every plan has all four budgets. What appears in yours depends on your goals and your disability support needs.
Core supports
Core supports help with everyday activities and disability-related needs. The core budget can hold up to three categories:
- Assistance with daily life: help with personal care and household tasks.
- Consumables: everyday items you need because of your disability, such as continence products and low-cost assistive technology.
- Assistance with social and community participation: a support worker to help you take part in social and community activities.
Core funding is flexible. The NDIS page on core supports has more detail, and the Provider24 guide to NDIS core supports covers how to plan this budget.
Capacity building supports
Capacity building supports help you build skills and independence over time. This budget can hold up to nine categories:
- Support coordination: a support coordinator, usually for a set period, who helps you build the confidence to manage your funding, supports and providers.
- Improved living arrangements: help to find and keep a suitable place to live. Rent and bonds are not NDIS supports.
- Increased social and community participation: skills building so you can take part in community, social and recreational activities.
- Finding and keeping a job: time-limited help for working-age participants to prepare for, find and keep work.
- Improved relationships: help to build and keep relationships with other people.
- Improved health and wellbeing: disability-related advice and support on exercise or diet, for example from a dietitian or exercise physiologist. General fitness costs such as gym memberships are not included.
- Improved learning: training, advice and help to move into further study.
- Improved life choices: pays for a plan manager if you choose plan-managed funding.
- Improved daily living: assessment, training or therapy to build skills for everyday life. The guide to NDIS therapy supports explains this category in depth.
Capacity building funding is stated, which means it can only be used for the supports your plan describes. The NDIS page on capacity building supports lists each category.
Capital supports
Capital supports pay for higher-cost items. This budget can hold up to two categories:
- Assistive technology: equipment for mobility, personal care, communication or recreation.
- Home modifications and SDA: changes to your home, such as grab rails in a bathroom, and Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) where it is funded in your plan.
Capital funding is also stated. See the NDIS page on capital supports.
Recurring supports
The recurring budget is for recurring transport. Transport used to sit in the core budget, which is why some older guides still list it there. The NDIS page on recurring supports has the current detail.
Flexible and stated funding
Whether funding is flexible or stated decides how much room you have to move money around.
- Flexible funding in your core budget can generally be used across the core categories, as long as you buy NDIS supports that fit your plan.
- Stated funding in your capacity building and capital budgets can only be spent on the supports your plan describes.
If your plan no longer matches your needs, talk to your my NDIS contact. Spending stated funding on something else is not the answer.
Three ways to manage your funding
You choose how your funding is managed, and you can ask to change your management type at any time. Each option affects which providers you can use.
Self-managed
You pay providers yourself and claim the cost from your plan. You can use registered and unregistered providers, and you can negotiate prices above or below the price limits. From 27 August 2026, participants need to keep records relating to NDIS claims for three years. Read more about self-managed funding.
Plan-managed
A plan manager pays your providers and keeps track of your budget. You choose your plan manager. They must be registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, and they are paid from funding included in your plan. You can use registered or unregistered providers. Read more about plan-managed funding, or compare plan management providers listed on Provider24.
NDIA-managed
The NDIA pays your providers for you, so there is less paperwork on your side. The trade-off is choice: you can only use registered providers. Read more about NDIA-managed funding.
Prices work differently depending on how your funding is managed. The Minister now sets NDIS prices, and the NDIS pricing schedule, effective 24 September 2026, replaced the old Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits document. Its maximum prices apply to NDIA-managed and plan-managed funding. The NDIS explains how pricing arrangements work.
Using the my NDIS and myplace portals and the app
There are two participant portals, both reached through myGov. The my NDIS participant portal is for plans made in the new system, and the myplace participant portal covers the rest. There is also the my NDIS app. Features differ between them, so the NDIS guide to using the participant portals is the place to check what yours can do.
In general, the portals and app let you:
- read your plan and your goals
- check how much funding is left in each budget
- see claims and payments made from your plan
Keep your invoices, receipts and service agreements together. It makes it much easier to match what you have spent against what the portal shows.
Getting the most from your plan
Set clear goals
Work out your short and long-term goals and make sure they are written into your plan. Your supports are funded to help you work towards those goals, so clear goals make it easier to decide where your funding should go.
Keep talking with your providers
Be open with your providers about what is working and what is not. Share feedback early. A provider who understands your goals can plan their support around them.
Use support coordination if it is in your plan
If your plan includes support coordination, your support coordinator can help you find providers, set up service agreements and sort out problems as they come up. You can compare support coordinators listed on Provider24.
Know how reassessment works
Plans are reassessed by the NDIA, not by your support coordinator or your providers. From 27 August 2026, the criteria for unscheduled reassessments are tighter. You can still ask for one when there have been significant and ongoing changes to your support needs, but only you, your plan nominee or your guardian can make the request.
What is changing in 2026 and 2027
The Australian Government has published a timeline of NDIS changes. These are the dates that affect how your plan works:
- From 1 October 2026: as plans are created, reassessed or renewed over the following 12 months, funding is reduced by 50% for social, economic and community participation supports and by 10% for improved daily living skills supports. Other parts of plans are not affected, and some supports within those categories are not affected either. You can keep using your current plan until it is reassessed or renewed. Eligible participants with high support needs can request a plan variation if the change would affect their 24-hour disability supports. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing explains this in Funding changes for NDIS supports.
- From 1 February 2027: when a plan reaches its scheduled reassessment date and a renewed plan is created, unspent funds from the previous plan are not carried over.
- From 1 April 2027: participants start moving to new framework planning. Existing plans stay in place until then, and the transition is due to finish by 31 December 2030.
- From 1 October 2027: a new panel of plan management providers begins.
The Government says the timeline will be updated as further dates are confirmed. The latest version is on the Securing the NDIS page.
Find providers for the categories in your plan
Once you know which support categories are in your plan, you can search Provider24 by that category to see which providers are listed in your state. Start with NDIS providers by state, then contact the providers you are interested in directly.
Last updated October 2026. This article is general information, not advice. NDIS rules are changing in stages, so check ndis.gov.au or ask your my NDIS contact about your own plan.
Frequently asked questions
How long does an NDIS plan last?
Plan lengths vary from person to person. Each plan has a scheduled reassessment date. From 1 February 2027, when that date arrives and a renewed plan is created, unspent funds from the old plan are not carried over. If you are not sure when your plan is due, ask your my NDIS contact.
What is no longer covered by the NDIS?
Since October 2024, the law sets out what is and is not an NDIS support. Things that are generally not NDIS supports include groceries (including food, drinks, cleaning, household and health products), rent and bonds, general fitness, social or recreational activity costs, membership and entry to recreational clubs, and clinical health and mental health treatment. The full lists are in the NDIS Supports Transitional Rules.
What are the four NDIS funding categories?
The four support budgets are Core, Capacity building, Capital and Recurring. Core covers everyday support and is flexible. Capacity building covers skills and independence and is stated. Capital covers assistive technology, home modifications and SDA and is stated. Recurring covers recurring transport.
Can I change how my NDIS funding is managed?
Yes. You can ask to change between self-managed, plan-managed and NDIA-managed funding at any time. Remember that NDIA-managed funding can only be used with registered providers.