The National Disability Insurance Scheme continues to evolve, and 2026 has brought some of the most significant updates to Support Coordination funding in recent years. If you or someone you care for has Support Coordination in their NDIS plan, it is worth taking a few minutes to understand what has changed — and what it means for you here in regional Victoria.

Support Coordination is a funded support in your NDIS plan that helps you understand and use your plan effectively. A Support Coordinator works with you to connect with services, build your independence, and make sure your supports are working together.

There are two levels:

• Support Coordination — helps you navigate the NDIS and connect with providers
• Specialist Support Coordination — for participants with more complex needs, delivered by a qualified specialist

The NDIS has reinforced that Support Coordination funding sits firmly within the Capacity Building budget — not Core Supports. This means the goal of Support Coordination is explicitly about building your skills and confidence to manage your own supports over time, rather than acting as an ongoing coordination service indefinitely.

In practice, this means your Support Coordinator should be working with you on goals like:

• Understanding how to use your plan and manage your budget
• Building relationships with providers you trust
• Developing your ability to problem-solve when things go wrong
• Preparing you to eventually self-manage or plan-manage your supports if that is your goal

The NDIA has updated its guidance to planners and reviewers to look more closely at whether Support Coordination funding is achieving measurable outcomes for participants. Plans are more likely to include Support Coordination when there is a clear rationale — for example, a new participant navigating the NDIS for the first time, someone with complex or changing support needs, or a participant transitioning between life stages.

If you are coming up for a plan review, it is worth being able to articulate what your Support Coordinator has helped you achieve and what goals remain.

The NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (formerly the Price Guide) were updated in July 2026. Support Coordination hourly rates have been adjusted in line with the Annual Wage Review. For regional and remote participants, the remote loading provisions remain in place, which is important for many of our clients across the Wimmera, Mallee, and Goldfields regions.

You can find the current rates on the NDIS website under Pricing Arrangements.

The NDIA has been progressively tightening the boundary between funded Support Coordination and the kind of informal coordination that family members or carers sometimes provide. Funded Support Coordination should be delivered by a registered or unregistered provider with appropriate qualifications and experience — not simply reimbursed to a family member acting in a coordination role.

Living in regional Victoria brings its own set of challenges when it comes to the NDIS. Thin markets — where there are fewer providers to choose from — mean that Support Coordinators in areas like Donald, Horsham, Warracknabeal, and St Arnaud play an especially important role in helping participants find and maintain quality supports.

A good Support Coordinator who knows the local landscape can make an enormous difference. They understand which providers are operating in your area, what the wait times look like, and how to advocate for you when the right service is not immediately available.

If Support Coordination is in your current plan, here are a few things to think about before your next review:

Document your progress. Keep notes on what your Support Coordinator has helped you achieve. Has your plan become easier to manage? Have you connected with new providers? Have you built skills in self-advocacy? These outcomes matter.

Be clear about ongoing complexity. If your situation is genuinely complex — multiple providers, significant health changes, housing instability, or a transition like leaving school or entering aged care — make sure this is clearly communicated to your planner.

Ask questions. You have every right to ask your Support Coordinator to explain how they are using their time and what they are working toward on your behalf. A good coordinator will welcome this conversation.

Know your options. If you are not getting value from your current Support Coordinator, you can change providers. You do not need to wait for your plan review to make that switch.

At Country Care Support Services, we work alongside NDIS participants across regional Victoria — from the Wimmera and Mallee to the Goldfields and beyond. While we are not a registered NDIS provider, we support participants as an unregistered provider, which means self-managed and plan-managed participants can access our services.

We understand the realities of regional life: the distances, the limited options, and the importance of having someone in your corner who genuinely knows your community.

If you have questions about how the 2026 NDIS changes might affect your plan, or if you would like to talk through your support options, we would love to hear from you. Reach out through our contact page — there is no obligation, and no question is too small.

The NDIS can feel complicated, but you do not have to navigate it alone.