What really is a Self Managed NDIS Plan??? And how we three women are using our plans to suit our lifestyles!!!
Self Management… what actually is it?
If you have ever been involved with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), and its’ development, over the last decade you would have heard this term being bounced around plenty of times. However, I know that most of you are probably wondering about how much work is involved and could you handle it with so much going on already in your life?
Admittedly, a year ago I had this exact view of Self Managing my own NDIS package. Although I really wanted to be as independent as I could I was still worried that if I signed up for Self Management I would “bite off” more than I could handle, especially being a bit weak with business studies in high school. But given that I’ve always loved a challenge and I had heard so many great things about it from my mates who were already doing it, I decided last October to give Self Managing my plan a go and haven’t looked back.
At the moment, my Self Management process involves claiming fees through the MyGov NDIS portal and paying my bills independently through my NDIS account which is attached to my everyday Bankwest account. This involves receiving and paying invoices from a combination of Hireup, Australian Unity, Action Forward (for Occupational Therapy), Marli and Moe (for Support Coordination) and other service providers who have an Australian Business Number (ABN).
Beginning my Self Management journey this way has allowed me to gradually transition into the new experience as smoothly as possible and also allowed me to gain my ‘footing’. With this ‘footing’ in place I am hoping to move forward with my plan, thinking of the most innovative and cheapest ways to stretch my funding, including using bike tires for my wheelchair or wood that I am able to paint and personalise for my iPad mount.
Prior to starting this Self Managing step I’ve been extremely lucky to have incredible mentors who are fully Self Managed and have been for years, so they have been able to give me a range of practical tips and advice on what they do in navigating the ins and outs of their own funding packages. Two of these mentors are my friends, Marlena and Kristie, who have also been more than willing to share their advice with us in this blog.
First of all, I would absolutely love to introduce you all to one of my life long friends and my number one mentor, Kristie. As she puts it, Kristie is an ‘extremely busy’ thirty-eight year old woman. She is currently in her final year of her undergraduate degree in Food and Nutrition at Charles Sturt University and is on the board of directors for Powerchair Football NSW . She is also the co-founder of the organisation “Empowering Solutions”, a company focussed on promoting, educating and engaging with people with physical disabilities to help them have more control over their own lives and NDIS funding. Along with completing all of these roles, and of course going out with friends, Kristie also finds time to completely Self Manage her NDIS package.
Kristie’s Self Management journey initially started in 2013 which was a lot earlier than when most adults with disabilities went on to the Self Managed system. On a day to day level, Kristie uses her funding to employ her own support workers, who basically act as ‘her arms and her legs’ . In doing this she has taken on the full employment process herself, including organising her support workers’ wages, withholding their PAYG taxes, arranging their superannuation and being responsible for their Work Health and Safety. Although she recognises that this may seem like a lot of work to an outsider, Kristie finds managing her package this way is pretty straightforward and only takes her fifteen minutes a week to maintain, once set up. She also feels that it is definitely worth her time and efforts as it allows her to stretch her funding out much more and provides her maximum flexibility, suiting her very busy lifestyle perfectly.
Along with Kristie, one of my other incredible mentors over the past few years is my good friend, Marlena, who is such an incredible advocate and role model within the disability community. She is currently a well known entertainment journalist, who happens to use alternative communication, plus a globally experienced traveler and avid fellow adventurer. On top of this Marlena also Self Manages her NDIS package.
As Marlena explains, her Self Managed journey originally started a long time prior to her officially signing up as a NDIS participant . She decided to go for Self Management after being sick of certain providers taking an unnecessarily large amount of funding . Also, she was in need of a lot more flexibility in her life. To ensure that she had a smooth transition, Marlena thought that she would be best to specifically map out every daily, work and social need which she would have over the duration of her plan.
As Marlena describes it, on a daily basis she is the CEO of her own company as she is able to direct everything in her daily life. Her needs may differ from day to day and can include organising her own support workers to assist with everything from getting out of bed to answering emails about organising future interviews and act as her voice while conducting telephone interviews with celebrities such as Missy Higgins. While Marlena feels that conducting her NDIS package this way works well for her, she still stresses the importance of her informal supports and community around her and she encourages others to hold on to and acknowledge these connections in the same way with the same importance.
Hopefully after considering these three methods of utilising the NDIS Self Managed model and looking at the Self Managed Claim Guide below, you now know a little bit more about this model and you can think about taking the plunge and trialling it for yourself. I can assure you that you will more than likely be surprised at how easy, empowering and beneficial it is.
