You should receive a copy of your NDIS plan within 7 days after the NDIS have approved it. Your NDIS plan includes five main sections;

• Information about you, including where you live, who you live with and your day-to-day activities
• Information about the support you get from family and friends to help you work towards your goals
• Information about services and supports that you receive from community or other government services
• The goals that you would like to achieve in the short term and in the future
• The funding budgets that have been allocated within your NDIS plan to support you to achieve your goals.

It’s your choice who you pay for supports and how you use your NDIS funding to pursue your goals. Things to consider when choosing your service provider/s include;

Registered Providers: Some service providers are registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, which means they meet strict conditions for the quality and safety of their services and must meet the NDIS Code of Conduct. These service providers are called ‘registered providers’. Greenacres is one of these registered providers.

If your NDIS plan funding is NDIA-managed, you can only use registered service providers.

Unregistered Providers: If a service provider isn’t registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, they are called an ‘unregistered provider’.

If you are self-managing your NDIS funding or using a plan manager to manage your NDIS funding, you can choose to receive your support from a registered or unregistered service provider.

When choosing service providers to support you to achieve your NDIS plan goals you may want to ask;

• Are you a registered or unregistered NDIS service provider
• How will you help me achieve my NDIS plan goals
• How much does your service cost
• Can I choose which staff support me
• Can you provide service at the times that suit me
• How can I make a complaint or resolve a payment issue.

When you agree to use your NDIS plan funding to access supports with a support provider you will need to sign a service agreement. A service agreement is an agreement between you and your service provider that outlines what supports will be delivered and how they will be delivered.