A guide to your NDIS consumables budget

Your NDIS funding is broken up into a range of budgets, each designed to assist you in different ways.

It’s important to know how these budgets work so that you can make the most of your NDIS plan funding.

What is the NDIS consumables budget?

The NDIS consumables budget falls under the larger Core Supports budget.

The Core Supports budget is one of the three NDIS funding categories. It’s there to help people with a disability with their everyday activities, disability-related needs and to help work towards their NDIS plan goals.

The Core Supports budget contains the following four categories:

What can I use my NDIS consumables budget for?

The NDIS consumables budget is allocated to spend on reasonable and necessary consumables up to the cost of $1,500.

What are consumables?

Consumables are the everyday items required to manage personal disability-related needs. These products are low risk and low-cost.

Examples of consumables:

  • Gloves
  • Hand sanitiser
  • Face masks
  • Continence products
  • Wipes
  • Disability-related wound Care
  • Cleaning supplies
  • Modified eating aids
  • Food preparation products
  • Catheters
  • Specialised food supplements
  • Vision or hearing-related low cost assistive technology
  • Chair and bed protectors
  • Auslan or signed English training
  • Telephone or video interpreting
  • Compression stockings.

How does the consumables budget work?

The consumables budget is flexible, so you can choose how you spend it, provided what you purchase is reasonable and necessary, and is specifically related to your support needs.

For example, you cannot use your consumables budget to purchase continence products if continence issues are not related to your disability.

You can also not use your consumables budget on general groceries, prescription medications and cosmetics.

Where can I use my consumables budget?

Consumables can be purchased from both registered and unregistered merchants. These merchants can be supermarkets, pharmacies, or specialised online stores, such as Mable Direct.

Note if you are NDIA managed, then the provider must be registered.

What is Mable Direct?

Mable Direct is an e-commerce site where, if you’re a plan-managed through a plan manager such as Leap in!, or a self-managed NDIS participant, you can purchase consumables related to your support needs, and ship them direct to your home.

There is a wide range of affordable NDIS consumables to shop online, including:

The consumables available on Mable Direct can be purchased using your NDIS consumables budget, provided they align with your support needs.

You can learn more about the NDIS in our NDIS Topic Library.

To browse Mable Direct, or to make your first purchase, visit www.mabledirect.com.au.

Use your NDIS funding and shop affordable consumables

Mable Direct

FAQs

If a child is under five, you can use your NDIS consumables budget on nappies. However, once your child is over five years old, you can only purchase continence products if they are directly related to their disability.

No, if the vitamins are not directly related to your disability, they will not be covered by the NDIS consumables budget. However, if vitamins have been prescribed by a health professional in relation to your disability, then you may use your consumables budget on vitamins.

You can use your NDIS consumables budget on PPE items when:

  • You have a reasonable and necessary need for PPE items
  • PPE is used by your disability support worker while providing support
  • You get an average of at least 1 hour of face-to-face daily support
  • Your PPE costs are no more than $50 a week.

Shop affordable PPE products on Mable Direct.

All purchases made using your NDIS consumables budget must be reasonable and necessary for your support needs.

Cleaning supplies may be covered by your NDIS consumables budget if they are directly related to your support needs, assist a carer to support you, or they assist you in living independently.

Shop cleaning supplies on Mable Direct.

Mable Direct provides independent support workers, clients, and coordinators with direct access to affordable consumables, equipment, and wearables for their everyday needs.

Clients can use NDIS or aged care funding to make purchases, as long as they align with their needs. With Mable Direct you get fast delivery and customer support.

The NDIS consumables budget allows you to spend up to $1,500 on reasonable and necessary consumables.

Learn more about how you can use your NDIS funding for consumables with our Guide to your NDIS consumables budget.

Benefits of self-managing an NDIS plan

When you receive your NDIS funding, there are 3 core ways you can manage it:

  • Agency-managed
  • Plan-managed
  • Self-managed

You can choose the one that suits you best depending on your preference, goals and support needs.

When self-managing your NDIS plan, you choose what supports you buy to meet your plan goals.

This means you have the flexibility and choice to:

You can self-manage your NDIS funding through Mable.

Benefits of self-management

Here are some benefits of self-managing your NDIS plan:

More choice and control over everything

By everything, it really does mean you have control over every aspect of your life, if you choose it.

So, you can decide the ‘who, what, when, where, and how’ of support.

You can engage non-registered providers

As a self-manager, you can purchase support from anyone running a business. They don’t have to be a registered disability service provider.

They can be a company, charity, not for profit, independent contractor or any other type of business.

For example, you can book support workers on Mable to receive a variety of support services such as cleaning, gardening, meal preparation and grocery shopping.

The only exception to this is if you want to purchase Specialist Disability Accommodation or Specialist Behaviour Supports. These can only be provided by NDIS registered providers.

More transparency about use of funds

Because you are managing your own NDIS funding, you are aware of the invoicing, payments, expenses and claims. You can track exactly how and where your funds are being used.

You can also use the information on the NDIS portal to see how you are spending your funds.

No unnecessary fees

As you have removed any ‘middle man’ as a self-manager, there should be no hidden or unnecessary fees that pop up unexpectedly along the way.

You are in control

As you are a self-manager, you have complete control over your support journey.

  • Things are likely to get done in a timely manner
  • You don’t have to be at the mercy of some other person or organisation
  • You don’t have to chase them to ensure bills are right and that they get paid on time.

Potentially more support hours

When you self-manage your NDIS plan, there are no unnecessary fees and you can negotiate rates with workers because self-managed participants don’t need to adhere to NDIS price limits.

Responsibilities of self-management

While there are many benefits of self-managing an NDIS plan, it’s important to be aware of the responsibilities as well. Some of them include:

  • Buying supports that align with the goals in your NDIS plan. For example: you could use Capacity Building funding to purchase sessions with an allied health professional if there was a goal around ‘having supports that help me develop skills to formulate meaningful relationships with others through social skills building’.
  • Making agreements with your providers.
  • Managing your budgets. A spreadsheet detailing the ins and outs of the funding across the life of a plan will go a long way to assist you. You can also set up a separate bank account (if you wish) for all NDIS transactions. The account must be in the name of the person responsible for self-managing the supports. This may be the person with disability if they are managing their own plan, the nominee or a child representative for participants under the age of 18 years of age. Having a separate bank account makes tracking funds easier and very useful at the time of an audit, if that happens.
  • Paying for your supports on time.
  • Keeping records of invoices and receipts for five years.
  • Managing your support team.

How Mable works with your self-managed NDIS funding

As a self-manager, you can directly book independent support workers on Mable.

Mable is an online platform that connects clients looking for disability support, with support workers.

By booking and managing support through Mable:

  • You have choice and control over who supports you, when and where they support you, and how much you pay for the support.
  • You’re safeguarded by Mable’s strict approval and verification process, and the high-level suite of insurances arranged by Mable on behalf of support workers.

There are two ways to book support workers on Mable — by searching for support workers or by posting a job ad on Mable. The benefit of posting a job ad is that you can get really specific about your support needs. 

How your NDIS funding can support social activities

Did you know that the NDIS can provide funding that can get you out and about, and enjoying activities in your community?

Social and Community Participation is a funded support category found under Core and Capacity Building in NDIS funding. Its purpose is to support people with disability to achieve independence through increased social and community participation. The NDIS recognises that people need community engagement, socialising and fun for their health and wellbeing. Living with disability may mean a person is not able to participate in these aspects of life without the funding the NDIS provides.

What is social and community participation?

As per the NDIA, social and community participation is about “meeting people with similar interests and joining in social and community activities.”

It can mean different things to different people. For some, this could be going to a local cafe, for others, joining a community sport team or craft class. It also includes getting work experience and volunteering.

Why is increased social and community participation important?

Social and community participation is important for a variety of reasons. It can help to:

  • Enhance quality of life
  • Promote inclusion
  • Build skills and independence
  • Improve mental health
  • Access new support networks
  • Provide opportunities for learning and growth
  • Empower and encourage
  • Achieve NDIS goals

How is Social and Community Participation categorised and priced under the NDIS?

Assistance with social and community participation is categorised under both Core and Capacity Building supports in the following ways

Core - 04 Assistance with Social, Economic and community Participation

The Core Supports funding can be used to book a support worker to assist NDIS participants to participate in community, social and employment activities. These supports can be provided in a range of environments, such as in the community, or in a centre.

Capacity Building - 09 Increased Social and Community Participation

The Capacity Building funding can be used for development programs to help build skills for independent community participation, such as social interaction skills, navigation skills and communication skills.

For more information on pricing for social and community participation support, please refer to the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits.

Increased social and community participation examples

There are many ways you can engage in social and community participation, no matter your age, interests or goals. The social and community activities funded by the NDIS must be deemed as a ‘reasonable and necessary’ to help you meet your goals as outlined in your NDIS plan.

Social and community participation activities for children

  • Sports and physical activities: Attending adapted sports camps, receiving coaching for sports like swimming or horseback riding, or participating in dance or martial arts classes with additional support.
  • Learning and development: Taking music lessons, attending museum visits, participating in science experiments, or joining workshops on art, writing, or spelling.
  • Social interaction: Support to organise playdates with friends to encourage social participation.

Discover how 7-year-old Josh is learning to participate in social activities thanks to support accessed through Mable.

Social and community participation activities for adults

  • Learning and cultural exploration: Going to the library, a museum, an art gallery or an expo
  • Social connection and fun: Participating in cooking classes or food tasting events, attending a speed dating event, playing trivia, board games, or video games at a pub, cafe, or similar venue. Going to the movies, a concert, the theatre, or a music festival with someone who shares your tastes. Joining a social club (book club, collectors’ club, debating club, storytelling club, karaoke club)
  • Physical activity and wellbeing: Water-related activities (kayaking, canoeing, fishing, sailing, yabbying) or joining a sports club.
  • Skill development and creativity: Attending workshops for model aeroplane-making, origami, bonsai, woodworking, and pottery.

Read how Jacob used NDIS-funded support to start a business and is now learning a language and getting shopping tips from a qualified chef, all through Mable.

Social and community participation activities for older adults

  • Learning and staying connected: Taking lessons in internet security, mobile phone usage, or pet grooming. Joining a book club or social group to play cards, chess, or Scrabble on a weekly basis. Attending workshops on potting plants, pickling, making pasta, and arranging flowers
  • Social interaction and leisure: Visiting a cat cuddle café or dog rescue service. Participating in lawn bowls, bocce, croquet as part of a local club. Going to the markets or setting up your own stall at a market to sell your creations. Attending art shows, author talks, and fashion parades
  • Creative expression and skill development: Learning to do stand-up comedy and dance, singing, or acting lessons.

Book a support worker on Mable for assistance with social and community participation

Social support and community participation means different things to different people. One of the biggest benefits of booking support workers through Mable is that you can find support workers who share your interests. Mable client Angela, for example, booked support worker Damien, with whom she shared an interest in animation. Another client, Penny, booked support worker Rachel, who shares her love for hiking.

On Mable, you can build a team of support workers, who can support you in different ways to work towards the goals in your NDIS plan.

Through Mable, you can increase your social and community participation with:

  • Choice and flexibility: You have choice and control over who supports you, when you receive support and how much you pay for the support. You can also choose a support worker who has shared interests. This can make social activities more enjoyable and promote long-term connections.
  • Qualified support & expertise: You are safeguarded, thanks to our strict verification processes and suite of insurance arranged on behalf of support workers. Our network of independent support workers includes workers with experience facilitating social activities for people with disabilities. They can help to navigate social settings and overcome participation barriers.

Connect with an independent support worker in your area today.

FAQs

The NDIS will need to understand what kind of support you need because of your disability and the barriers that prevent you from participating in social and recreational activities. Your plan will need to include a goal that you want to achieve by taking part in these activities.

Mable Compass: If your NDIS plan feels more like a puzzle, we'll help you solve it.

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Tips for building a great support team

In this article, we explore why it’s important to have a team of support workers, and some tips to assist you in building a great team of support using Mable.

Why should you build a support team?

Why is it not a good idea to rely on one worker only? People get sick, take holidays, aren’t right, move on. Being reliant on one support worker could create vulnerability, and if they leave or are off sick for any length of time, what happens then?

To help substitute if and when required

It’s better to have a second person (at least) who knows the ropes, who knows the person being supported, who is already part of the team and who may be able to step in and take on the additional hours to avoid gaps in support when and if needed.

One size doesn't fit all

The person who provides the necessary personal care support at home may not be the right person to attend a footy game on the weekend or to support a catch up with the grandkids. The roles are very different and require different skill sets.

Learn more about what to consider when looking for support.

Each individual — based on their personal nature and life experiences — can add to the person’s life in different ways. People bring themselves, their interests, personality, life history, family backgrounds and cultures with them into the lives of the people they support. This can be a real bonus.

More support workers equals more safeguards

Additionally, and especially, if the person being supported lives alone or at least doesn’t live with family or friends, more than one person providing support is an important safeguard. This way, there is always another pair of eyes to observe what’s going on in the person’s life.

Find out more about soft safeguards and hard safeguards.

How to build a support team

Involve the person to be supported

Involve the person to be supported as much as possible in the discussions about the role/s to be filled and the skill set required.

For some, this is easy, and they might have strong preferences and opinions, so it might be a good idea to involve them in the interview process, for instance.

For others, it may take more time and effort to engage them in the process.

In other instances, these decisions will need to be made on the individual’s behalf, with them always at the centre of the thinking and planning.

Involve your current support worker

You might be able to engage your current support worker to play an active role in the process of finding others to join the team. People in the Mable community have found this a good way of building a team with a support worker taking the lead and assisting with some of the administrative work that finding and managing a team of support workers requires.

Audit skill sets

Conduct an audit of the skill set or experience/interests that are missing from the current team and the roles that need to be filled can then be identified. Can anyone provide the type of support that is needed, or are specific skills required?

Think about the support needed

Consider the nature of the support that is needed. Is it mostly to support someone in their home with housekeeping or is it predominantly personal care support?

Is it mostly to support someone to get out and about in the community, such as to attend classes, do the weekly shop, get to the doctor’s, learn to travel on a bus to get to work or to participate in a sport?

Different people are good at different things. Once the nature of the support has been identified, it helps to then narrow the search to the right person or people for the job.

Be specific about what support is needed and what the role is:

Some examples:

  • Homemaker assistant: assists a person with cooking, cleaning, gardening, making beds, laundry
  • Leisure assistant: supports a person with the out and about in the community stuff: sport, theatre, concerts, travel, visiting family and friends
  • Personal care assistant: showering, toileting, dressing, assisting with meals, hair and nail care
  • Allied Health assistant: medications, physiotherapy, seizure support, choking and inhalation prevention

For some of these supports, training and certification may be a prerequisite. In the instance of someone needing to be given medication, only a person who has done the recognised training can administer medication.

Write a good position description

Create a position description based on the audit, to help guide the discussion about what a support worker is being engaged to do. It can help the person who will be supervising the workers. It provides something to come back to if the person isn’t performing the role they were engaged to perform.

Benefits of having a position description:

  • Focuses the mind on what is actually required
  • Clarity for all parties about the role
  • Guides the induction process for a new person
  • Can identify specific training requirements for the role
  • Can help with performance challenges if someone is not performing the role as expected.
  • Provides a good benchmark to measure performance against.

What does an Occupational Therapist do?

The work of Occupational Therapists is surprisingly diverse, offering services to everyone from infants to the elderly. Here, we take a look at two practical ways that Mable clients can work with OTs as part of their support team.

According to Occupational Therapy Australia, “Occupational therapists use a whole person perspective to work with individuals, groups and communities to achieve optimal health and wellbeing through participation in the occupations of life.” Despite the name, ‘occupation’ in this instance is not necessarily related to a job, but rather describes the everyday things we do in our lives, the activities that are meaningful to us or that help us to engage with society.

Often, people will be working with an OT as part of a larger team of health professionals. The work of an OT can be extremely broad – encompassing work with clients with brain injury, to people who have suffered strokes, children with developmental delay to those managing chronic illnesses. Here, we take a look at two areas in which OTs can contribute as part of your home support team.

Occupational Therapy to create safe sensory spaces for your kids

When it comes to working with kids, an Occupational Therapist’s job is often all about play. OTs will work with kids with any disability or condition that impacts their ability to perform everyday activities. The role can encompass helping kids to meet development milestones when it comes to fine motor skills or hand eye coordination to helping kids with behavioural issues to maintain positive behaviours.

If you have a child with ASD or sensory processing issues, an Occupational Therapist can work with you to develop a program of therapy and home practices that are designed to help your kids regulate their sensory input. Programs will be different for each child, based on the OT’s detailed assessment

According to the Raising Children Network, one such therapy is sensory integration which involves a program that includes activities to stimulate sensory responses from the child – in particular, responses to do with balance and physical movement. This might include things like swinging, bouncing or climbing. As time with an OT is limited, often these sessions are accompanied by a ‘sensory diet’ – or a plan for families to continue the therapy at home. They may also include advice and practical tips to create a calming sensory space at home for your kids to escape to.

How Occupational Therapist can help you age in place

OTs play a big role in helping ageing Australians to create a safe environment and routines that allow them to live independently for longer. An OT will use a ‘whole person approach’ to assess your environment, individual strengths and your goals and aspirations to provide suggestions to improve daily life skills and maintain independence.

Working proactively with an OT can help those who are ageing-in-place in a number of ways;

  • By assessing your home environment and recommending home modifications to help make daily activities safer and easier.
  • Working with clients with Dementia or early stage memory loss to adapt their home and routines, as well as providing engaging tasks they might like to do.
  • Assisting clients with activities to help with balance and mobility.
  • Supporting people with vision loss to adapt their home to their changing requirements. 
  • Working with clients following an illness or fall to rebuild skills and confidence to continue living independently.

Build your ideal support team

Here at Mable, our community of independent support workers are comprised of allied health workers including OTs, nurses, experienced aged care and disability support workers and everyday people providing social and domestic support to clients.

We often see students undertaking Occupational Therapy courses offering social and domestic support to clients via Mable while they complete their studies. While students are gaining practical experience, clients have the opportunity to tap into the knowledge students are gaining from their studies while receiving domestic and social support.

Mable Compass: If your NDIS plan feels more like a puzzle, we'll help you solve it.

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What is the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)?

The introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in 2013, and the capacity for people to self direct their paid support, has been a true game changer for people with disability and their families in particular, and the disability sector in general.

A brief history of the NDIS

Prior to the introduction of the NDIS, there had been years of discussion about the numerous problems in the disability sector and the dire need for reform.

In 2010, these discussions led to the Commonwealth Government asking the Productivity Commission to undertake a public inquiry into a National Disability Long-term Care and Support Scheme.

Important milestones

March 2013: The National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 was passed in Parliament

July 2013: The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) was established to implement the Scheme

July 2013: NDIS trial commenced in four States: NSW, Tasmania, SA and Vic

July 2016: The NDIS began the transition to full Scheme across Australia

2019: The Scheme reached full rollout

2021: The National Disability Insurance Act 2013 was reviewed and updated.

What is the NDIS?

The NDIS is Australia’s first national disability scheme designed to provide people with disability, who meet the eligibility criteria, the support and services they need to live and enjoy their life. It provides a new way of delivering support, in that it moves away from the State-run, block-funded systems that existed before and provides funding directly to people with disability via an individual, funded plan.

The NDIS exists in two main forms:

  • NDIS Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) – for children 0-6yrs
  • NDIS for eligible Australians 7-65yrs.

The name says it all:

  • National: available to all Australian regardless of where they live in Australia
  • Disability: provides support to eligible people with intellectual, physical, sensory, cognitive and psychosocial disability
  • Insurance: support will be provided to any eligible Australian child or adult who is born with, or acquires a permanent disability
  • Scheme: The programmatic structure through which planning and the distribution of funds occurs.

Who manages the NDIS?

The NDIS is overseen by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), which is the Commonwealth Governments statutory authority established under the National Disability Insurance Act 2013, to implement and manage the NDIS.

The NDIA has a Board of Directors and a Chief Executive Officer. The NDIA is responsible for the following functions:

  • To deliver the NDIS
  • To manage, and advise and report on the financial sustainability of the NDIS
  • To develop and enhance the disability sector
  • To build community awareness of disability
  • To collect, analyse and exchange data about disability and supports for people with disability
  • To undertake relevant research
  • Any other functions conferred on the Agency by or under the NDIS Act.

What governs how the NDIS works and how decisions are made

Operational Guidelines

The Operational Guidelines assist the NDIA to make decisions and are based on the NDIS Act and the NDIS Rules. They provide guidance to the decision makers on how to apply the Act and they help people understand how the NDIA applies the Act in the daily operations of the NDIS.

The guidelines are divided into 10 parts and cover things like:

  • Access to the NDIS
  • Planning
  • Including specific types of supports in plans
  • Specialist Disability Accommodation
  • Child representatives
  • Nominees
  • Registered providers
  • Compensation
  • Information handling
  • Review of decisions

NDIS rules

There are numerous rules that provide detailed instructions on the operation of the NDIS. They cover topics such as:

  • Becoming a participant
  • Supports for participants
  • Children
  • Nominees
  • Code of Conduct
  • Participants plans
  • Worker screening
  • Plan Management
  • Provider registration and practice standards
  • Specialist Disability Accommodation.

Mable Compass: If your NDIS plan feels more like a puzzle, we'll help you solve it.

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What does the NDIS do?

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is a national disability support scheme that provides funding to eligible people based on their individual support needs. The supports and services purchased using NDIS funding assist individuals work towards and hopefully, ultimately achieve their goals.

The NDIS Local Area Coordinator (LAC) or an NDIS Planner:

  • Gathers information and reports provided by the participant or their nominee and based on various legislated requirements
  • Creates a plan linked to identified goals and Allocates funding to be used on purchasing services and supports in order to achieve the stated goals.

If the participant is a child, it will be a person from an Early Childhood Partner organisation who will gather the initial reports and information.

What types of supports can be purchased using NDIS funds?

Some of the supports that can be purchased include:

  • Daily activities
  • Transport to enable community participation or to access chosen activities
  • Assistance in the workplace
  • Therapies like speech therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy
  • Assistance to maintain the home environment
  • Assessments to enable the purchase, set up and training in the use of aids and equipment
  • Home or vehicle modifications
  • Mobility equipment
  • Consumable items.

However, this is not a definitive list. The NDIS decides what supports are deemed ‘reasonable and necessary’ for each eligible participant and funds the plan accordingly. To be considered ‘reasonable and necessary’, a support or service:

  • Must relate to the participants disability
  • Must not include day-to-day living costs not related to the disability support needs of the participant
  • Should represent value for money
  • Must be likely to be effective
  • Should take into account supports provided via other avenues i.e. family, other government agencies, etc.

To know more about the supports funded under the NDIS, visit the NDIS website.

What doesn’t the NDIS cover?

The NDIS won’t fund supports that are:

  • The responsibility of another Government system
  • Not related to the person’s disability
  • A day-to-day living cost and not related to the person’s support needs
  • Likely to cause harm to the participant or others.

Find out more about how to apply for the NDIS.

Mable Compass: If your NDIS plan feels more like a puzzle, we'll help you solve it.

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I want to find support:

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I want to provide support:

As a support worker, nurse, allied health professional, gardener or cleaner.