Throughout the NDIS trial period, community participation was consistently in the top three most requested support needs identified by people with disability. Here’s a a look at what it can involve and how Mable clients are using their NDIS funding to get out and about, pursue their passions and maintain independence.

Assistance with Social and Community Participation is a support category under the Core Supports budget. It’s designed to help support you to meet your goals in relation to improving your ability to interact and participate in your community. It can support you to improve skills and independence to participate socially or with recreational activities.

What can Social and Community Participation look like?

As it’s all about supporting you with your lifestyle and social goals, what it looks like depends entirely on you. It can include activities that are run within a centre or group or individual activities out in your community. Here’s a snapshot of the types of activities it could include;

• Attending a course or a class to pursue an interest
• Joining a club or social group
• Going on holidays, or just for a day out
• Attending a show or concert, or even just a trip to the movies
• Attending a camp 
• Develop skills to get out and about – like using public transport
• Learning how to use social media.

What’s covered by the NDIS?

The golden rule? It must be deemed as a ‘reasonable and necessary’ to help you meet your goals as outlined in your NDIS plan. Typically, the NDIS will cover the cost of the supports you need to get there or participate. This will be assessed by the NDIA on a case-by-case basis and your NDIS plan will be used as the basis for the decision. 

What does Social and Community Participation look like on Mable?

Many NDIS participants sign up on Mable to build a team of support workers who support them in different ways. That means the support worker who provides you with day to day personal support may often be different to the person who supports you to go out and have fun! You can search the profiles of local independent support workers based on skills and experience as well as personality and interests – so you can make sure you find someone you’ll enjoy hanging out with.

If you need some inspiration, check out some of our favourite requests of the week. Recent examples include:

A client seeking a fellow Belieber (i.e. huge Justin Bieber fan) who likes to have fun, is into all things LEGO and loves going to the library.

Clients looking for an independent worker to help their daughter develop independence; learn to use public transport, looking for a first job.

Parents looking for a young male support worker to help their son develop his scooter-riding skills and learn practical and important road safety when riding.

An independent worker with a flair for words is, as a client, looking in Victoria for someone to help them edit their poetry book.

Or, to see some support stories come to life, read about how Ben found the support he needed to travel 500km to attend the Royal Easter Show and how Lian engaged the support of Sarah to attend Ability Fest this year.

If you’re just getting started with the NDIS, we recommend exploring our NDIS Topic Library to understand how the NDIS works.