When can’t you self-manage your funding?

On this page:

You, or your plan nominee or child representative, can self-manage your funding unless: 

  • you, or your plan nominee or child representative, are currently bankrupt or insolvent under administration
  • there’s an unreasonable risk if you self-manage your funding.

Are you bankrupt or insolvent?

You can’t manage your NDIS funding if you’re currently an insolvent under administration.

Your plan nominee or child representative also can’t manage your funding if they’re an insolvent under administration. 

Insolvent generally means you can’t pay your debts when they are due.

Your NDIS funding can’t be self-managed if you, or your plan nominee or child representative:

This also applies if you, or your plan nominee or child representative, are an insolvent under administration in another country.

You might be able to self-manage your funding if you are no longer insolvent under administration. But we’ll consider if there might be an unreasonable risk if you manage your funding.

Your plan nominee might be a company or body corporate, like a service provider or advocacy organisation. If so, they can’t be insolvent either.

A company or organisation can’t manage your funding if they are under voluntary administration, liquidation or receivership  .

How do we decide if there is an unreasonable risk to you?

You have the same right as all Australians to take reasonable risks in managing your money. We respect your right to take reasonable risks in self-managing your NDIS funding. But it’s also important to understand any risks self-managing your funding might create for you.

In most cases, risks will be small, or can be managed. We’ll work with you to address risks and support your request to self-manage your plan as much as possible. But you can’t self-manage your funding if this would create an unreasonable risk to you.  Your plan nominee or child representative also can’t manage your funding if that would be an unreasonable risk to you. 

If we decide self-managing your funding will create a risk to you, we need to decide if this is an unreasonable risk to you. We will only decide a risk is unreasonable if there are no suitable safeguards or supports available to manage the risk of harm to you.

If you want to self-manage your funding, we’ll consider if this could put you at risk. For example, we’ll consider if someone might pressure you to do something. 

When we look at the risks to you of self-managing your funding, we think about:

  • how well you make decisions about your money . We’ll look at things like how well you:
    • manage your everyday finances
    • schedule your supports and manage things like agreements and payments with your providers
    • use peer support or similar networks
    • understand employer obligations, such as when employing staff and considering health and safety issues
  • if you have the capacity to manage finances 
  • if you were previously bankrupt or insolvent under administration, how well you manage your money now 
  • if your informal supports could help you reduce any risks, for example if they help you manage your money. 

We’ll talk with you about any reasons which might make self-managing difficult for you. We’ll discuss if you need strategies which might reduce the risk for you.

When thinking about risks to you, we’ll look at if there is evidence of possible physical, mental, legal or financial harm to you. Evidence of possible harm won’t always mean there is an unreasonable risk to you if you want to self-manage your funding. We know it can be difficult to talk about this information. We’ll only talk about it to make sure we can identify any possible risks. We can then work out together if you need help from us to manage risks.

Examples of physical harm might include if there is evidence of:

  • you being injured from a reckless or intentional act, caused by you or another person, like a fracture, contusion, wound, burn or concussion
  • you being physically assaulted by a carer, support person, family member or member of the community which causes serious harm or injury
  • serious unexplained injury to you while receiving NDIS supports
  • you having a history of habitual or continued substance abuse within the last 12 months.

Examples of mental harm might include if there is evidence of a family member, carer, or support person:

  • denying you food as ‘punishment’
  • threatening to harm you
  • abandoning you by denying support permanently
  • consistently not letting you go out and do activities
  • secluding or restraining you.

An allegation of you being subject to offensive, abusive, or demeaning language by a family member, carer, or support person, may also create an unreasonable risk to you.

Examples of legal or financial harm might include if there is evidence of:

  • you being financially exploited
  • frequent changes in a child representative or nominee
  • an appointment of a trustee or guardian to manage your money by a court or tribunal 
  • you, your child representative or nominee having a gambling addiction
  • you, your child representative or nominee being the victim of coercion, such as being coerced to sign for a loan or power of attorney
  • you, your child representative or nominee being previously insolvent under administration in the past 5 years
  • deliberate misuse of, or fraud, in relation to plan funds, by you, your child representative or nominee
  • you, your child representative or nominee having been involved with the criminal justice system in relation to funds management or fraud.
This page current as of
27 October 2023
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