Game On: How your NDIS plan can help you get active

[Image Description: A group of people are stretching their arms over their head in an exercise class.]

According to Paralympics Australia, three out of four Aussies with a disability want to participate in sport, yet only one in four actually does. If you’re one of them, I'm sure you know first-hand about the many barriers that create this gap - access and opportunity being high on the list.

But movement, whether it’s through sport or any other activity, is so important for both our physical and mental health. It can also be a stepping stone towards independence, and a key way to socialise and get involved in your community.

If you’re at the starting line waiting for the pistol, but there’s disability related barriers in your way, your NDIS plan might be able to help knock those down (or jump over them).

With help from our friends at NDSP Plan Managers, we’ve compiled some of the different ways you might be able to use your plan to help you get involved in sports and recreational activities. Because the NDIS is there to bridge the gap, and support you to live the life that you want.

How does your NDIS plan support you to be more active? Login or signup to Kinora and let us know!

Sporty Support Types

Support Worker Assistance

A support worker can assist you in participating in sports and recreational activities. They can provide physical assistance, help with communication, or even accompany you to events. This support falls under the ‘Assistance with Social & Community Participation’ budget in Core.

For example, if you’re interested in joining a local wheelchair basketball team, a support worker could assist with transportation, equipment setup, communication with team members, or self care during training.

Special Equipment

If you need equipment to get involved in your chosen activity, you might be able to purchase it through your plan. You can’t get regular equipment that anybody would need, like a tennis ball for instance, but if it relates to your disability, like a grasping cuff to hold the tennis racket due to limited strength, then it could come from your consumables budget.

For bigger ticket or custom items, say a handcycle for cycling, you may be able to have funding included in your Assistive Technology budget to cover it. This may require an OT assessment to be considered.

Transportation

If you have a transport budget included in your plan, you can use this to help get you to and from your activities. For instance, if you’re attending weekly swimming sessions at a local pool, your transport budget could cover the uber cost if you’re unable to take public transport.

Therapy Supports

If you want to increase your level of physical activity, sessions with a physiotherapist or occupational therapist could be included in your Improved Daily Living budget, to make sure you’re doing it safely. For example, a physiotherapist could help you develop a stretching routine to do before playing soccer to prevent injuries. They can also be great at helping you to integrate movements into your day in a way that works for you.

Exercise Physiologist or Personal Trainer

If you need a tailored exercise program to suit your abilities, an exercise physiologist or personal trainer could be the way to go. They can create a program that helps you build strength and endurance for your chosen sport, like training for a marathon.

Exercise Physiology can be funded from Improved Daily Living, but you'll need the Improved Health and Wellbeing budget to access personal training.

Skill Building Programs

If your plan has a budget included for Increased Social and Community Participation, this could be used to access recreational activities or sports that have a capacity building component to them.

For instance, it could cover a limited number of dance lessons, to try it out and see if you enjoy it. Or it might cover inclusive camps and classes that are designed to build your skills in a particular activitity and help you build relationships with others.

This budget can also be used for providers to offer new and innovative services to help make their mainstream activities more inclusive for you to attend.

When these supports are funded

Its important to remember that your NDIS plan will only fund supports that are reasonable and necessary for you. So first of all, ask yourself: “is the support directly related to my disability?” If the answer is no and it’s a cost any typical Aussie would need to pay, like a registration fee, then it’s unlikely to be covered by your plan. But if your answer is yes, and the cost is solely due to your disability, then there’s a good chance it can be covered. 

You’ll then need to make sure that the support can be related to one of your plan goals. This could be a goal based around being more active, or getting out into the community for example. Can’t tie the activity to a goal? You can actually update your goals at any point by getting in touch with the NDIA and requesting a plan variation to make the small update. If you need help crafting a good goal, check out how we do it here.

Whatever the support, it also needs to be value for money, effective and beneficial for you, legal and safe, and not a support that you would reasonably expect family friends to provide, or be funded by a different government program.

As always, every NDIS plan is different, so if you’re not sure if your plan includes the budgets you need to access a particular support, check in with your Support Coordinator, Plan Manager, Local Area Coordinator/Planner, or head to the Kinora community and ask about your specific situation.