Current campaign · Skilled to Connect

Complex lives deserve skilled coordination.

From 1 July 2028, NDIS support coordination will no longer be funded in plans. The NDIA will commission a new Support Coordination and Connection service instead. The government's consultation paper talks about "workforce capability" but names no qualifications, and doesn't mention social work at all. Many support coordinators are qualified social workers. Let's make sure the new service recognises the skills this work needs.

Help shape Fair Go's submission by Friday 25 September 2026

Government consultation closes 11:59 pm AEST, Friday 2 October 2026

Contribute to our submission Take the Pulse survey

What's changing

From a plan budget to a commissioned service

Today, participants use funding in their plan to choose from about 11,000 support coordinators across Australia. From 1 July 2028, the NDIA will contract organisations to deliver a Support Coordination and Connection (SCC) service in each region. Until then, support coordination carries on as it is now.

Key dates for the support coordination change
When	What happens
7 September 2026	Consultation opened
25 September 2026	Last day to send input for Fair Go's submission: Pulse answers, stories and participant conversations
2 October 2026	Consultation closes, 11:59 pm AEST
Mid to late 2026	The new service is designed, with participants and the sector. The Government decides the final design.
2027	The NDIA runs a formal process to choose SCC providers
Early 2028	Participants and providers are supported to get ready for the change
1 July 2028	The new SCC service starts, and support coordination leaves plans

What the consultation paper proposes

Two levels

SCC: For people who need ongoing help to connect with and coordinate supports.
SCC+: For a small group with very complex circumstances, including significant safety considerations. Likely to need "specialist workforce skills".

Who delivers it

Proposed: Organisations contracted by the NDIA for a region. The preferred early model is one lead organisation per region.
Not yet decided: The regions, and whether several providers could share a region.

The workforce

Named: "Workforce capability requirements" and "minimum practice standards".
Not named: Any qualification, even for SCC+ work involving safety risk.

Who gets it

Not everyone: Not every participant will be eligible. The NDIA would decide, based on factors like decision-making capacity, safety risk, stable supports and risk of disengagement.
Others: May get coordination help from Local Area Coordinators or Early Childhood Partners.

What it won't do

Out of scope: Advocacy, crisis response, managing finances, and making decisions for participants. SCC workers can't provide any other NDIS supports.

The move across

Paper says: Some current providers will become SCC providers, and others "will no longer deliver these services from 1 July 2028". Current staff "may" move into SCC roles.

The problems are real

The government wants to fix inconsistent quality, blurred roles, conflicts of interest where one organisation both coordinates and delivers supports, and gaps in regional and remote areas. Those problems are real. We're not against change. We're asking for a better design.

Our five asks

What Fair Go is asking for

Our focus is the social work workforce and the quality of practice. Participants' choice and rights are for disability-led organisations to speak on, and we back them.

Name the skills, set the standard
SCC+ deals with safety risk, decision-making capacity and complex systems. Minimum standards should recognise tertiary qualifications, such as social work, not only generic "capability".
Protect professional supervision
SCC workers, especially in SCC+, should get regular professional supervision.
Keep the people who know the work
Transition plans should recognise existing coordinators' qualifications and experience, and protect continuity for participants who want to keep their coordinator.
Fund independent advocacy separately
The new service won't provide advocacy, so independent disability advocacy needs its own secure funding. We back disability-led organisations on this.
Count the workforce
Collect data on SCC workers' qualifications, so policymakers can see the social workers doing this work.

For social workers and support coordinators

Are your participants worried about losing their support coordinator? Talk with us.

From July 2028, support coordination won't be paid for from participants' plans, there will be fewer approved providers, and many people may end up working with someone new. If the people you support are worried, we'd like to listen to them. With their consent, put them in touch, or they can contact us themselves. We'll arrange a phone call or online meeting at a time that suits them. Please get in touch by Friday 25 September so what they tell us can shape our submission.

We can make it work for them

Auslan interpreter
Interpreter in their language
Live captions, Easy Read, or questions sent before we meet
A family member, carer, support person or their coordinator with them
Breaks, extra time, or a shorter chat in parts

What participants tell us will help shape our submission. We'll only use it without their name, and only if they say yes. We can't give advice about anyone's own plan. For that, they can find an independent advocate through DANA.

A participant can fill this in, or someone they trust, such as their coordinator.

I am…

The participant Their coordinator or social worker Family, carer or support person

Participant's first name Or the name they'd like us to use Email to contact The participant's, or the person arranging the call Phone Optional

How would you like to talk?

Phone call Online meeting Something else

Anything we should arrange? For example Auslan, an interpreter and the language, captions, or a support person Best days and times The participant has agreed to Fair Go contacting them. Fair Go can use what they share, without their name, in its submission.

Our submission

Fair Go is writing a submission. Your answers will shape it.

We'll lodge a Fair Go submission built on our five asks and what we hear from you: the results of the Pulse survey, coordinators' stories, and conversations with participants and families. To be included, please get your input to us by Friday 25 September 2026. That gives us a week to write the submission before the consultation closes on 2 October. We'll publish it on this page once it's lodged.

Answers

Your views on what the new service must get right. Contribute.

Pulse

How many social workers do support coordination and NDIS social work, and what the change means for them. Take the survey.

Stories

What the work really involves, in coordinators' own words. Share yours.

Voices

What participants and families are worried about. Talk with us.

Take part

Help shape Fair Go's submission

Everything below feeds into Fair Go's submission. Please get it to us by Friday 25 September.

1. Answer our questions

Five short questions, plus optional ones, about what good coordination looks like and what the new service must get right. Contribute to our submission.

2. Take the Pulse survey

Help us count how many social workers do support coordination and NDIS social work, and what the change means for them. About 3 minutes. Take the Pulse.

3. Share your story

"My title is Support Coordinator. I'm a social worker." Tell us what your work really involves. Share your story, or read how to tell it safely.

4. Connect us with participants

If people you support are worried about the change, and agree to talk, put them in touch with us. Auslan, interpreters and other adaptations can be arranged. For independent advocacy, they can contact DANA.

You can also make your own submission to the government by 2 October, in writing or as a video, including in Auslan, on the Consultation Hub.

Contribute to Fair Go's submission

Tell us what the government needs to hear.

We'll build Fair Go's submission from your answers. Answer as many or as few questions as you like: one honest paragraph from someone who does the work is worth more than pages of copied text. Please send your answers by Friday 25 September 2026.

Never include anything that could identify a participant, such as names, places or rare details.

I am…

Social worker: Level 2 support coordination Social worker: Level 3 specialist support coordination Social worker: other NDIS work Social worker: outside the NDIS Support coordinator, not a social worker Participant, family or carer Other

The five main questions

1. What does good support coordination look like for the people you work with? 2. What skills and training should SCC and SCC+ workers have? The paper itself asks: "What experience, skills and knowledge do you look for in an SCC worker?" 3. How should the change protect participants' existing relationships? 4. What support do workers need, such as supervision, caseloads and training? 5. What worries you about the transition?

Optional questions that strengthen our submission

6. Should workers in SCC+, the level for people with complex needs and safety risks, hold a tertiary qualification such as social work?

Yes Yes, or equivalent experience No Not sure

7. How often do you get professional supervision in your NDIS work?

8. Describe a time your social work skills made a difference in coordination. De-identified. For example, risk, capacity or decision-making, family conflict, or working across health, housing or justice.

9. Where do you mostly work?

Major city Regional Rural or remote A mix

10. When should support coordination be face-to-face, and when can it be online or by phone? The paper asks this too. 11. Anything else Fair Go should say to the government?

How can we use your answers?

Quote me, without my name Use in a summary only, no quotes

Email So we can check a detail if needed. Never published. Name Optional

Email me when the submission is lodged, and about next steps in the campaign.

Making your own submission too?

Please do. The government counts every voice. Use the same questions above in your own words, then submit on the Consultation Hub by 11:59 pm AEST, Friday 2 October. You can send a written submission or a video, including in Auslan. Questions about the consultation go to the Department: SCCreform@health.gov.au.

The plan to 2028

Three phases

We are here
Have your say
Now to 2 October 2026
Until 25 September: run the Pulse survey, gather stories and listen to participants and families. Then write and lodge a Fair Go submission with our five asks before 2 October, and publish it here. Throughout, help social workers make their own submissions.
Shape the design
October 2026 to mid 2027
Publish the survey results, share coordinators' stories, write to MPs, and seek meetings with the NDIA and the Department.
Protect the transition
Mid 2027 to July 2028
Watch commissioning closely, publish a "what it means for you" guide for social workers, and report on whether our asks were met.

Declaration of interests

Everyone who leads Fair Go declares their interests in our register of interests, and steps out of decisions that affect their own organisation. Our asks are about skills, supervision and continuity, not about which organisations win contracts. We take no position on commercial design questions, such as how regions or payments are set.

Sources

Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Support Coordination and Connection Reform: Consultation Paper (2026)
NDIS, Have your say on the NDIS support coordination and connection service (7 September 2026)
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Securing the NDIS for future generations

Last checked against official sources: 23 September 2026. Fair Go for Social Work is independent. We are not part of the NDIA, the Department or the AASW. #SkilledToConnect