We are the glue that holds NDIS plans together — and we are being priced out of existence.

Independent Support Coordinators across Australia are facing financial collapse.

Despite rising costs, growing compliance obligations, and increasing complexity in our work, the NDIS hourly rate for Support Coordination has remained unchanged for over six years. In that time:

• Inflation has risen by 24.6%

• Award wages have increased by 18.6%

• Compliance and administrative tasks have tripled

• Travel and crisis response — essential to our work — are underfunded or capped

Yet the hourly rate for Level 2 Support Coordination remains frozen at $100.14, unchanged since 2019. On the surface, this may seem generous — and it can be, if you're a sole trader who keeps the entire hourly rate.

But for Support Coordination businesses employing a team, this rate must also cover:

• Staff wages (aligned to the SCHADS Award)
• Superannuation
• Insurance
• Supervision and quality assurance
• Mandatory compliance, training, audits, and reporting
• Technology and systems
• Admin and coordination hours that are not billable

When these are factored in, that $100.14 quickly becomes unviable — leaving small businesses operating at a loss or dangerously close to it, to deliver a service the NDIS cannot function without.

What does this mean?

Support Coordinators — especially small, independent providers — are:

• Running on skeleton teams and wearing multiple hats
• Struggling to meet legal wage and super obligations
• Absorbing the cost of safeguarding, risk management, report writing, and crisis response
• Cutting essential roles they can no longer afford to retain — even when those staff have been with them for years

All while continuing to show up every day for the people we serve.

What do Support Coordinators actually do?

We are the people behind the scenes helping NDIS participants:

• Understand and use their NDIS plan
• Access crisis services and community supports
• Navigate the housing, justice, health, and education systems
• Live with choice, control, and dignity

We are the ones helping participants get out of hospital, get into safe homes, connect with trusted providers, and regain control over their lives.

Without Support Coordination, participants will be left behind.

If independent Support Coordinators disappear from the NDIS, participants will suffer the consequences. Without us:

• Participants will lose the people who explain their plan and budget in plain English
• There will be no one to help them connect with quality, safe, and appropriate services
• People in crisis will be left navigating housing, health, and justice systems alone
• Participants at risk will lose their key safeguarding and advocacy contact
• Isolated individuals — especially those with limited informal supports — may fall through the cracks

Support Coordination isn’t just admin. It’s what ensures the plan works in real life.

When providers collapse, it’s not just a business loss. It’s a loss of continuity, trust, safety, and support for thousands of Australians with disability.

This isn’t sustainable or ethical.

The current pricing structure:

• Undervalues the labour, expertise, and risk involved in Support Coordination
• Disincentivises quality and continuity
• Pushes out the very providers who are independent, participant-focused, and conflict-free — who don't cross-subsidise with therapy or core supports

Independent Support Coordination providers exist solely to support people with disability to live connected, self-directed lives.

And without urgent reform, we won’t exist at all.

We are calling on the Australian Government and the NDIA to:

• Immediately increase the Support Coordination hourly rate in line with CPI and wage growth
• Establish a transparent annual pricing review mechanism
• Formally include independent providers in pricing consultations and decisions
• Recognise the vital and unique role of Support Coordination in achieving participant outcomes

We are not asking for favours or special treatment.
We are asking for fairness, sustainability, and the chance to continue doing this essential work.

Please sign this petition and stand with independent Support Coordinators.

Because without us, the NDIS doesn’t work.