It may sound like more work in an already busy life, but hiring your own support worker can make life easier for the whole family.

You can hire your own support worker if you choose to self manage the support worker funding.  You may also choose your own support worker if you use a plan manager to manage your funds, however, having contacted NDIS, it was recommended that families check with the organisation regarding the arrangements for hiring a support worker.

There are many benefits to self managing/agency managing your support worker.

You can hire them and pay them directly from your NDIS allocated funds.  This may sound difficult, but once you learn the payment processes, it is quite straightforward.

Self managing the support worker funds allows you to negotiate the hourly rate

If you select NDIA managed funding for your support worker, then negotiating hourly rates is more complex.  However, when you hire them yourself, you can negotiate the hourly rate yourself and this can help extend the funds further.  Hiring someone and negotiating their pay, may seem stressful, especially if this is new for you.

You have greater choice over who you can hire to support your child.

Self managing your support worker will allow you to hire people who are already in your child’s life, people who care about them.  This means you can hire friends or neighbours to support your child.

Who do you know in your family’s support network, that already has a good relationship with your child?  Who might have the skills that you would need for your child?

What qualifications do they need?

At this stage, your support worker does not need to have any particular qualifications, when they are self managed. However, you may wish to request additional qualifications or checks such as first aid certificate or Working with Children Check.  There is also an NDIS Support Worker Check, however this is currently optional for self managed families and potentially agency managed families also (contact your agency to check their particular case).

How do I train my child’s support worker so they can provide the best quality care for my child?

Accessing the therapists who works with your child can help support and train your child’s support worker.  There are also online courses such as Connected Children’s sensory processing course to provide sensory strategies in supporting your child.

It can seem tempting to hire a support worker from an agency and it can make the process more straightforward.  There are many benefits to hiring the support worker yourself, so it is definitely worth considering.  NDIS is dedicated to providing clients and their families with choice and control, this is one way to you can have choice and control over your child’s care.

Need help hiring and managing a support worker? It can seem like a big job, which is why we have created resources to help you with this.

The steps are broken down into short videos with notes and downloads. You can pick and choose which parts you do at any time.

These courses can be funded by NDIS if you are self or plan managed.

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