DOCUMENT 7

Add transport supports to the participant’s plan

The content of this document is OFFICIAL.

This Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) will help you consider and add transport supports to the participant’s plan.

This SOP is about participant transport arrangements. For information about provider travel, refer to the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits.

1. Recent updates

Date	What’s changed
February 2021	New SOP format to align with Our Guidelines refresh. SOPs include process information only. Use Our Guidelines to help you make decisions and refer to Related procedures or resources. This is existing guidance from the Practice Guide — Determine Reasonable and Necessary Supports, which will be retired at the end of the internal preview period.

2. Checklist

Topic	Checklist
Pre-requisites	You have:
	Made a reasonable and necessary decision to include transport support using Operational Guideline - Including Specific Types of Supports in Plans — Transport.
	Told the participant that transport funding does not cover day-to-day living costs. For example, it does not cover transport to appointments, shopping or recreational activities.
	Told the participant that if they currently receive mobility allowance from Centrelink, this allowance will stop when their plan is approved.
	Sought advice from the Technical Advisory Branch if the transport funding is significantly above Transport Assistance Level 3, or not related to activity-based transport.

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Topic Checklist

If you are including transport as periodic payments, you have:

• Told the participant that periodic transport payments are self- managed and paid each fortnight to their bank account.
• Checked in the risk assessment that the participant is not currently an insolvent under administration.
• Checked that self-managing funding will not present an unreasonable risk to the participant.
• Checked the bank account details have been collected and recorded in the System.

Actions

• 3.1 Decide how much funding to include in the plan
• 3.2 Add transport supports to the participant’s plan

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Procedure

Decide how much funding to include in the plan

1. Use the Levels of Transport Assistance below to help you decide how much funding to include the plan.

• Level 1 $1606-$1,784: For participants who are not working, studying or attending day programs but want to improve their community access.
• Level 2 $2472-$2,676: For participants who are currently working or studying part-time (up to 15 hours a week) or participating in day programs. This also includes goal based social, recreational or leisure activities.
• Level 3 $3456-$3,567: For participants who are currently working, looking for work, or studying (15 hours or more a week), and can’t use public transport because of their disability.

2. Do not make transport funding flexible unless it meets the following criteria:

• The transport funding is not an automated periodic payment. This means the periodic payment box is unchecked in the Determine the Funded Supports task.
• The transport funding is not a fixed (stated) support.
• There are funds available in the Core budget.
• The transport funding plan management type is the same as other Core Supports.
• The transport Service Booking includes a higher amount than the transport category in the Core budget.

3.1.1 Transport support as part of community participation

3. If the participant requests transport support as part of community participation you must consider non-labour costs when deciding how much Core funding to include.

4. Consider the following information:

Participants can use their Core budget funding for a support worker to help them:

• participate in community outings
• transport from their home to the community.

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Providers claim transport costs

Providers claim these costs at the relevant community participation hourly rate (individual or group).

Providers can claim non-labour transport costs to help the participant:

• access community participation supports
• access or maintain employment
• access or maintain higher education.

Non-labour costs associated with participant transport can include:

• public transport fares
• road tolls
• parking fees
• reasonable vehicle running costs
• taxi or ride-share fares.

The National Disability Insurance Agency considers that it’s reasonable for a provider to claim:

• up to $0.85 a kilometre for a standard vehicle not modified for accessibility
• up to $2.40 a kilometre for a vehicle that is modified for accessibility or a bus
• up to the full amount for other forms of transport or associated costs, such as road tolls, parking and public transport fares.

3.2 Add transport supports in the participant’s plan

1. Follow Standard Operating Procedure – Complete the Determine the funded supports task to generate the Typical Support Package.

Determine the Support Needs

2. Navigate to the Determine the Support Needs screen. Select Core.

Core Support Categories

3. The Core Support Categories screen displays. Review the amount generated for Transport funding, and adjust the Typical Support Package generated amount if necessary.

4. Unlike other support categories, transport can be paid to participants as an automated periodic payment, paid each fortnight. The periodic transport check box next to the transport support category is ticked by default. Uncheck this box if the participant’s transport funding will be Agency-managed or plan-managed, or if they do not want transport as a periodic payment.

5. Add a comment that describes how the support will be used. For example: Support to access work, study and community activities.

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3.3 Next steps

Check you have included all other reasonable and necessary supports when completing the Determine the Funded Supports task. Refer to the relevant planning resources to complete this task.

4. Related procedures or resources

• Operational Guideline - Including Specific Types of Supports in Plans — Transport
• Planning Intranet page
• Standard Operating Procedure — Complete the Determine the funded supports task
• NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits

5. Feedback

If you have any feedback about this Standard Operating Procedure, please complete our Feedback Form.

6. Version control

Version	Amended by	Brief Description of Change
1.0	CW0032	Class 2 approved.
New SOP format to align with Our Guidelines refresh, Existing guidance from Practice Guide - Determine Reasonable and Necessary Supports.