What are community support services?
Community support services help you manage daily life, build skills and take part in your community. The phrase can describe several kinds of help.
This guide focuses on paid disability support and the unpaid help around it. The NDIS also uses “community supports” for local groups and public services outside the NDIS. You can read about community connections on the NDIS website.
You might use a support worker for daily tasks and social outings. You might also join a weekly group or ask a coordinator to explain your plan. The right mix depends on your goals, choices and funded supports.
Five types of community support services
Daily living and personal support
Help with personal care, mornings, meals, home tasks and routines. Under the NDIS, this is often called assistance with daily life. It is usually paid from Core Supports. Learn more about NDIS assistance with daily living.
Social and community participation
Help to go to appointments, shops, hobbies, sport, classes and social outings. You can use one-to-one community participation or join a small recreation group. The goal is to take part in activities that matter to you.
Support coordination
Help to understand your NDIS plan and put it into action. A support coordinator can explain your funding, connect providers and help keep your supports on track.
Building skills and independence
Support to practise cooking, budgeting, public transport and managing appointments. You set the pace and choose the skills that matter to your life.
Culturally safe support
Support that respects your culture, community and family. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants can ask for an Aboriginal-owned team and Aboriginal workers or coordinators.
Therapy, allied health and supported accommodation come from specialist providers. Tegrity offers support work and Level 2 support coordination only. We refer other services to the right specialist.
What is the difference between formal and informal supports?
Formal support
Paid help delivered by a support worker, coordinator or other provider. Your NDIS plan may pay for this support.
Informal support
Unpaid help from family, friends, neighbours and other people already in your life. The NDIS calls these informal supports, and your plan takes them into account.
The two can work together. A family member might help with breakfast. A support worker might then help you attend an activity. A sibling may help with mail while a coordinator manages providers.
Tell the NDIA at your plan reassessment. Your plan considers the unpaid help already available to you. The NDIA needs to know when that help can no longer continue.
How does the NDIS fund community support?
The current NDIS system describes four support budgets: Core, Capacity Building, Capital and Recurring. Paid community support most often sits in a relevant Core or Capacity Building category, but the exact category and rules depend on your plan. The official NDIS budget guide is the source to check; our plain-English guide explains what community participation funding may cover in practice.
Your plan says what is funded and how much you can use. The NDIA decides what goes into your plan. A support coordinator can help you understand the budget you already have.
How do you choose the right community support?
Start with the type of help you need. Then look at how the provider works.
- ConsistencyAsk if the same workers will support you each week.
- The right fitMeet your worker before support starts.
- Clear informationAsk when you will see your roster and how billing works.
- Cultural safetyChoose a team that respects your culture, community and choices.
Tegrity Services is a registered NDIS provider. We deliver support work, support coordination and community participation across 37 Sydney service areas.
Community support services in Sydney
You can get community participation support from registered providers and smaller local teams. Only registered providers can support agency-managed NDIS plans.
Look for workers who stay consistent. Ask about one-to-one and group options. A local team should plan real outings with you, not hand you a set activity list.
Tegrity Services is Aboriginal-owned and NDIS registered (4050099017). We offer one-to-one community participation and a weekly Wednesday recreation group across our listed Sydney service areas.