Local area coordinators and support coordinators both help participants use their plans, but they work for different organisations, are funded differently and do different things. This guide explains the difference and who gets which.
Participants are often told they have a local area coordinator when they wanted a support coordinator, or assume the two are the same person with two titles. They are not. A local area coordinator (LAC) works for a partner organisation contracted by the NDIA; a support coordinator is a provider you choose and your plan pays for. MediHealth Connect provides NDIS support coordination across South East Queensland, and this guide sets out where the LAC role ends and ours begins.
LACs are employed by NDIA partner organisations in each region. They help people apply for the NDIS, gather information for planning, in many areas draft or hold the planning conversation, explain a new plan, connect participants with mainstream and community services and check in at review time. Every participant has access to an LAC, at no cost to the plan. What LACs do not do is ongoing, hands-on coordination of a participant's services: they do not find providers month to month, manage service agreements or sort out problems between providers. Their caseloads make that impossible.
A support coordinator is funded in the plan under Capacity Building and works for the participant. They implement the plan: explaining budgets, finding providers with capacity, setting up agreements, keeping services working together, resolving problems, monitoring funding use and preparing the participant for review. The relationship is ongoing and the caseload is small enough for real work. Support coordination is funded only where the NDIA decides a participant needs it; many participants with simpler plans rely on their LAC alone.
For a participant who has both, the LAC is the link to the NDIA and the support coordinator is the link to services. The LAC handles plan reviews and variations and the formal contact with the agency; the coordinator provides the evidence, the progress report and the day-to-day implementation. When the arrangement works, the coordinator and the LAC speak before a review so the request and the planning conversation match. When it does not, participants find themselves repeating the same information to two people who have not spoken.
If your plan is not being implemented, providers are full, you have several services that are not working together, or your circumstances are complex, ask your LAC for support coordination at your next review or through a plan variation. The case is strongest with evidence: a record of services you could not arrange, provider waitlists, clinical letters about complexity. Once support coordination is funded, you choose the provider.
Any registered provider can deliver level 1 and 2 coordination. Look for local knowledge of your region, a clear answer on conflict of interest if the provider delivers other supports, a realistic caseload and a coordinator you can talk to. Our article on finding the right NDIS support coordinator in Brisbane sets out the questions to ask.
Yes. LACs are funded by the NDIA through partner organisations and do not use your plan budget. Support coordination is paid from your plan.
No. LACs are allocated by the partner organisation for your area. You can choose your support coordinator.
Yes, with your consent, and a good coordinator does before every review so the request and the planning conversation are consistent.
MediHealth Connect provides support coordination across South East Queensland.