Not every coordination relationship works, and the NDIS gives you the right to change. This guide lists the warning signs that your support coordinator is not doing the job, the things worth raising first, and when it is time to move on.
Support coordination is funded to make your plan work. When it is not working, the signs are usually visible for months before anyone acts on them, partly because participants are reluctant to complain and partly because a poor coordinator can look busy. This guide sets out what to look for and what to do. MediHealth Connect provides NDIS support coordination across South East Queensland, and we would rather participants judge us by these standards than by our website.
Calls and emails go unanswered for days. You are doing the ringing around yourself. Your plan has funding sitting unused with no explanation. Services were set up and then never checked on. Your coordinator does not know what your providers are doing, or what your GP or therapists have said. Every provider they suggest belongs to their own organisation. The review is next month and nobody has started preparing. You feel managed rather than supported, or you feel you are managing the coordinator. Any one of these can happen occasionally; a pattern is the problem.
Before changing, say what is wrong, in writing if possible, and ask for a specific change: a fortnightly check-in, a plan for the unused funding, alternatives to in-house providers, a start on review preparation. Some coordinators are overloaded rather than uninterested, and a clear request produces a clear improvement. If it does not, you have documented the attempt, which matters if you later need to explain the change to the NDIA or a new provider.
You can change support coordinators at any time. There is no lock-in, and the funding stays with you. Your service agreement sets a notice period, usually short; check it. You do not need the NDIA's permission and you do not need to give a reason, although it helps the new coordinator to know what went wrong.
Choose the new provider first and confirm they have capacity, so there is no gap. Give notice to the current provider in writing. Ask for your records: the plan, service agreements, provider contacts, progress notes and any reports. The new coordinator requests a handover, with your consent. Tell your plan manager and your LAC. Our article on how to switch your NDIS support coordinator goes through the steps in detail.
Local knowledge of your region, a realistic caseload, a straight answer about conflict of interest if the provider delivers other services, a clear communication arrangement including cover for leave, and someone you can talk to. Ask how they would handle the specific thing that went wrong last time.
No. The funding stays in your plan and moves with you to the new provider. Only the provider changes.
Yes. Start with the provider's own complaints process. If it is not resolved, the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission handles complaints about registered providers.
You can change one service without the other. Service agreements are separate, and a provider cannot make one conditional on another.
MediHealth Connect provides support coordination across South East Queensland.