Understanding the NDIS
What Choice and Control Means
Your right to make decisions about your supports and how they are provided.
Your views matter
You should be involved in decisions about your supports.
You can choose providers
Which are available depends on your funding management and the support type.
You control your information
You decide what a provider can access, unless sharing is required by law.
Plain language guide
The detail, broken into useful sections.
Read the sections that matter to you. The content has not been shortened or changed, only organised so it is easier to scan.
What you get to decide
- Which approved supports you use
- Which providers you work with
- When and where supports are delivered
- How workers communicate with you
- What your goals and preferences are
- Who you involve in meetings and decisions
- What information you share with providers
- How you would like your funding managed
Choosing providers
Which providers are available depends on the supports funded, how the funding is managed, whether the support must come from a registered provider, availability, and whether they can safely meet your needs.
NDIA managed participants must generally use registered providers. Self managed and plan managed participants may use registered or unregistered providers for many supports, though some regulated supports still require registration.
Sharing your information
You do not have to give every provider access to your complete plan. You decide whether to share it, which parts, what permissions a provider receives, and whether another person may act on your behalf.
Choice still has limits
Funding must be used for supports that are NDIS supports, relate to your disability, are in line with your plan, meet any conditions on the funding, and are provided safely and lawfully. A provider may also decline a request that is unsafe, unlawful, outside a worker’s role, or not covered by the agreed service.
Supported decision making
You can ask someone you trust — a family member, friend, advocate, nominee, representative or Support Coordinator — to help you understand information and make decisions. The point is to keep you involved and in control, not to hand the decision over.
SCL Support Services
What SCL can help with
SCL will:
- Ask about your goals and preferences
- Explain our services and charges
- Involve you in support planning
- Consider your worker preferences
- Seek consent before providing support
- Help you raise concerns or request changes
- Work with an authorised advocate, nominee or representative
Tell us when something is not working, or when you would like your supports reviewed. That is not a complaint — it is how this is supposed to work.
Official information
This page explains things in plain language. The NDIS is the authority on the rules, and they change. Check the official pages for the current position.
Last checked: August 2026
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