How Does My Support Coordinator Work with OTs Under the NDIS?

If you have a Support Coordinator as part of your NDIS plan, you may have heard them mention Occupational Therapy, or you may be wondering how the two roles connect. Understanding how your Support Coordinator and your OT work together can make a real difference to how smoothly your plan is implemented and how well your supports reflect your actual needs.

Here's a clear breakdown of how these two roles complement each other, and what that means for you as an NDIS participant.

What Does a Support Coordinator Do?

A Support Coordinator helps you understand and implement your NDIS plan. They connect you with the right service providers, help you navigate the system, and work to ensure your funded supports are being used effectively. Think of them as your guide through the NDIS landscape, someone who knows the pathways and can help you find the right doors.

Support Coordination is funded under Capacity Building in your NDIS plan, and your coordinator works on your behalf to make sure your plan is working as hard as it should for you.

Where Does an OT Fit In?

An Occupational Therapist is an allied health professional who assesses and provides intervention to improve your functional capacity. This would include areas, such as how your disability affects your ability to carry out everyday activities, and provides clinical recommendations for the supports, equipment, and modifications you need.

Whilst your Support Coordinator manages the bigger picture of your plan, your OT provides the clinical evidence that justifies specific funded supports. These two roles work hand in hand, and a strong relationship between them can significantly improve your outcomes.

How They Work Together

Identifying the need for OT input 

• Your Support Coordinator is often the first person to recognise that an OT assessment is needed, whether that's ahead of a plan review, to support an Assistive Technology request, provide capacity building, or to address a change in your functional needs. They will refer you to a suitable OT and coordinate the timing of the assessment within your broader plan implementation.

Building the evidence base for your plan

• OT reports, including Functional Capacity Assessments and AT Reports form a critical part of the evidence submitted to the NDIA during plan reviews. Your Support Coordinator uses these reports to build a compelling case for the funding you need, ensuring your clinical evidence and your plan goals are aligned.

Coordinating AT processes 

• When Assistive Technology is required, your Support Coordinator and OT work closely together. With the OT completing the assessment and clinical report, and the coordinator managing the administrative and funding steps that follow through with the NDIA.

Monitoring progress and flagging changes

• Support Coordinators regularly check in on how a participant's supports are working. If they notice a participant's needs have changed, such as new challenges at home, a decline in function, or equipment that is no longer appropriate, they will refer back to the OT for reassessment. This keeps the clinical picture up to date and ensures plan reviews reflect current reality.

What This Means for You

The most effective NDIS plans are built on strong communication between everyone in your support team and that includes your Support Coordinator and your OT working together, not in silos.

At New Potential, we work closely with Support Coordinators to ensure our assessments are completed on time, our reports are written to the standard the NDIA expects, and our communication is clear and responsive. We understand that coordinators are managing multiple participants and need providers they can rely on.

Whether you are a Support Coordinator looking for a reliable OT partner, or a participant wanting to understand how your team works for you, we’re here to help.

We provide mobile OT services across the Gold Coast, Brisbane, and Adelaide, and telehealth support Australia-wide.

Contact our team today or complete our online intake form to discuss a referral or find out more about how we work with Support Coordinators. We're happy to answer your questions and help you take the next step.