15/05/2026
“If you don’t use all your funding, you’ll lose it next time.”
I hear this one every single week, and it’s doing real damage.
Participants feel pressured to spend for the sake of spending.
Families get anxious that underspending will be punished.
Support coordinators sometimes rush decisions just to “use it up.”
Here’s the reality.
Your next plan is not automatically cut just because you didn’t exhaust every dollar. Plans are based on your needs, evidence, progress, and goals, not whether you hit zero.
Yes, the NDIA looks at how funding is used. But that’s about understanding what supports you actually need, not penalising you for being efficient.
Good support isn’t about burning through budgets.
It’s about using the right supports, at the right time, for the right outcomes.
