What's the Difference Between Core Supports and Capacity Building?

Core supports pay for everyday help, like a support worker with daily tasks or community activities, and the funding is flexible. Capacity building supports pay for building skills, like therapy or support coordination, and the funding is stated, so it cannot move between categories. Both sit inside your NDIS plan.

Key takeaways

• Every NDIS plan can have 4 support budgets: core, capacity building, capital and recurring. Most articles only explain the first two.
• Core supports have up to 3 support categories and are flexible. Capacity building has up to 9 and is stated.
• You cannot move funds from core to capacity building, because they are separate budgets.
• On the NDIS pages today, transport sits in the recurring supports budget, not in core.
• Your plan tells you which funding is flexible and which is stated.

Core supports vs capacity building: what is the difference?

Core supports help you with everyday activities and getting involved in your community, while capacity building supports build your skills so you can do more for yourself and work towards your goals. The NDIS guide to support budgets explains that both are budgets inside your plan, and that you only have funding in the budgets you need.

Read the table as a starting point. Your own plan is what counts, because the NDIS bases every plan on your individual needs and only funds supports that are reasonable and necessary for you.

What do core supports pay for?

Core supports pay for help with daily life, everyday items and taking part in your community. According to the NDIS page on what core supports are, the core budget can include up to 3 support categories:

• Assistance with daily life: support workers helping with everyday tasks like cleaning, yard maintenance, cooking and personal care.
• Consumables: everyday items such as continence products, and low-cost assistive technology like non-slip bathmats or small devices that help with dressing, eating, drinking or cleaning.
• Assistance with social and community participation: support workers helping you spend more time in your community and join group or social activities.

Core funding is flexible, so you can use the total amount across and within those categories. Everyone uses it differently, but you can only buy supports the NDIS rules say your funding can pay for. If you want to see what personal care support looks like in practice, our guide to what NDIS personal care covers goes through it.

What do capacity building supports pay for?

Capacity building supports pay for skill building, and the NDIS page on capacity building supports says this budget can have funding in up to 9 support categories:

1. Support coordination: usually time-limited, to help you manage your funding, supports and providers with more confidence.
2. Improved living arrangements: help to find and keep a suitable place to live, such as a support worker helping you apply for a rental. Rental bond and rent payments are not NDIS supports.
3. Increased social and community participation: supports to find and join activities, build social skills and make new friends.
4. Finding and keeping a job: time-limited support for working-age participants, such as building work skills or a career plan.
5. Improved relationships: behaviour supports and social skills development.
6. Improved health and wellbeing: for example a dietitian or an exercise physiologist.
7. Improved learning: help moving from school to TAFE or university, or tutoring.
8. Improved life choices: the skills to self-manage your plan, and the funding for a plan manager if you have one.
9. Improved daily living: assessments, training or therapies such as speech therapy or occupational therapy that build living skills.

Two of these connect to topics we have already covered. If you are weighing whether you need help coordinating your supports, read whether you need NDIS support coordination. If a therapist needs to measure how your condition affects daily life, our article on the functional capacity assessment explains what happens.

Is a support worker core or capacity building?

A support worker can be funded from either budget, and the support category in your plan decides which. Support workers appear in both NDIS descriptions. In core, they help with daily tasks and with community involvement. In capacity building, the NDIS gives the example of asking your support worker to help you get involved in community groups, hobby groups, sport or outdoor recreation, under increased social and community participation.

A practical way to read it: if the support is mainly doing an everyday task with you, it is likely core. If it is mainly building a skill or helping you work towards a goal, it can be capacity building. Check the category named in your plan, because that wording is what your provider claims against.

Can you move funds from core to capacity building?

No. Core and capacity building are separate budgets, and the NDIS states you can use flexible funding across categories within the same support budget, but you cannot use it for other support budgets. Core funding stays in core.

Capacity building is stricter again. Its funding is stated, so you cannot move it between its own support categories either. The NDIS gives the example of someone whose plan has $5,000 of capacity building for speech pathology: that funding can only be used for that support, not for something different. By contrast, an NDIS example shows a participant with $25,000 in assistance with daily life and $10,000 in assistance with social and economic participation, who can use the combined $35,000 across both core categories.

If your funding looks too small in one budget, the right step is to talk to the NDIS, rather than trying to move money yourself. We cover that below.

Flexible vs stated supports: how do you tell which you have?

Your plan says so. The NDIS explains that flexible supports are marked "This is a flexible support" and stated supports are marked "This is a stated support".

• Flexible: you choose which supports to buy, how many, and you can use your overall budget across categories in the same budget.
• Stated: you spend the funding as described in your plan. You can still choose the provider and how many of that support you buy, within the budget.

Some stated supports are listed as "quote required". In that case, the NDIS needs to see quotes or specialist reports before the funding becomes available. If you are not sure how to read your plan, the NDIS offers a plan implementation meeting when your plan is approved, and you can ask for one at any time. Our guide to what happens at your first NDIS planning meeting is a good primer for that conversation.

Where do transport and capital supports fit?

Transport sits in recurring supports, and capital supports cover bigger items like equipment and housing changes. These are the two budgets many articles skip.

Recurring supports. According to the NDIS page on recurring supports, recurring transport is the only recurring category. It helps with travel to study, work, community activities and day programs, including taxis, rideshare and other private travel. There are 3 levels:

These amounts are as shown on the NDIS page when we checked, so confirm the current figures with the NDIS. If an older guide lists transport under core supports, check your own plan to see where the funding is placed.

Capital supports. The NDIS page on capital supports says this budget has up to 2 categories: assistive technology (for example a powered wheelchair) and home modifications and specialist disability accommodation (SDA). Capital funding is stated, so it cannot move between categories.

How do you claim against each budget?

It depends on how your plan is managed. The NDIS says that if your funding is plan-managed or NDIA-managed, your provider uses the support item code to claim. If you self-manage, you can claim at the support category level without the code. Our comparison of self-managed, plan-managed and NDIA-managed plans explains how each works, and our article on registered and unregistered providers covers who you can use under each type.

Mistakes happen. The NDIS says it is okay if you claim from the wrong category, and you can call 1800 800 110 to have it fixed. Contact your plan manager or provider as soon as you think a claim was wrong.

Which supports does Care Steps Australia provide in Punchbowl and Bankstown?

Care Steps Australia is a registered NDIS provider based in Punchbowl, and the NDIS Commission register lists our approved registration groups, which include Assist-Personal Activities, Participate Community, Assist-Travel/Transport, Development-Life Skills and Community Nursing Care. Registration runs until 19 August 2028.

Those are registration group names, not a match for the budget categories above, so your plan and your goals decide how any support is funded. We work with participants across Punchbowl, Bankstown, Liverpool, Campbelltown, Campsie, Lakemba, Greenacre and Sydney. You can see our local pages for NDIS support in Punchbowl and NDIS support in Bankstown, or browse the NDIS services we offer.

Conclusion

Core supports help with everyday life, and capacity building supports help you build skills. The difference that matters in practice is how the funding behaves: core is flexible within its budget, capacity building is stated, and neither can be moved into another budget. Check your plan for the words "flexible" and "stated", note which of the 4 budgets you have, and use the NDIS plan implementation meeting if anything is unclear.

Questions about NDIS supports in Punchbowl or south-west Sydney?

If you want to talk through how NDIS supports work for you, contact the Care Steps Australia team on weekdays from 9am to 5pm, or use the details below.

Care Steps Australia
48 Lancaster Avenue, Punchbowl NSW 2196
Phone: (02) 8201 3100
Email: info@carestepsaustralia.com.au
Find us on Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZsJQgwvKcMMUVb1MA