Support coordination: Lessons from the trenches

The pivotal role of support coordinators – and their impact on the lives of people with disability – can’t be underestimated. That’s why we’ve launched the editorial roundtable, a think tank that brings together support coordinators from across Australia to share insights, experiences, challenges and solutions with others in the disability community.

Whether you’re an intermediary, a disability advocate, a service provider, or a participant in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), there’s something for everyone in this topic – Lessons from the trenches.

From tips, tricks and go-to tools to career hurdles, burnout, and learnings for clients and providers, our panel members for this discussion have put it all on the table.

Lessons from the trenches - panel members

• Miranda Purchase (MP) – Support Coordinator, MP Coordination
• Veronica Santomingo (VS) – Support Coordinator, Richmond Fellowship Queensland
• Aylin Taylor (AT) – Support Coordinator, Tailored Options
• Sue Grier (SG) – Managing Director, Let’s Connect Support Services
• Elizabeth Hickey (EH) – Support Coordinator, AFA Support Coordination
• Hannah Redford (HR) - Support Coordinator, Tulip Coordination
• Sabine Hazlett (SH) – Support Coordinator, Lifestyle Mentor Services
• Zena Dyson (ZD) – Specialist Support Coordinator/Team Leader, Esteem Care Services
• Sera CrichtonAita (SC) – Support Coordinator, Australian Regional & Remote Community Services

Here’s their 15 lessons from the trenches, the questions we posed and the answers they gave. Click on each question to open up their answers – we hope you enjoy the learnings as much as we did!

1. Why did you become a support coordinator? What drew you to the role?

2. What does a typical day in the life of a support coordinator look like?

3. What do you enjoy most about your role?

4. What are the key challenges support coordinators face (pain points or barriers to success) – and can you share your tips for navigating them?

5. What are your ‘go-to’ tools, processes, and supports – or tips and tricks for success – that you can’t live without?

6. Burnout is a risk faced by support coordinators (and many other providers). How do you manage the emotional toll of your role and what boundaries do you put in place to allow you to ‘clock off’ at the end of the day?

7. How do you balance the delivery of best value, person centred support with the commercial reality of needing to achieve your targeted number of billable hours – in particular, when clients have a limited budget for support coordination?

8. The NDIS is a complex beast – how do you stay up to date so you can navigate the system effectively for you and your clients?

9. Where do you spend most of your time – e.g. connecting clients to supports, engaging with the NDIA, writing reports, preparing clients for plan reassessments etc?

10. If you could tell clients how to get the most out of their relationship with you/other support coordinators, what would you say?

11. What’s one outcome you’re most proud of having supported a client to achieve?

12. We all know there are issues with recruitment and retention in the disability workforce – and support coordination is not immune to that. What factors do you believe influence the development of a stable support coordination workforce?

13. How do support coordinators train, upskill, and develop as professionals?

14. Do you believe established and experienced support coordinators have a responsibility to share their learnings with others and mentor and nurture emerging talent, and why do you feel that way?

15. What are your top five ‘lessons from the trenches’ – insights, experiences, and learnings you can pass on to benefit others?