Support coordination – the delicate art of balance – Q11

Panel members

• Elizabeth Hickey (EH) – Support Coordinator, AFA Support Coordination
• Sera CrichtonAita (SC) – Support Coordinator, Australian Regional & Remote Community Services
• Kate Read (KR) – Founder/CEO, Inspires & Co
• Zena Dyson (ZD) – Specialist Support Coordinator/Team Leader, Esteem Care Services
• Danni Bament (DB) – Managing Director, Aspire Recovery Connection

What are your top three tips for helping support coordinators to balance the multi-layered relationships that come with working as part of the NDIS?

EH – Be honest, be genuine, and connect with others.
As a support coordinator you are a problem solver, counsellor and person connector. The only way to make it work well is when you can work in a way that delivers great value, that you can repeat, and that allows you to take the time when needed to work though the problem with the person so that they can make the decisions to achieve the goals they are looking for.

SC – No one is perfect in how they do their role – the NDIS is a growing learning space.

1. Focus on the task – person centred
2. Work balance
3. Self care

KR – Be honest, be transparent, and be clear upfront about boundaries and expectations.

DB –

1. Truly believe in the capacity of people we work with. This will make it a lot easier to make decisions about how we weigh up differing points of view (Hint: the person’s view is always paramount).
2. Be transparent. We can get into trouble when we start acting in a way to try and avoid conflict or bad feelings. Better to be present alongside the person while going through these things together.
3. Share the experience with the person. Person has identified an issue with a service provider? Call or email together. Your person asks you whether the NDIS would fund something? Research together. The intention is to put the person in a position where they can take their NDIS experience into their own hands.