Find NDIS providers: when to use an LAC, coordinator or Clickability
How to Find Your Perfect Provider
By Tristram Peters · Originally published 26 July 2023
How participants can choose the help they need with a search
Start with the obstacle. If you need to understand the options, ask your NDIS contact. If you have funded support coordination and need help comparing or arranging services, agree that task with your coordinator. If you already know the service you want, prepare a clear request and compare the responses.
Keep the decision criteria the same across all three routes: tasks, location, timing, access needs and costs. Someone else’s recommendation is a starting point for your questions, not a commitment to use the provider.
Original article and dated context
Tristram Peters is Head of Participant Engagement at Clickability, helping participants find and connect with service providers. He also co-hosts the Grow Bold with Disability podcast.
Let’s say that you’ve begun your National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) journey and completed most of your to-do list:
You’ve had your NDIS Access Request approved.
You’ve had your first NDIS Planning Meeting.
You’ve received your first NDIS Plan.
Firstly, amazing. The scheme can be difficult to navigate, so you should be proud that you’ve got this far. Let’s take a moment to celebrate it! But reaching this point also means you’ve got one thing left to do: find a provider, maybe multiple providers, that suit your specific needs.
Given how much you’ve already done, today’s post is dedicated to helping you find your perfect provider – both quickly and easily. We’re going to look at three big hitters:
Local Area Coordinators (LACs)
Support Coordinators
Clickability (shhh, that’s us!).
NDIS Local Area Coordinators (LACs)
For most NDIS participants, LACs are the main point of contact for the NDIS. They help you develop your NDIS plan (if this isn’t done by the National Disability Insurance Agency itself), conduct your Plan Reassessments, and help you find relevant information and supports.
[Clickability update, September 2026: Your NDIS contact can help you understand and connect with supports. The NDIA makes plan and funding decisions; do not assume an LAC personally decides your reassessment outcome. See current provider-finding guidance.]
If you’re looking for different NDIS service providers, this means that your LAC can tell you which providers might be available near you, whether you need Support Workers, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Cleaners, or a different type of support.
Different Partners deliver LAC services across Australia. If you’re unsure which Partner delivers this service in your area, you can search your suburb on the NDIS website. But if a LAC helped you develop your NDIS Plan, you should be able to find their contact details on the Plan itself.
Importantly, reassuringly: you don’t have to pay anything to access LAC services.
NDIS Support Coordinators
Some NDIS participants also get funds for Support Coordination. This means that you have funding in your NDIS Plan to access a Support Coordinator, someone who can help you both understand your Plan and connect with providers that you might want to work with.
Support Coordination is a ‘Capacity Building’ support, so its intent is to build your own capacity to find supports. Because of this, it’s not often an ongoing support and the hours you receive for it might decrease each year. If you need the same number of hours each year, you need to explain and evidence why this is the case at your NDIS Reassessment.
[Clickability update, September 2026: There is no automatic annual reduction rule. Funding and support-coordination needs are considered individually. Read the current support-coordination overview.]
To find how many hours you’ve received for Support Coordination, find your NDIS Plan and look under ‘Capacity Building’. You should see ‘Coordination of Supports’. (We agree, the NDIS does love some jargon… why not just say Support Coordination!?)
As long as you don’t exceed these hours, contact your Support Coordinator if you’re ever looking for supports and they should be able to assist you.
Clickability
LACs and Support Coordinators can be gold, helping you find supports. But what if you wanted to know what other participants thought about providers? That can be the best way to decide if a provider is the right fit for you. It’s also the idea that inspired us to create Clickability.
Clickability is a directory of rated-and-reviewed providers. You can search it at no cost – and contact those providers that you think best suit your specific needs. If you need quicker support, you can also submit a service request, where we’ll get up to three providers to contact you directly.
[Clickability update, September 2026: A request can connect you with up to three providers, subject to suitable responses. It does not guarantee three available providers or a successful match. Published provider guidance explains contact after acceptance.]
Once you’ve found your perfect provider and used their service for a period of time, you can then go and review that provider, helping the next group of participants that are looking for themselves!
Clickability editorial update: September 2026
What coordinators can leave with the participant
Make a short record of the options discussed, why each was considered and what still needs checking. Give the participant a way to contact or compare providers in the format they prefer.
Clarify what you will follow up and what the participant wants to do themselves. Avoid making promises about another provider’s capacity before it has confirmed availability.
Questions readers ask
Does support coordination funding automatically fall each year?
No. The original article’s suggestion is not an automatic annual rule. Funding depends on the participant’s circumstances and plan. Official guidance
Does a Clickability request guarantee three providers?
No. Up to three may respond, but suitability, availability and responses are not guaranteed. Official guidance
Ask providers about the support you need
Tell Clickability your service, location and preferences. Compare the responses with provider profiles and reviews before choosing your next step.
