Northcott Centre-Based is where Northcott provides a centre for you to:

• Attend and participate in your activities, including overnight support in Short Stays services.
• Attend to your personal care, health care and/or mealtime tasks
• Attend prior to, or after, community-based group activities, or to use as an alternate venue in case of weather events or other changes to your plans that might occur.

To find out more about the specific groups, activities, services, terms and times your local area offers, please speak to your Coordinator.

Our groups for over 18s run in 3-hour blocks – 9:00am-12:00pm, 12:00pm-3:00pm, 3:00pm-6:00pm, 6:00pm- 9:00pm and 9:00pm-12:00am.

Things we do with you: You may also know this as Face-to-Face time.

Examples

• Planning and developing a 13-week schedule and strategies
• Setting and reviewing your goals and outcomes Working with you in achieving your goals

Things we do for you: You may also know this as Non-Face –to – Face time

• Developing resources and lesson plans
• Planning and setting up activities
• Report Writing( eg: End of Plan etc)
• Documentation, meetings and training related to your specific support needs

You will need to read these with the My Service Agreement Terms and Conditions.

Group Services Charges

Support is only provided during the agreed operating times of the service. If you arrive early, or leave late, and require access to a Northcott centre, or additional support from staff outside of operating times, you will be charged for the support provided.

Charges for Skills 4 Life, Life Skills, Skills 4 Work, Work and Study, Teen Recreation and Recreation Services are as follows:

Group Costs is made up of Apportioned Pricing, Capital Loading, Face to Face and Non-Face-to-Face time and Activity-Based Transport.

Apportioned Pricing is where you will share the cost of the Group Support based on the number of people in your group. If you do not want to be a part of a group setting, this is called Individual Services and is offered in your home or in the community.

Capital Loading costs cover the cost of running a Group Service in a Northcott Centre. It covers things like internet, utilities, maintenance, as well as the use of the facility resources such as computers, iPads, gaming consoles etc.

Face to face time is any support or activity where we work directly with you.

Non-Face-to-Face time is the time spent doing things for you when you are not physically with the group. They include setting up and planning activities, developing resources and lesson plans, documenting your 13-week plan and strategies, and setting and reviewing your goals and outcomes. It may also include connecting you to work placements, engagement with placement providers, and risk assessments of a site and duties.

Activity-Based Transport is the transport provided during a Group Service to attend your activities. If you require transport to and from the Group Service, then this is charged at an Individual Services rate. Not all sites are able to offer this service, so please speak to your Coordinator  to enquire about this in your local area.

Charges for Short Stays

24 hour Block Charges include assistance with self-care or community access activities, transport, accommodation, food and negotiated activities. If you require less than 24 hours of support due to attending another service during your stay, then we may be able to negotiate the hours of support you are charged, depending on how this impacts staffing ratios. If you require additional support prior to, during, or after the 24-hour period, you will be charged at the Individual services rate.

You will need to pay out of pocket expenses for:  

• pre purchase tickets for an upcoming event you have agreed to attend as part of your stay. This payment is required prior to confirming your stay. Your Coordinator will discuss payment options with you at the time of booking your stay. 
• Additional food/activity costs associated with outings during your stay if you choose to purchase these.  

*Northcott can supply food and drinks from the site for outings at no additional cost.

Charges for School Leavers Employment Support (SLES)

SLES is now a transitional support from July 2024 and will be phased out by the NDIS by June 2027.

SLES is currently offered 3 days per week for 48 weeks of the year and includes 18 hours of Face-To-Face support per week in a group of 5 people. If you require a smaller group, you will receive less hours of Face-To-Face support.

Add On Costs are other charges that may be required. These may be purchased on top of your Base Group Costs for all Services. You may request these, or we may discuss these with you if we feel they are required. These charges will be based on your individual needs.

Add On Costs include:

Additional Non-Face-to-Face Time is where staff complete specific tasks for you, outside of your direct support needs, and on top of the standard Non-Face-to-Face time that is included in your  Group Cost. This may include attending meetings with your Support Coordinator, Behaviour Support Practitioner, Allied Health Professional or other stakeholder meetings. Writing individualised progress reports, conducting additional individualised training related to your support needs, or developing additional resources specific to your individual support needs are also examples of Additional Non-Face-to Face time.

Personal Care or Mealtime Assistance will be charged as a separate cost if you require an extra worker to assist you and will be charged as per your individual support needs.

Shadow Shifts are where we need to introduce a new worker to you due to the complexity of your support. This is where your experienced worker will demonstrate to your new worker, how to best support you during your Service. There is a maximum charge of 6 weekday hours a year for this type of support.

Travel training is where we support you to learn how to catch public transport to increase your independence. You may want to purchase this on top of your group services at an individual rate, or you can work in your small group within your service times. To find out if your local area offers this outside of group operating times please speak to your Coordinator or Customer Partner.

Additional staff members may be required to ensure your safety in certain situations, such as if you have epilepsy and are going swimming, or if you have healthcare needs or behaviours of concern that require support from two staff.

We will not charge you for our normal operating costs such as ongoing NDIS plan monitoring, developing Service Agreements, or quoting.

What is not included in the price of this service?

You will need to pay out of pocket expenses for:

• Activity and entry fees for yourself
• Activity and entry fees for your worker, if you do not have a Companion Card or a Companion Card is not accepted at the place you attend
• Public transport fares for yourself
• Public transport fares for your worker if you do not have a Companion Card
• Food and drinks
• Specialised equipment that you require
• Personal care products that you require
• Your transport to and from your service

What if I need to cancel or I did not attend my service?

1. If you do not attend your Program of Support, you will still be charged as Northcott staff have already completed work in preparation for you to attend; this work includes coordinating, planning, and rostering. For Short Stays where you have agreed to attend an outing that requires pre purchase of tickets by Northcott, Northcott will not refund the cost of the ticket.
2. You will need to give 2 weeks’ notice if you wish to withdraw and leave the Program of Support permanently, or there are exceptional circumstances as to why you cannot attend your scheduled service. Exceptional circumstances may include, but not limited to:
   • long hospital stays, prolonged illness or injury (for longer than 1 week),
   • moving house or going away (for longer than 1 week).
3. You will need to give 2 weeks’ notice if you would like to make any changes to your scheduled Program of Support, such as changing a day or adding/removing a day from your schedule.
4. If you regularly do not show up to your Program of Support your Customer Partner will contact you to make sure the service is meeting your needs.
5. The Coordinator will check in with you at the end of each Program of Support period to review your schedule, and ensure your supports are meeting your needs. They will also meet with you to discuss your goals and outcomes and make sure you have clear strategies in place to meet your goals.
6. For Short Stays, you will need to give 7 days’ notice to cancel, reschedule or change a scheduled service. Otherwise, you will be charged 100% of the agreed service cost to yourself or your NDIS plan, depending on your funding arrangement. Where you have agreed to attend an outing that requires pre purchase of tickets by Northcott, Northcott will not refund the cost of the ticket.
7. If you are unable to attend or are unwell, please contact 1800 818 286. We are available between 8am – 8pm on Monday to Friday, and 8am – 4pm on weekends and public holidays.
8. To give 2 weeks’ notice for exceptional circumstances, speak to your Coordinator or your Customer Partner, email [email protected] or call 1800 818 286.
9. To withdraw and leave your service permanently, speak to your Coordinator or your Customer Partner, email [email protected] or call 1800 818 286.
10. We can only deliver support in line with the services you have agreed to in your Northcott My Service Agreement. See section 6, ‘What if you need to change your Agreement with us?’ in the Terms and Conditions if you would like to add another service to your Agreement.

What the NDIA says is reasonable and necessary

In order to be considered reasonable and necessary, a support must:

• Be related to the Participant’s disability
• Not include day-to-day living costs that are not related to a Participant’s disability support needs
• Represent value for money
• Be likely to be effective and beneficial to the Participant and take into account informal supports given to Participants by families, carers, networks, and the community

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