Tue. Oct 8th, 2024

They say Lavender reduces pain and stress, improves your mood and can overall help you to live a better life, and that is what Lavender Plan Management is helping many New Englanders do.

They are helping local people with a disability take back control of their choices, their funding and build the life they want and need.

Everyone’s journey is different- whether that be harder or easier, but when it comes to the NDIS, owner of Lavender Plan Management Ali Binskin is walking alongside you.

“I have twins, who are now 25 years old, who both have disabilities and transitioned to the NDIS,” said Ali.

“I always felt whenever I needed help there was no one around that could help me. And I felt when I would ring up the NDIS, I’d be the first person that would ask that kind of a question all the time.”

“I found it really frustrating, so I actually thought there’s a job for me in the NDIS somewhere.”

And Ali found that place in Lavender Plan Management.

The business opened its doors in 2019 and was named by Ali and her daughter.

“We named it Lavender because Lavender is calm and restful and peaceful and helps with my daughters anxiety, and I guess that can sometimes be quite different to what the NDIS experience is.”

What started out as a small idea has grown into a thriving business, selling their expertise on plan management.  “We only provide Plan Management – it is our sole focus.  We are really proud of this.”

“I empathise with what my clients are going through, especially when it’s someone with a young child born with a disability.  There are also those who come onto the NDIS from a life changing accident, but everyone deals with the NDIS on a personal level.”

What is Plan Management 

There are three ways a NDIS plan can run:

  • Self-managed: you, or your plan nominee or child representative, manage the funding and pay your providers
  • Agency-managed: the NDIS manage the funding and pay your providers
  • A registered Plan Manager manages the funding and pays your providers

“When you are in that meeting with the NDIS, you need to pick how you want the plan to be managed, and that can be very confusing when you don’t understand the difference between the three options,”

“And that’s ok, we can help you.”

For Ali and her team its not just about getting the plan right but following through and understanding the efficiency of fast payments and live tracking.

“If those providers get paid fast, they will keep providing the services. If the providers are not being paid for two, three, four weeks, they’re likely to potentially cease services to the participant until the accounts are up to date.”

“So, it’s really important that we make sure that those accounts are paid as fast as we can. As soon as we get the money from the NDIS, we pay that out.”

“We also offer a platform to the participants to see on an app, on their phone or on a web portal, where their budget is in real time, and we need that to be real time.”

“Our clients need to know what money they have available.”

If you want to learn more about plan management or experience the Lavender Plan Management magic, Team Lavender will be at the Links for Life Disability Expo Thursday 19th September at the Tamworth Sport Dome.


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