Money and budgeting
A weekly budget you understand, bills paid on time, a bank app used safely, and spotting a scam before it costs you.
Disability Services · Development of life skills
Life skills that lead somewhere, across Melbourne.
Budgeting, cooking, catching the train, dealing with Centrelink, getting ready for work. Taught one step at a time by a worker who sticks with you until you no longer need them.
NDIS support item: Development of Daily Living and Life Skills (registration group 0117), support category Improved Daily Living (Capacity Building)
What life skills support is, and what it is not
Life skills support is teaching, not doing. A support worker breaks a task you want to master into steps, practises it with you in the place you will use it, and steps back as you get it. The NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) calls it Development of Daily Living and Life Skills, and funds it because the aim is to need less paid support later.
The skills are the ordinary ones independence is made of: a weekly budget, cooking a few meals you like, catching the Cranbourne or Pakenham line into Dandenong and back, reading a bill, phoning a service, keeping appointments, managing medication, looking after a tenancy, and getting ready for study or work. We start with the skill that would change your week most.
It is different from household tasks or personal care, where the worker does the task for you, and from community participation, which is about taking part. The same worker can do all of it, so long as the hours are claimed from the right budget.
What is included
Six skills we teach most often
Each is funded from the Improved Daily Living budget in the Capacity Building part of your plan.
Cooking and running a kitchen
Planning a few meals, shopping for them, cooking them safely and cleaning up, until you can do it without a worker there.
Travel training
myki, timetables, the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines, Dandenong bus routes, and a plan for when the train is cancelled.
Using services
Making and keeping appointments, dealing with Centrelink, the GP, the bank and the agent, and asking for what you need.
Work and study readiness
Routines, timekeeping, a resume, interview practice, and the social skills a workplace or TAFE classroom expects.
Looking after yourself at home
Medication routines, household safety, knowing who to call, and the habits that keep a tenancy and a body in good order.
Funding, in plain English
Capacity Building funding, with a clear goal attached
Life skills support is paid from the Capacity Building budget under Improved Daily Living. Unlike Core, Capacity Building money cannot be moved between categories: Improved Daily Living pays for skills training, therapy and some assessments, not for a worker doing the shopping for you. So we claim teaching hours here and doing hours from Core.
The NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27 sets the limit for Skill Development and Training, including Public Transport Training, at $73.58 an hour on a weekday during the day, with higher limits for evenings and weekends and a lower rate per person for small groups. We charge at or below the limit and show every session on the invoice.
Because this funding is meant to build independence, the NDIA (National Disability Insurance Agency) expects to see progress at plan reassessment. We keep a simple record of each skill, where you started and what you can do now, and hand it to you and your support coordinator before the review. Our funding guide explains Capacity Building.
Figures are from the current NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27, which replaced the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits, and usually change each July. Ask us or check ndis.gov.au for the latest.
Read more: what each NDIS budget pays for and how plan management affects your choices.
How it works
From one goal to a skill you own
- 01
Pick the skill that matters most
Call 03 5998 0717 or refer online. We ask what you want to do on your own and which plan goal it belongs to.
- 02
Break it into steps
Together we write the steps, where we will practise them and how we will know each is learnt. Simple enough for the fridge door.
- 03
Practise where it counts
In your kitchen, at your station, in the Centrelink queue. The same worker each time, doing a little less each week.
- 04
Record it and move on
When you can do the step without help, we write that down and start the next one. The record goes with you to your plan review.
Close to home
Learnt on the lines and in the suburbs you actually use
Travel training only works on the routes you will travel. Our workers, based around our Cranbourne head office, teach the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines from stations such as Cranbourne, Berwick, Officer and Pakenham, the buses into Dandenong and Fountain Gate, and the walk from the station to TAFE or work. Cooking is taught in your kitchen with ingredients from your supermarket in Clyde North, Narre Warren or Frankston.
We also work with people leaving Casey Hospital in Berwick, Dandenong Hospital and Frankston Hospital who need to relearn skills around discharge. Support is available in 17 languages and in Auslan. Our Caboolture office in Queensland and West Perth office in Western Australia run the same model on their own local routes.
Head office
Cranbourne, Victoria 3977
Offices in Caboolture QLD and West Perth WA
03 5998 0717, 24/7
Support in 17 languages and Auslan
All our locations Questions we get asked
Straight answers.
If yours is not here, call and ask. It is what we are for.
What is the difference between life skills and a support worker just helping me?
Intent and budget. A support worker helping you is Core funding: the task gets done. Life skills support is Capacity Building funding: the task gets taught, you practise it, and the worker steps back as you master it. The same worker can do both, but the hours come from different budgets, and we keep records of what you have learnt rather than what was done.
Is life skills training Core or Capacity Building?
Capacity Building, under the support category Improved Daily Living. Your plan shows it as a separate budget that cannot be swapped with Core. If you have Core funding only, a worker can still do tasks with you and encourage independence, but formal skill development with written goals and progress records is what Capacity Building is for. Ask your coordinator which you have.
How does travel training work?
We start with one route that matters, for example home to TAFE in Dandenong. The worker travels it with you, teaching myki, the platform screens and what to do if a train is cancelled. Over several weeks they sit a few seats away, then meet you at the other end, then not at all. You set the pace.
Can you help me get ready for work?
Yes, with the skills around work: waking and travelling on time, presenting well, a resume and interview practice, workplace expectations and managing a day without a worker. Finding a job and on-the-job support are usually funded through Disability Employment Services or a separate employment support in your plan, and we connect you to those rather than pretend to be them.
Do you teach life skills to young people leaving school?
Yes, and it is one of the most common reasons families call us. Leaving school is when budgeting, travel, cooking and talking to services suddenly matter. We work with the young person first and the family second, agree the goals together, and teach in real places rather than a classroom. If there is a coordinator, we keep them in the loop.
How long does it take to learn a skill?
It varies with the skill and the person. A simple bus route might take three or four trips; a weekly budget might take months. We set a rough timeframe at the start and review it every few sessions. If a skill is not progressing we change how we teach it or agree it is not the right goal for now, rather than keep claiming hours.
Can life skills support be done in a group?
Yes, for some skills. Cooking, budgeting and some social and work readiness skills work well in a small group of two or three who want to learn the same thing, and the price per person is lower. Travel training and anything personal to your situation is better one-to-one. We tell you which we recommend for each goal, and you decide.
What happens at my plan reassessment?
We give you and your coordinator a short written summary of each skill: where you started, what you practised and what you can now do alone. That evidence shows the NDIA the funding was used as intended and supports a request for continued funding. If you have become independent in a skill, we say so, even where that means fewer funded hours with us.
Ready to start
Make a referral Pick the skill that would change your week.
Call 03 5998 0717, answered 24 hours a day, or send a referral. Our intake team replies within minutes in business hours and sets up a first conversation about your goals.
Get in touch
Tell us what you need. We'll take it from there.
Whether you're exploring NDIS for the first time, looking for a support worker, or asking about one of our homes, we'll reply within a few minutes.
- Response within a few minutes
- No call centre. Real people.
- Confidential. Always.
Prefer to call? 03 5998 0717