What Does “Choice and Control” Mean? -

Quick answer: “Choice and control” is a core principle of the NDIS. In practice, it means you can choose your providers, decide how and when support is delivered, set your own goals, manage your own funding, and change arrangements if something isn’t working. For many people, this represents a significant shift from previous experiences of disability support.

Choice and control is one of the foundational principles of the NDIS. It’s also one of the most misunderstood — and for many participants, one of the hardest to put into practice.

What the NDIS says

The Independent Advisory Group to the National Disability Insurance Scheme has written a comprehensive paper on the topic. They note that:

Many people with disability have had little experience of choice and control in their life, and that the NDIS requires a massive change in the way everyone worked — for both participants and service providers. The paper explores what it means to have choice, and what some of the problems are in being able to put this into practice. It also looks at some ways to increase the capacity for choice and control, and how participants move from being compliant and dependent service users to active citizens making active choices and decisions.

That framing — moving from “compliant and dependent” to “active citizen making active choices” — captures something important. It’s not just about choosing your provider or your services. It’s about having real agency over how your life is structured and supported.

What choice and control actually means

In practical terms, choice and control under the NDIS means you can:

Choose which providers you work with — and change them if something isn’t working.
Decide how, when, and where your supports are delivered.
Set your own goals and direct what you’d like to work toward.
Manage your own funding if you choose (self-management), or choose a plan manager to do it for you.
Say no to supports you don’t want — and seek different ones.

For people who have spent years in systems where these decisions were made for them — by carers, institutions, or service providers — exercising real choice can feel unfamiliar. That’s not unusual, and it’s one of the things a good support team helps with over time.

Where it gets complicated

The principle is clear. The reality is more complicated. Funding constraints, limited provider availability, complex plan structures, and a lack of accessible information can all make it harder to exercise choice in practice. The IAG paper acknowledges this directly — it’s not enough to declare that participants have choice. The conditions that make meaningful choice possible also have to be in place.

This is an area where a good Support Coordinator can make a significant difference — helping you understand what options actually exist, what your plan funds, and how to navigate a situation where a provider isn’t meeting your needs.

Choice and control at Heartfelt Support

At Heartfelt Support, choice and control isn’t a phrase on a brochure — it’s how we try to actually work. We don’t assume we know what’s right for a participant. We take time to understand what matters to the person, what they’ve tried before, and what they want to build toward. If something isn’t working, we want to hear that directly.

For more information about choice and control as part of your rights and responsibilities as an NDIS participant, the NDIS has a dedicated page on participant rights. You can also read the full IAG paper at the NDIS Independent Advisory Council website.