7 Individual Support Plan Examples for NDIS Participants

An Individual Support Plan (ISP) is more than paperwork. Done well, it turns NDIS funding into greater independence, stronger community connection and real personal achievement. The hard part is knowing where to start. Many South Australian families ask us what an effective plan actually looks like, and how to shape a generic template around real needs.

This guide walks through seven proven planning approaches, each with a plain explanation of how it works and practical steps you can take into your next plan reassessment. None of them is "the right one" on its own; most good plans borrow from several. If you're newer to the scheme, our NDIS overview explains how funding and planning fit together.

1. Person-centred planning

Person-centred planning flips the traditional model on its head. Instead of starting with a diagnosis or a list of available services, it starts with the person's own aspirations, strengths and preferences, treating them as the lead expert in their own life. It draws on a circle of support (family, friends, support workers and allied health professionals) and distinguishes between what is important to the person and what is important for them, the difference between a life that is merely safe and one that is genuinely fulfilling.

Putting it into your NDIS plan:

• Start with "good life" questions. Open with what a good day and a bad day look like, and what the person dreams of doing, rather than leading with their disability.
• Set goals visually. Vision boards, photo collages and mind maps make goals tangible for non-verbal individuals and visual thinkers.
• Use a one-page profile. A single page covering what people admire about the person, what matters to them and how best to support them keeps every team member consistent. You can see this in action in our person-centred care examples.

2. Wraparound support planning

A wraparound plan is a structured, collaborative process for people, often children and young people, whose needs span multiple parts of life. It works on a "no reject, no eject" principle, building one unified network of formal and informal supports around the person and their family, driven by the family's own vision. Its great strength is that families stop having to work across several disconnected service systems on their own. A nominated facilitator keeps everyone (school, therapists, support workers, family) pulling toward the same goals, and the plan changes as circumstances change.

Putting it into your NDIS plan:

• Build one team, not five. Ask everyone involved in the participant's life to a joint planning meeting, so there is a single shared plan rather than several siloed ones.
• Map strengths before needs. List strengths, talents and resources first, then the underlying needs. "To feel safe at school" is a need; "stop having meltdowns" is not.
• Agree on communication. A shared group chat or document for updates, plus a regular review meeting, keeps the plan alive.

3. Positive behaviour support

Positive behaviour support (PBS) is a proactive, evidence-based approach for people whose behaviours of concern affect their quality of life. Rather than reacting or punishing, PBS seeks to understand the function behind a behaviour, then teaches positive replacement skills while shaping environments where the behaviour is less likely to be needed at all.

In Australia, behaviour support is formally regulated. A behaviour support plan must be developed by an NDIS behaviour support practitioner, and any restrictive practices are overseen by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. The process starts with a functional behaviour assessment, which works out why the behaviour happens (gaining attention, escaping a task, sensory input) so strategies can target the actual cause. We've written a fuller guide to positive behaviour support under the NDIS if this approach fits your situation.

Putting it into your NDIS plan:

• Assessment before strategy. A functional assessment with a behaviour support practitioner is the foundation of an effective and ethical plan.
• Change the environment first. Reducing sensory overload, providing a predictable schedule or keeping communication aids within reach is often the fastest win.
• Teach replacement skills. If a person shouts to escape a noisy room, teach them to use a communication card or say "I need a break". Same function, better tool.
• Keep the whole team consistent. Everyone from family to support workers needs to understand the plan and apply it the same way.

4. Recovery-oriented support planning

A recovery-oriented plan shifts the focus from managing symptoms to building hope, capability and self-management. Australian mental health services work to a national recovery-oriented framework built on a simple idea: the person directs their own recovery, and the plan helps them build a life beyond the illness rather than just containing it. This approach suits NDIS participants with psychosocial disability particularly well, prioritising the person's own definition of a meaningful life: staying connected socially, continuing study or work, and building an identity bigger than a diagnosis.

Putting it into your NDIS plan:

• Define recovery personally. Ask "what does recovery look like for you?" and skip the clinical jargon. The answer might be getting a driver's licence, rejoining a sports team or cooking a meal for family.
• Involve peer support. Peer workers with lived experience build trust and show recovery is achievable, often with practical strategies a clinician would not think of.
• Celebrate small wins. Recovery is rarely linear. A phone call that used to feel impossible, or one social outing, is progress worth acknowledging.

5. Individual education planning

For school-aged participants, education planning deserves its own structure. Australian schools must make reasonable adjustments for students with disability under the Disability Standards for Education 2005, and most document this in an individual learning plan (South Australian public schools call it a One Plan). The NDIS doesn't fund what schools are responsible for, but the two systems work best when they point at the same goals, with NDIS-funded therapy and capacity building reinforcing what happens in the classroom. The same disciplines that make education plans effective (clear baselines, measurable goals, regular review) carry straight across to NDIS planning.

Putting it into your NDIS plan:

• Make goals SMART. "Improve reading" is a wish; "by the end of Term 2, read a year-level text of 150 words with 90% accuracy" is a goal. Our guide to NDIS goal examples shows how to frame these well.
• Plan the transition early. From around age 14, build in goals for post-school life: vocational skills, work experience, budgeting, public transport.
• Keep records. A simple log of school meetings, emails and progress notes gives you solid evidence at plan reassessment time.

6. Trauma-informed support planning

Trauma-informed care is less a document and more a way of working. It recognises how widespread trauma is and deliberately avoids re-traumatising the person, shifting the guiding question from "what's wrong with you?" to "what happened to you?". Its principles (safety, trustworthiness, peer support, collaboration, choice and cultural sensitivity) shape everything from communication style to the physical environment. This framing matters for many NDIS participants, because the experience of disability itself, or of past services, can be a source of trauma. A trauma-informed plan aims to feel predictable and safe for someone whose world has often felt the opposite.

Putting it into your NDIS plan:

• Design calm environments. Soft lighting, lower noise and uncluttered spaces reduce anxiety for people with trauma histories or sensory sensitivities.
• Watch the language. Reframe "attention-seeking" as "connection-seeking" and the underlying need becomes obvious. Person-first language belongs in the plan itself.
• Offer choices constantly. "Shower before or after breakfast?" "Which route to the community centre?" Small choices rebuild the control that trauma takes away.

7. Supported decision-making

Supported decision-making is a powerful, less restrictive alternative to guardianship. Instead of removing a person's legal right to make decisions, it surrounds them with trusted supporters who help them understand information, weigh options and communicate their choices. The person remains the decision-maker; the supporters assist, never decide. This sits squarely within the NDIS principles of choice and control, and it matters most in big life areas like health care, money and where to live. A good arrangement is written down: who the supporters are, what their role covers, and how the person's values guide everything. We unpack the model in our guide to supported decision-making and the NDIS.

Putting it into your NDIS plan:

• Start with low-risk decisions. Everyday choices about activities and outings build confidence and let supporters refine their approach before bigger decisions arrive.
• Document values and preferences. A clear record of communication style, priorities and long-term goals keeps every supporter aligned with what the person actually wants.
• Train supporters on the boundary. Active listening, explaining things simply and knowing when to step back are skills. The role is to support, never to take over.

How the seven approaches compare

Approach	Complexity to set up	Best suited to	Key strength
Person-centred planning	Moderate	Anyone seeking self-determination and inclusion	Autonomy and goals that genuinely belong to the person
Wraparound	High (multi-agency)	Families with complex, multi-system needs	One coordinated plan instead of fragmented services
Positive behaviour support	Moderate to high	People with behaviours of concern	Evidence-based, teaches skills rather than punishing
Recovery-oriented	Moderate	Psychosocial disability and mental health	Hope-driven, person defines their own recovery
Individual education planning	Moderate	School-aged participants	Measurable goals and clear accountability
Trauma-informed care	High (culture change)	People with trauma histories	Safety and trust addressed at the root
Supported decision-making	Low to moderate	People needing decision support without guardianship	Preserves rights and builds capacity

Bringing your plan to life

Different as these seven approaches are, they share one thread: the person belongs at the centre of the process. The most effective plans start with "what are your goals?" rather than "what services do we offer?", build on strengths instead of cataloguing deficits, treat support as a team effort with clear roles, and prevent problems rather than just reacting to them.

A few practical next steps:

1. Review your current plan. Does it reflect your goals as they are now? Is it strengths-based? Does it feel like your plan?
2. Prepare for your next plan reassessment. Note which of these approaches resonated and what you'd change.
3. Ask providers hard questions. When choosing a provider in Adelaide or regional SA, ask them to show you how they co-design plans with participants. Do they listen more than they talk?

A well-crafted ISP is the bridge between NDIS funding and real outcomes: more confidence, stronger connections and a life you've chosen. At Vana Care we co-design support around your goals across community access, in-home support and supported independent living throughout Greater Adelaide. If you'd like to talk it through, you can build a quote in a few minutes or call us on 08 7228 6202.