Helensvale · Gold Coast
Community
Weeks can get very small without anyone deciding they should. Community access is support to get out and do the things you’d actually like to do. We’re a registered NDIS provider on the Gold Coast, and this is a lot of what we do.
What it looks like
It isn’t only organised outings. Most of it is ordinary life, done with someone alongside you.
Fishing, football, op shops, the library, a hobby you stopped doing when it got hard to get there.
The trips that keep a week feeling normal rather than like a series of appointments.
A class, a club, a gym, a course. Having someone with you makes a first time much easier.
Visiting family, catching up with a friend, or getting to something you'd otherwise skip.
Someone with you at the doctor, the bank, or anywhere the admin of life happens.
A walk, a drive, a coffee somewhere different. Not everything needs a purpose.
Who comes with you
This is the part people underestimate. For most supports, a good worker is a good worker. Community access is different, because you’re spending hours in each other’s company doing something you chose.
If you love the footy and your support worker doesn’t know the game, the afternoon is fine. If they do, it’s a completely different afternoon.
So we match on interests as well as personality and communication style. Not always perfectly, but it’s one of the first things we ask about rather than an afterthought once the roster is sorted.
And we work to keep the same person with you. Getting out is easier the second time, with someone who already knows how you like it to go.
Talk it through
Tell us what you’d enjoy, or what you’ve stopped doing, and we’ll work out what’s possible. No forms before we’ve spoken.
Funding
Community access sits in the Core part of your plan, under assistance with social and community participation. Core is the most flexible part, so there’s usually room to move between everyday supports as priorities change.
There’s a second kind worth knowing about. Capacity Building funds time-limited programmes that build skills so you need less support later, like learning a bus route. Core is for taking part now. Capacity Building is for needing less help next year.
One rule catches people out: the NDIS funds the worker’s time, not the activity. Entry fees, tickets, memberships and the cost of your coffee stay yours, the same as they would for anyone.
Budgets for social and community participation are being adjusted from late 2026, and for most people that arrives at their next plan review rather than on a set date.
Which suits you
Both come from the same part of your plan, and plenty of people use a mix of the two. We cover group supports on a separate page.
Your choice of activity, your pace, and someone’s full attention. That’s what this page is about.
More hours for the same funding, because the session cost is shared, plus other people to get to know.
How it works
Most people start with something regular each week and build from there. If getting there is the hard part, that can be covered too.
Before you decide
Worth asking whoever you’re considering, us included.
Ask how they decide who comes with you. Availability on its own isn't a match.
Consistency matters more here than almost anywhere. Ask what happens when they're away.
It should be you. Be wary of a fixed list of activities you pick from.
Getting there is often the harder half. Ask how that works and what it costs.
Ask about cancelling, changing plans, and what happens on a bad week.
You shouldn't have to commit to a whole term to find out whether you like it.
FAQs
Broadly, support to take part in life outside your home. That covers shopping, hobbies, classes, seeing people, appointments and simply getting out. If it happens outside the house and you need support to do it, it usually counts.
No. The NDIS funds your support worker’s time, not entry fees, tickets, memberships or your lunch. Those stay your own costs, the same as they would be for anyone.
Yes, and you should. Community access is built around what you want to do rather than a programme you fit into. If a provider hands you a fixed list to choose from, that’s worth questioning.
Yes. Someone with you at a medical or other appointment is a common use of community access funding, including the travel there and back.
One-to-one gives you someone’s full attention and your choice of activity. A group costs less per hour because the session is shared, and gives you other people to get to know. Plenty of people use both.
That’s normal and it’s worth talking about openly rather than apologising for. Cancellation terms are set out in your service agreement, and a good provider plans around a variable week rather than penalising it.
Budgets for social and community participation are being adjusted from late 2026. For most people it applies at their next plan review rather than on a set date. The NDIS website has the current position.
Here to help
That’s often a better starting point than what you’d like to do. Tell us, and we’ll work out what’s possible. We support participants across the Gold Coast.
Support coordinator? Send a referral and we’ll be in touch.
Loving Hearts Care Group is a registered NDIS provider, ABN 99 674 548 862, registered for community participation. Our registration is listed as Approved on the NDIS Provider Register and is in force until 27 March 2029.
