Support planning with people with intellectual disability and complex support needs in the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme

Support planning has emerged in the last decade in recognition of the rights of people with disability to determine the support they receive and has gained prominence as a process for allocating individualised funding for social services (Rabiee, Baxter, & Glendinning, 2015; Williams, Porter, & Marriott, 2014; Williams, Porter, & Strong, 2013). Individualised funding was used in the United States as early as the 1970s to promote independent living and social inclusion for people with disability (Pearson, 2012). However, it was following the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD; United Nations, 2006), ratified by 157 countries including Australia (http://www.un.org/disabilities/), that individualised funding models gained momentum. The UNCRPD is underpinned by the principles of self-determination, equity, and inclusion for people with disability, which includes the individual’s right to be at the centre of decision-making about his or her support (United Nations, 2006).