Key worker vs support coordinator: What’s the difference?

An early childhood key worker and a support coordinator both help make NDIS support easier to navigate, but they have different responsibilities.

A support coordinator helps you understand and implement your NDIS plan, find providers and coordinate your broader support network.

An early childhood key worker delivers therapy to your child and family. They also bring together the therapy expertise needed to support your child’s development.

Some families may work with both roles and the same time.

Key worker and support coordinator at a glance

	Early childhood key worker	Support coordinator
What do they support?	Children younger than nine and their families	NDIS participants with support coordination included in their plan
Do they deliver therapy?	Yes	Generally, no
Do they help implement an NDIS plan?	They deliver the child’s funded early childhood supports	They help coordinate and implement the participant’s broader plan
Do they find providers?	They bring appropriate therapy expertise into the child’s team	They help participants compare and connect with providers
What do they coordinate?	The child’s early childhood therapy team	The participant’s broader mix of NDIS and community supports
What is their main focus?	The child’s development, participation and family goals	Helping the participant establish and manage their supports

What does an early childhood key worker do?

An early childhood key worker is the main practitioner delivering therapy to a child younger than nine and working alongside their family.

Your key worker takes time to understand:

• Your child’s strengths and interests
• What is important to your family
• Your child’s everyday routines
• Where your child participates, plays and learns
• The skills your child and family would like to build
• Any barriers affecting your child’s participation

They then work with your family to develop one coordinated plan around these priorities.

A key worker delivery therapy

At Everyday Independence, a key worker is more than a point of contact or service coordinator. Drawing on their knowledge of child development and experience working with children with disabilities, they deliver most of your child’s ongoing therapy through play, family routines and everyday activities.

Support may focus on areas such as:

• Communication and connection
• Play and learning
• Emotional regulation
• Movement and coordination
• Personal care and everyday routines
• Building relationships
• Participating at childcare, kindergarten or school
• Managing transitions.

Therapy generally happens in familiar environments, such as your home, childcare, kindergarten, school or community. This helps your child build skills where they will use them.

A key worker brings in additional expertise

Your child may need input from different therapists as their goals and circumstances change.

Rather than asking families to manage several separate therapy services, the key worker brings in additional expertise when it is needed.

Another therapist may:

• Provide specialist advice
• Complete a focused assessment
• Recommend strategies or adjustments
• Join an appointment
• Deliver a focused period of therapy
• Recommend equipment or assistive technology

The key worker then helps your child, family and other important people use these strategies during everyday activities.

This gives families one main practitioner and a connected therapy team working towards the same goals.

What does a support coordinator do?

A support coordinator helps an NDIS participant understand and put their plan into action.

If support coordination is included in your NDIS plan, a support coordinator may help you:

• Understand your plan and funding
• Identify the types of support you need
• Find and compare providers
• Establish service agreements
• Coordinate multiple services
• Connect with community and mainstream supports
• Address gaps or problems with service delivery
• Build your confidence to manage your supports
• Prepare for plan reassessments and changes.

The level of assistance provided will depend on the support coordination funding included in your plan.

Does a support coordinator deliver therapy?

A support coordinator does not deliver occupational therapy, speech pathology, physiotherapy or early childhood intervention.

Their role is to help coordinate your broader plan and connect you with appropriate providers. The chosen provider and therapy team then deliver the funded services.

For example, a support coordinator may help a family identify and connect with an early childhood provider. Once services begin, the early childhood key worker delivers and coordinates the child’s therapy.

Can my family have both?

Yes. A family may have both a support coordinator and an early childhood key worker if support coordination is included in the child’s plan.

The two roles can work together while maintaining separate responsibilities.

For example:

• The support coordinator may help the family understand the plan, find providers and coordinate other funded supports.
• The key worker delivers the child’s therapy and coordinates the practitioners contributing to the child’s early childhood support.

Clear communication between both people can reduce duplication and keep everyone focused on the family’s priorities.

How do the roles work together?

A support coordinator and key worker may share relevant information—with the family’s consent—to make sure services are aligned.

They might work together when:

• The family is beginning services with a new provider
• There are changes to the child’s goals or circumstances
• Additional services need to be established
• The family is preparing for an NDIS plan reassessment
• Reports or evidence are required
• The child is approaching a significant transition.

The family should remain involved in decisions about what information is shared and how each professional contributes.

Which role does my family need?

You may benefit from an early childhood key worker if:

• Your child is younger than nine
• Your child has NDIS funding for early childhood supports
• You want one practitioner to lead and deliver your child’s therapy
• Your family would benefit from therapy incorporated into everyday routines
• Your child needs support across more than one developmental area.

You may benefit from a support coordinator if:

• Support coordination is included in your NDIS plan
• You need help understanding or implementing your plan
• You need assistance finding and comparing providers
• You have several funded supports to coordinate
• Your support arrangements are complex or changing
• You want to build your confidence managing your plan.

Some families will need one of these roles, while others may benefit from both.

Question to ask before choosing support

Questions for an early childhood key worker

• How will you get to know my child and family?
• How will therapy fit into our everyday routines?
• How do you decide when another therapist should be involved?
• How will the wider therapy team share strategies?
• How will we set and review our child and family goals?
• Where will support take place?

Questions for a support coordinator

• How will you help me understand and use my funding?
• How do you help families compare providers?
• How will you communicate with our existing services?
• How will you help prevent gaps or duplication?
• How will you support us to manage services more independently?
• What information will you provide before a plan reassessment?

Starting early childhood support

You do not need to understand every professional role before contacting Everyday Independence.

Tell us what is important to your child and family, and we will talk with you about how an early childhood key worker and therapy team could support your goals.

If you already have a support coordinator, they are welcome to be involved in the conversation with your consent.

Complete an online enquiry to find early childhood support near you.