Every season, a few people write to us and ask the same thing… “I’m on the NDIS – can my plan pay for one of your courses?”
And often, the answer is yes.
Not always, and not automatically, because it depends on your plan, your goals, and how your funding is managed. But plenty of participants have done exactly this over the years, so we’ve written down how it works, to save you the back-and-forth.
Not sure what the NDIS is, or reading from outside Australia? It’s Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme, and their own plain-English explainer is the place to start.
The short version
| How your plan is managed | Can you use it with us? |
|---|---|
| Self-managed | Yes. We invoice you, you claim it. |
| Plan-managed | Yes. We invoice your plan manager. |
| Agency-managed (NDIA-managed) | No, sorry. Only registered providers can invoice that budget, and we’re not one. |
It still has to fit your plan goals and count as a reasonable and necessary support for you, and that’s your plan manager’s call (or yours, if you self-manage), not ours.
Not sure which yours is? It’s written right there on your plan, and your plan manager or support coordinator will know in a second.
How it works, in three steps
1. Pick your course
Choose from the three below, and find the goal in your plan it would help with.
2. Ask us for an invoice
Fill in the short form on this page. We email an NDIS-ready invoice to you, or straight to your plan manager.
3. Start when it’s paid
As soon as the invoice is paid, your course login arrives by email and you’re in.
Pick your course
Three guided courses, one class each per season. Pick the one that fits your goals, then everything below works the same way.
Organic Vegetable Gardening
Design, build, plant and grow your own veggie patch, from scratch.
Next class starts Monday 5 October 2026
8 weeks
AU$439, or AU$899 Fast Forward
Home Mushroom Cultivation
Grow gourmet and medicinal mushrooms at home, in buckets, on logs and in the garden.
Next class starts Monday 2 November 2026
8 weeks
AU$369, or AU$899 Fast Forward
Permaculture Living
Permaculture thinking, skills and habits for a more resilient everyday, from growing food to fermenting to finding your people.
Next class starts Monday 7 December 2026
12 weeks
AU$459, or AU$899 Fast Forward
Organic Vegetable Gardening it is. Next class starts Monday 5 October 2026, 8 weeks, AU$439 (or AU$899 Fast Forward). Everything below is now about that course.
Home Mushroom Cultivation it is. Next class starts Monday 2 November 2026, 8 weeks, AU$369 (or AU$899 Fast Forward). Everything below is now about that course.
Permaculture Living it is. Next class starts Monday 7 December 2026, 12 weeks, AU$459 (or AU$899 Fast Forward). Everything below is now about that course.
What your plan manager will want to know
| Course | The one you picked aboveOrganic Vegetable Gardening, next class Monday 5 October 2026, 8 weeks, AU$439Home Mushroom Cultivation, next class Monday 2 November 2026, 8 weeks, AU$369Permaculture Living, next class Monday 7 December 2026, 12 weeks, AU$459 |
| Format | An online guided course from Milkwood, run as a dated class with live calls, personal mentoring and a private student community |
| Each week | A captioned video lesson, a guide to download, and a task to go and do at your place |
| Live calls | A live class call every fortnight, recorded if you can’t make it |
| Help along the way | Ask a question under any lesson and we answer you personally, plus the student community |
| Access | Ongoing after the class ends, for as long as we have the course online |
| Cost | The standard price is on each course above. Fast Forward is AU$899 on any course and adds one-on-one coaching and our books in the post. GST included, invoiced in full |
| Provider | Milkwood Trading Pty Ltd, ABN 95 159 276 669. Not NDIS-registered, so self-managed and plan-managed budgets only |
Every course is built around doing things, not just watching them. Each week there’s a lesson, a guide and a task to go and do, whether that’s sowing seeds into a raised bed, filling a bucket of straw with oyster mushroom spawn, or making your first jar of sauerkraut.
And each step builds on the one before, so by the end you’ve made something real… a garden that’s planted, mushrooms fruiting in the shed, or a household that runs a little differently than it did twelve weeks ago.
And you keep access to the whole course for as long as we have it online, so there’s no rush at all… going slowly is completely allowed.
Plan managers can also have the full course outline (PDF): Organic Vegetable Gardening · Home Mushroom Cultivation · Permaculture Living.
Plan managers can also have the full course outline: Organic Vegetable Gardening – course outline (PDF).
Plan managers can also have the full course outline: Home Mushroom Cultivation – course outline (PDF).
Plan managers can also have the full course outline: Permaculture Living – course outline (PDF).
What to do, depending on your plan
Open the one that’s you.
I’m self-managed
- Check there’s enough left in the right part of your budget (usually Core… the my NDIS app or your support coordinator will show you).
- Fill in the form below, and we’ll email you a tax invoice with everything on it: our ABN, your name and NDIS number, the course, the dates, the amount and the GST.
- Make a claim in the my NDIS app or portal using that invoice, and pay us once the money lands – or pay first and claim it back, whichever suits you.
- Keep the invoice, your receipt and the course outline together somewhere safe, in case the NDIS ever asks to see them.
I’m plan-managed
- Ask your plan manager whether the course can be paid from your current plan, and what they’d like written on the invoice. The email further down makes that quick.
- Fill in the form below with their business name and invoice email, and we’ll send the invoice straight to them, with a copy to you.
- If they need you to approve it on their end, say yes.
- They pay us, and we open the course for you. Plan managers usually take a week or two, so if the class start date is getting close, it’s worth getting the ball rolling now.
I’m agency-managed (NDIA-managed)
We can’t invoice that budget, and we’re sorry about that. It’s worth asking your NDIS contact whether part of your next plan could be self-managed or plan-managed, but please don’t enrol on the assumption the funding will come through.
Putting it in your own words
The part people find hardest is writing the sentence that connects the course to their plan. So here’s a hand.
Have a look at the goals in your plan, then pick the things below that are true for you… they’re all things the course genuinely involves:
- a weekly routine, with a clear task to complete each time
- planning something in steps, and following it through to the end
- practical, hands-on skills: sowing seeds, making compost, growing mushrooms in buckets, fermenting and preserving food
- practical, hands-on skills: sowing seeds, making compost, watering and harvesting
- practical, hands-on skills: preparing buckets and logs, keeping mushrooms humid and clean, harvesting and drying
- practical, hands-on skills: fermenting and preserving, growing food, mending, mapping the sun on your place
- growing or making food at home, for yourself and the people you live with
- time outside, moving about, with your hands in the soil
- being part of a group, joining live calls, asking questions and getting answers, without having to travel anywhere
- learning at your own pace, with real people to ask when you get stuck
So it might read something like this:
“This course will help me build practical skills for growing food at home, keep a weekly routine, plan and complete tasks step by step, and do more for myself. It relates to my NDIS goal of [your actual goal here].”
That’s a prompt, not a script. Use your real goals and the things that actually get in your way, because your plan manager will know the difference… and so will you.
An email you can send your plan manager
Copy this into a new email to your plan manager – their address is on your plan, or on their last email to you – then fill in the square brackets and send. Or press the button and it’ll open in your own email app, ready to go.
Show the email
Subject: Approval request – Milkwood [course name]Organic Vegetable GardeningHome Mushroom CultivationPermaculture Living course for [your name]
Hi [plan manager’s name],
I’d like to use my NDIS funding for Milkwood’s [course name]Organic Vegetable GardeningHome Mushroom CultivationPermaculture Living course, a guided online course with weekly lessons, live class calls and personal mentoring. The course details, dates and price are at www.milkwood.net/ndis, and the full course outline is linked from that pagewww.milkwood.net/ndis?course=VG, and the full course outline (PDF) is at https://www.milkwood.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/milkwood-organic-vegetable-gardening-course-outline.pdfwww.milkwood.net/ndis?course=MC, and the full course outline (PDF) is at https://www.milkwood.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/milkwood-home-mushroom-cultivation-course-outline.pdfwww.milkwood.net/ndis?course=PL, and the full course outline (PDF) is at https://www.milkwood.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/milkwood-permaculture-living-course-outline.pdf.
It supports my plan goal of [your goal] by helping me [the things you picked above].
Could you confirm whether it can be paid from my current plan, and what support category or wording you’d like on the invoice? The course is AU$[price from the course card]AU$439 (or AU$899 for Fast Forward)AU$369 (or AU$899 for Fast Forward)AU$459 (or AU$899 for Fast Forward). My NDIS number is [number].
Thanks,
[your name]
Request an invoice
Takes about two minutes, and we only ask for what has to go on the invoice. If you picked a course above, it’s already filled in below.
Two small things about this form. We only ask for what has to go on the invoice – your name, the participant’s name and NDIS number, and your plan manager’s details if you have one. We never ask about diagnosis, and once the invoice is raised, the form entry gets deleted.
What happens after that
We’ll email the invoice within two working days. Course access opens as soon as it’s paid, and you’ll get a welcome email with your login, same as everyone else.
And at the end of the course, if it would help with your next plan review, ask us for a short record of what you took part in – live calls attended, lessons completed. Happy to.
A couple more things
The price is the same as everyone pays – the standard price for each course is on its card above, or AU$899 for Fast Forward on any course, which adds one-on-one coaching sessions and our books in the post. NDIS invoices are for the full amount, so the three-part payment plan isn’t available this way.
Fair Share is still here too. If your funding won’t stretch to it, or you’re not sure it’ll be approved in time for the class, our Fair Share rates and scholarships are open to you as much as anyone.
And if you’ve got a question we haven’t answered, write to [email protected]… a support worker, family member or plan manager is very welcome to write on your behalf.
See you in there!
Kirsten & Nick