Should You Hire? Scaling a Support Coordination Business
Scaling a support coordination business on frozen rates: the break-even maths, SCHADS on-costs, contractor vs employee, and what 2028 changes.
The decision in one line
Are you actually ready to scale, or just busy?
The break-even maths on frozen rates
Worked example: does the second coordinator pay?
Employee, contractor, or something else
On-costs you cannot skip as an employer
Cashflow and the 90-day claim window
Conflict of interest gets sharper as you grow
Why 2028 changes what "scale" means
Registration: what applies to you as you scale
A staged roadmap instead of a leap
Common mistakes when scaling
Frequently asked questions
How many participants can one support coordinator manage before I need to hire?
There is no fixed cap; it depends on plan complexity and your systems, but the real trigger is utilisation, not headcount. When you are stably billing 65% or more of your available hours and still turning away suitable referrals every week, you have demand a second coordinator could absorb. Before hiring, check you can fund a year-one shortfall while they ramp.
Is it cheaper to use a contractor than employ a coordinator?
Per hour a contractor can look cheaper because you avoid super, paid leave and workers comp, but you also get less control and less loyalty, and lumpy availability. Contractors suit overflow and specialist (L3) work with variable demand; employees suit a steady, predictable pipeline you can keep busy. Whichever you choose, apply the genuine independent-contractor tests — sham contracting is unlawful and enforced by Fair Work and the ATO.
Will the 2028 commissioned panel make scaling pointless?
No, but it changes the goal. From 1 July 2028 the open market is expected to be replaced by a commissioned panel, so growing headcount for an open market alone is risky. Scale toward being panel-ready — documented processes, outcome evidence and clean compliance — rather than simply toward being bigger. Verify the design and dates against health.gov.au/securingtheNDIS as consultation progresses in the second half of 2026.
What does an employed support coordinator actually cost me?
Budget the fully loaded cost, not the base salary. A base of around $82,000 typically becomes roughly $100,000-$105,000 once you add superannuation, workers compensation, paid leave, software, insurance and supervision. That means they must bill about 1,000 hours a year at the ~$100.14 Level 2 limit just to break even, so confirm current SCHADS rates at fairwork.gov.au and the super rate at the ATO before you commit.
Do I have to register to grow my support coordination business?
It depends on the work. Mandatory registration for standard support coordination (group 0106) is paused as of December 2025 with no set date, so growing your standard-coordination practice does not currently force registration. Specialist support coordination (group 0132) still requires registration with Core Module and Specialist Module 4 audits, so an L3 growth arm is a compliance project. Verify current status on ndiscommission.gov.au.