Support Coordinator Caseload Management: Sizing, Rhythm and Viability
A practical guide to support coordinator caseload management: how to size your caseload, tier participants, protect billable time and stay viable on frozen ra
Start with billable hours, not participant count
Do the viability maths before you size the caseload
How many participants can one coordinator hold?
Tier your participants by intensity
Build a contact rhythm so nothing goes dark
Protect billable time from the admin tide
The 90-day claim window changes your invoicing discipline
Onboarding and offboarding are part of the load
Know your capacity signals and when to stop taking referrals
Common mistakes and edge cases
Systems that hold a caseload together
What the 2028 commissioned model means for planning now
Frequently asked questions
How many participants can one full-time support coordinator manage?
There is no NDIA-mandated cap. In practice a full-time Level 2 (Coordination of Supports) coordinator commonly holds 25-40 active participants, while a Specialist Support Coordinator carries far fewer, often 10-20, because the work is more intensive. Size by billable hours consumed across your participant mix, not by headcount, since one high-intensity participant can equal several stable ones.
What is a healthy billable utilisation for a support coordinator?
Full-time coordinators typically bill around 22-28 hours a week, roughly 55-70% of a 38-hour week, once travel, admin, notes, supervision and gaps are removed. This is a practice benchmark, not a rule. Track your own actual billed hours over 8-12 weeks, because that real figure — not any rule of thumb — sets your true caseload ceiling.
How do I know when my caseload is too high?
Watch for capacity signals you set in advance: committed monthly hours above about 85% of your billable capacity, claims slipping past two to three weeks, progress notes falling behind across multiple participants, or missing your own minimum contact rhythm. Because the Code of Conduct requires safe, competent delivery, a caseload where participants go unserved is a compliance issue, not just a busy patch.
How does the 90-day claim window affect caseload management?
From 1 December 2026 the window to submit a claim shortens from two years to 90 days (verify against the current PAPL). Work not claimed within 90 days becomes unrecoverable revenue, so move to weekly or fortnightly claiming and reconcile unclaimed hours regularly. If your admin capacity cannot keep claims current within 90 days, your caseload is effectively too large.
Can I bill participants for caseload administration time?
You bill for support coordination activity delivered under the participant's plan against the relevant price limit, such as the indicative $100.14/hr Level 2 rate as at the 2026-27 PAPL. General practice overhead — your own marketing, unallocated admin, business management — is not separately billable to a participant. Log billable coordination work contemporaneously and keep it clearly distinct from practice overhead.