How is NDIS micro-business or microenterprise support funded, and who can deliver it?
- •Leah Justyce is a provider delivering this support directly - working 1:1 online with participants to build a real micro-business from the ground up, concentrated on the specific parts a participant's disability makes a barrier.
- •It's generally funded under Supports in Employment (support item 04_801_0133_5_1, Core Supports budget) or Employment Assistance (support item 10_016_0102_5_3, Capacity Building budget) - which one depends on how the individual plan is written.
- •The NDIS's own support catalogue describes Supports in Employment as covering micro-businesses, self-employment and family-run businesses directly, alongside Australian Disability Enterprises and social enterprises.
- •It's typically delivered by an unregistered provider, so plan-managed and self-managed participants - roughly 94% of all participants - can engage a provider directly without the provider needing NDIS registration.
- •It's delivered entirely online, so a participant in regional, rural or remote Australia has the same access as one in a capital city.
- •It's invoiced at the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits rate for the participant's state, confirmed with the plan manager before billing begins.
For support coordinators, plan managers & participants
NDIS support for building a micro-business or microenterprise.
Where a participant's plan includes a goal related to employment or economic participation, the NDIS can fund the capacity-building work of establishing a microenterprise - a small, often sole-operator business built around something the participant already does well. This page sets out how that support is funded, who can deliver it, how it is billed - and what it actually produces when it's done properly: a real asset the participant owns, not just a plan for one.
Why this matters
Unspent funding doesn't roll over. It's gone at the end of the plan.
Roughly a third of NDIS participants are spending less than half of what they've been allocated - and it isn't because the right support doesn't exist nearby. It's because nobody told them what it could be used for. At reassessment, an underspent category often reads as evidence the support wasn't needed, so the next plan can come back smaller. Here's what the published data actually says.
Participants use roughly three-quarters of their allocated funding on average - but that average hides how unevenly it's spread.
Research by the e61 Institute found 34% of participants use less than half their allocated funding; a UNSW analysis puts it at 32%.
Only about 2% of the variation in spending is between regions. Participants in the same suburb, on similar plans, spend wildly different amounts - it isn't a supply problem.
Only 38% have a work goal written into their plan, and of those, 33% are in paid employment.
Sources: e61 Institute, UNSW Human Rights Institute, and the NDIA's Participant Employment Strategy 2024-2026 - full citations below.
What makes this different
An asset and a full CRM - not a list of ideas to go away and try
Most microenterprise programs in Australia are built around discovery and coaching: workshops, planning sessions and a mentor helping a participant work out what kind of business might suit them. That's valuable work, and several established organisations do it well. But it usually ends with an idea and a plan - the harder part, actually building and running the thing, is left to the participant and whoever is around them.
This program is built to end somewhere different: with a working website, a full CRM to manage bookings, customers and payments, and a business designed to run the way the participant actually needs it to - not a generic template, and not a platform they have to learn to operate alone. It's delivered 1:1, online, by a practitioner who has sold their own work for 26 years, concentrated on the specific parts a participant's disability makes a barrier. Because it's entirely online, any participant anywhere in Australia whose plan includes this support can take part.
Participant-directed micro-business or microenterprise support
Capacity-building support that helps a participant establish and run a small, often sole-operator business - a microenterprise - built around a skill, trade or interest they already have, where their plan includes a goal related to employment or economic participation.
Support item 04_801_0133_5_1 or 10_016_0102_5_3
This support is generally funded under Supports in Employment - support item 04_801_0133_5_1 (Core Supports budget) - or Employment Assistance - support item 10_016_0102_5_3, under Finding and Keeping a Job (Capacity Building budget). Supports in Employment is the item the NDIS's own support catalogue describes as covering micro-businesses, self-employment and family-run businesses directly.
Available to plan-managed and self-managed participants
This support is typically delivered by an unregistered provider, which plan-managed and self-managed participants can engage directly. On the NDIA's own published management split, that covers roughly 94% of all participants - plan-managed, self-managed or partly self-managed. Agency-managed participants should confirm with their support coordinator what applies to their plan.
Delivered online, Australia-wide
Delivered entirely through online sessions and calls, this support carries no geographic limitation - a participant in regional, rural or remote Australia has the same access as one in a capital city, and works with the same practitioner.
Charged at the NDIS price limit for the participant's state
Invoiced at the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits rate applicable to the participant's state and support category, and confirmed with the participant's plan manager before billing begins.
Who delivers this support
Leah Justyce - NDIS micro-business support, delivered online
Leah Justyce works 1:1 online with NDIS participants to build a real micro-business around something the participant already does well - art, craft, a service, or a product. Every decision is the participant's own, worked through together in live sessions, with support concentrated on the specific parts their disability makes a barrier. Delivered online and available Australia-wide, to both plan-managed and self-managed participants.
Frequently asked
What NDIS budget funds micro-business or microenterprise support?
Most commonly, Supports in Employment within a participant's Core Supports budget, or Employment Assistance within Finding and Keeping a Job under Capacity Building. Which one applies depends on how the individual plan is written, and is confirmed with the plan manager.
Does Supports in Employment specifically cover micro-business?
Yes. The NDIS's own description of Supports in Employment states it can be used in any workplace a participant chooses, including an Australian Disability Enterprise, a social enterprise, a micro-business, self-employment, or a family-run business.
What is the NDIS line item code for micro-business or microenterprise support?
Supports in Employment is support item 04_801_0133_5_1 (Weekday Daytime - also 04_802_0133_5_1 Weekday Evening and 04_803_0133_5_1 Saturday), billed from Core Supports. Employment Assistance is support item 10_016_0102_5_3, billed under Finding and Keeping a Job in Capacity Building. A Capacity Building equivalent of Supports in Employment, 10_806_0133_5_1, also exists. Which line is actually used depends on how the individual plan is written, confirmed with the plan manager.
Can a self-managed or plan-managed participant access this support?
Yes. This support is generally delivered by an unregistered provider, which both plan-managed and self-managed participants can engage without the provider needing NDIS registration.
Is this support limited by location?
No. Where it is delivered online, participants anywhere in Australia can access it on the same basis, including in rural and remote areas where in-person provider options are often limited.
How is this different from a microenterprise program that helps participants explore business ideas?
Most microenterprise support in Australia is coaching: workshops, discovery sessions and planning that help a participant work out what business they might run, usually alongside a support worker or mentor rather than someone who has built and sold their own work. This program is different in what it produces. The participant doesn't come away with a plan to execute later - they come away with a working website, a full CRM to run bookings, customers and payments, and a business built to run the way they actually need it to, operated by a practitioner of 26 years rather than a mentor delivering someone else's program.
Do participants end up owning the business and the systems themselves?
Yes. The website and CRM are built as the participant's own asset, not a platform they learn on and leave behind. Every decision in building it is the participant's, and it's designed to run without ongoing hand-holding once it's live.
Who actually delivers this kind of support?
Leah Justyce is one provider delivering this support directly - working 1:1 online with participants to build a real micro-business from the ground up, concentrated on the specific parts a participant's disability makes a barrier. See the detail on her NDIS micro-business support page.
Read more
Sources
- e61 Institute - Understanding underutilisation in the NDIS
- UNSW Human Rights Institute - 'Use it or lose it': NDIS funding and participants
- NDIA - Participant Employment Strategy 2024-2026
- AIHW - NDIS participants job support
This is general information current as at November 2026, not financial or planning advice. Funding eligibility and the applicable support item always depend on the individual participant's plan and should be confirmed with their plan manager or support coordinator. Juste is operated by Leah Justyce Art Gallery ABN 73 658 665 321.