How to Set Achievable NDIS Goals – With Goals and Templates

Your goals are the most important part of your NDIS plan. They identify your strengths and desires for the future, give your supports direction, and give your workers insight into who you are.

In this easy-to-follow guide, we help you understand goal setting as part of a NDIS plan. We’ll explain what makes a good, realistic goal – with examples – and provide a simple goal setting template that can be used both by clients and referral partners.

What Are NDIS Goals and Why Are They Important?

Your goals are your starting point. They will:

1. Help you develop skills that promote independence
2. Increase your capacity to enter paid work or study
3. Assist you to engage in the community
4. Help you build relationships

A support will only be funded if it aligns with one of your goals.

The importance of goal setting is to:

• identify your strengths
• identify what matters most to you and what you want out of life
• motivate you to try new things
• make your progress measurable
• determine which supports are appropriate for you

There are no maximum goals in a NDIS plan – you may include as many as you like. For the planning stage to be completed, you must provide at least one goal _^[1].

Each of your goals can have up to four actionable steps. These steps help break down any challenges you may face in achieving the goal and help specify which supports you may need and why.

NDIS Goal Examples

A goal is something that you would like to achieve that is hindered by disability-specific barriers.

Here we give you examples of social, physical and vocational goals, as well as what some steps to achieve them could look like. Remember, these will be unique to each person and their individual situation, challenges and desires.

Social Example

” I want to engage in weekly social and recreation activities.”

Some steps could be:

1. Develop my coping skills to manage my sensory needs and high levels of anxiety in social settings
2. Research local clubs, decide which I would like to try and contact the organiser
3. Develop my language skills, so that I can have conversations with others and be understood.

An example of a broad social goal for a child could be; ” To join in group play,” or more specifically, “To join and participate actively in a team sport”.

Physical Example

” I want to be able to use both of my hands”

Some steps could be:

1. Attend regular occupational or physiotherapy
2. Continue fine and gross motor exercises at home regularly, with support from my family.

An example of a physical goal for a child could be ” To dress myself independently.”

Vocational Example

“I want to finish a TAFE course in hospitality in the next 12 months.”

Some steps could be:

1. Research TAFE options and attend three information sessions
2. Learn how to, and build confidence to access transport to classes
3. Develop strategies for dealing with stress and learn to manage sensory needs within an educational setting.

An example of a vocational goal for a child could be: ” To engage in group discussions in the classroom.”

What Makes a Good NDIS Goal?

Think about any new skills, or refined skills, that are necessary in daily life. It’s wise to include a few short-term goals mixed in with some longer term goals.

Focus on life skills. If you’re setting a goal for your child, think about what other children their age is doing. This could be things such as sitting at a table for lunch, making friends, or climbing an A-frame unassisted.

If it’s a goal for yourself, factor in anything that’s holding you back from community participation as well as your own personal desires.

Creating a SMART goal is a good idea: these goals are Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant and Time-bound. Check out this video to see how to create a SMART goal.

Remember, your NDIS funding will cover what is deemed reasonable and necessary for you to achieve your goals. What does this mean? The NDIS will not fund your holiday, for example, but they can help you access supports to teach you how to manage your money so that you can afford a holiday in the future.

Creating Your NDIS Goals

You may want to brainstorm with a family member or friend. Start with what you enjoy most and think about what support you may need to access or achieve it. Goals will be recorded during your planning meeting. You can ask for assistance with the wording of your goals.

Think about what you want to achieve medium to long-term (over one or two years, such as “I want a job”) and short-term (over a few months), such as “I want to gain confidence to travel independently”). You can have a combination of short and medium long-term goals in your plan.

You can change your goals at any time.

Tips for Goals Setting:

1. Focus on the outcome: For example, say “I want to walk unassisted” rather than “I want to have occupational therapy to help me walk”
2. Make the goals unique to you: Personal goals help your supports to get to know you and what you want most out of life.
3. Think about areas for improvement: What would you like to improve and how is this affected by your disability? For example, “I want to make new friends” could be a great goal for improving your social life, which could be supported by attending speech therapy to improve your communication skills.
4. What will build your independence? A big focus of the NDIS. What skills could you develop to help you live independently? Gain employment? Travel independently?

NDIS Goals Template

This NDIS Goal Setting Template will assist with the planning process and help you identify steps necessary to achieve positive outcomes. This template can be used by NDIS clients and referral partners.

• Goal summary list / start date
• Action steps (with numbered bullet points 1-4) ‘How will I achieve this goal?’
• Challenges/ obstacles
• Review date
• Evaluation of progress: Any new goals? Does anything need to change?

Summary

Your goals can be simple or complex, short term or medium – long term (or a combination of all of these!). The only requirement of goals is that you have at least one. It will enable your supports to be tailored to you and help you focus on achieving what matters most to improve your or your child’s quality of life.

Setting achievable goals is key to getting the most out of your NDIS journey. Your local area coordinator or other supports, such as service providers like us will help you navigate the NDIS and offer assistance with goal setting.

Get in touch with our friendly team to discuss setting your NDIS goals and accessing supports.

References

[1] NDIS, 2024. Setting Goals. https://www.ndis.gov.au/participants/creating-your-plan/setting-goals