Where art mentoring and representation actually sits in a plan.
A practical reference for placing a participant's creative practice correctly against Core and Capacity Building, with example goal wording and the script for raising it at a review when the current plan doesn't cover it yet.
Mentoring. And representation.
Most plans need one or the other first, and the second follows once the practice is established.
Mentoring — Capacity Building, Employment Assistance
1:1 sessions building the participant's own skills: pricing, presenting work, running social accounts, making decisions about their own practice. This is the right line when the goal is still building skill and confidence, not yet ongoing promotion.
Representation — Core, Supports in Employment
Ongoing, regular support actively promoting and selling the participant's work under their own name - a live website and shop, plus outreach to galleries, press and buyers, including free promotion through Solène Haus. This is the right line once it's continuing support rather than skill development.
- Participant-directed; decisions on what's shown, priced and pitched stay with the participant
- Delivered online, Australia-wide - not limited to Victoria
- Available to plan-managed and self-managed participants (unregistered provider - not available to NDIA-managed participants)
- No commission or cut taken on anything the participant sells
- Includes free promotion through Solène Haus, the art platform Leah founded - no listing fee, no commission
- Funds the support work itself - not materials, stock, framing or hosting costs
- Bound by the NDIS Code of Conduct
What a goal needs to say, in practice
It doesn't need to name art specifically - it needs to point at self-employment or economic participation clearly enough to fund this kind of support.
- “Develop and grow a small business selling my own artwork, including an online shop and active promotion.”
- “Build skills and confidence to present, price and sell my creative work independently, working towards economic participation.”
- “Access mentoring from a practising artist to develop a pathway to selling my work, as part of my economic participation goal.”
- “Increase my independence in managing a creative micro-business, including pricing, promotion and customer communication.”
Illustrative examples, not required wording - a planner will phrase a goal in the participant's own words. What matters is that it points at self-employment or economic participation, not only traditional job-seeking.
Three composite scenarios
Illustrative, not a real participant's plan - to show how the Core/Capacity Building split tends to move as a practice develops.
Just starting out
A participant with no current sales, goal focused on skill-building and confidence. Capacity Building (Employment Assistance) funds the 1:1 mentoring - pricing, presenting work, basic promotion - with no Core component yet.
Selling occasionally, wants it run properly
A participant already selling informally (markets, word of mouth), goal is to formalise this. A mix: Capacity Building for the skills still being built, plus Core (Supports in Employment) for ongoing promotion support once a website and shop exist.
Established practice, needs ongoing representation
A participant who mostly knows how to make and price the work, but needs continuing help with outreach - galleries, press, buyers. Primarily Core (Supports in Employment), reviewed at the next plan review as the participant's own independence grows.
If the current plan doesn't cover this yet
A plan variation (sometimes called a reinstatement, or a "change of circumstances" review) can be requested at any time, not only at the scheduled annual review - useful when a goal was written around traditional employment and needs widening to include self-employment.
“This participant’s goal currently reflects traditional job-seeking only. We’d like to request a variation to include self-employment through their art practice, with mentoring under Employment Assistance and ongoing promotion support under Supports in Employment as the practice develops.”
For the family-facing version of this conversation - what to say and why - see Your NDIS Plan Can Fund an Art Business, Not Just a Job.
Frequently asked
What kind of support is art mentoring and representation, in NDIS terms?
It's capacity-building and economic-participation support for a participant building a creative practice - not therapy, and not arts and crafts as a leisure activity. It covers both building the participant's own skills (pricing, presenting, promoting) and, once that's established, ongoing support to actively promote and sell the work under the participant's own name.
Which budget does this come from - Core or Capacity Building?
It can be either, and many plans use both. The skill-building side - learning to price, pitch, present and run social accounts - typically sits under Capacity Building, as Employment Assistance. Once promotion and sales support becomes regular, ongoing work rather than skill development, it typically sits under Core, as Supports in Employment. Which line is actually used is confirmed against the participant's current plan and the NDIA's current Pricing Schedule - it isn't fixed in advance.
Does the participant need an existing employment goal for this to be funded?
They need an employment, economic-participation or relevant capacity-building goal in their plan - it doesn't need to already name art specifically. If a goal is written around traditional job-seeking only, see the goal-wording examples below, or the plan-review script, for how that gets widened.
Is Leah Justyce a registered NDIS provider?
No - Leah Justyce is an unregistered provider, which both plan-managed and self-managed participants are able to engage. This support isn't available to NDIA-managed (agency-managed) participants, since unregistered providers can't claim directly from the NDIA.
Is this delivered in person or online?
Entirely online - 1:1 live sessions and calls, available to participants anywhere in Australia, including rural and remote areas, not limited to Victoria.
Does the provider take a commission on sales?
No. There's no gallery markup and no commission taken on anything a participant sells. NDIS funding covers the capacity-building and promotion support itself, not a share of the artist's earnings - and participants' work gets free promotion through Solène Haus, the art platform Leah Justyce founded, with no listing fee and no commission.
What are the current item numbers and price limits?
For 2026-27: Employment Assistance (Capacity Building) is item 10_016_0102_5_3, at $83.87/hr national, $117.42/hr remote, $125.81/hr very remote. Supports in Employment (Core) is item 04_801_0133_5_1 for weekday daytime at $73.58/hr, 04_802_0133_5_1 weekday evening at $81.07/hr, 04_803_0133_5_1 Saturday at $103.54/hr, 04_804_0133_5_1 Sunday at $133.50/hr, and 04_805_0133_5_1 public holiday at $163.46/hr. These are reviewed on this page each year once the NDIA publishes the new Pricing Schedule - always confirm the current figure for the participant's specific circumstances with their plan manager before a service agreement is signed.
Scoping this for a participant?
Tell us where their plan currently stands and what you're trying to get approved, and we'll talk through how it fits - including the exact wording to bring to the review. See also the full breakdown of mentoring and representation and building a micro business.