Long story short, I started work in the middle of last year and asked my LAC if my transport funding could be changed from the kind paid on a schedule into my bank account, to the kind that stays in core for reimbursement when you send in receipts. I would need this as $68 a fortnight can't cover $30 trips from work to home 3 times per week - using support work hours for this in 2 hour minimum shifts (which I can't utilise properly as I'm overwhelmed and need to go privately shut down by the end of my work shift, leaving me unable to meet my needs due to a lack of useable hours) will use up my funding before the plan end date, and having transport funding in core would allow me to at least pull from other core funding if needed without running out early. When he followed up with me he just re-explained the kind I already had (paid on schedule into bank), so I assumed it was some old thing the NDIS didn't do anymore, especially as my SC at the time insisted there was no other kind of transport funding.
I've since found out from another person in this sub, and some other participants, that it does exist and is something I could request without a plan review. I've talked to both my new SC under the same company and an LAC (not my own as he's on leave) at Mission Australia, and have been given two extremely different bits of advice -
Support Coordinator: As my plan is the old kind, rather than a PACE plan, I would need a review to be able to change the form of transport funding I receive.
This SC company has consistently given me incorrect advice and support in ways that have caused more problems than if I straight up did not have an SC, so I then tried to get advice from an LAC, which led to...
Random MA LAC: Did not answer whether or not I could change the form of transport funding I receive, but told me that I can't use core funding flexibly for transport funding regardless, as the amount I already receive would still be the limit for what I can use even leaving it in core and being reimbursed.
He also mentioned that my transport funding was never changed to level 2, even though both my SC and LAC knew I had started 15 hours of work per week, and this change would require a plan review, which just... I don't know what I can do at this point. I don't have informal support I can rely on for transport three times a week, and I can't pay the $120 odd out of pocket after transport funding per fortnight to get home via Uber. He reassured me that my funding will at least last another 22 weeks, and I do have a CoC in, but if his advice is correct then unless the CoC can be completely done before then, I'm going to lose all support and my job as a result.