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This page provides information about what happens during an NDIS planning meeting, how NDIS plans are approved and plan management options. Refer to the Overview for important contextual information about these guidelines and the NDIS.
These guidelines are dynamic and will be regularly updated to reflect any changes to procedures or the NDIS model.
Important information and action in this guide includes:
An NDIA representative will contact a person or a child representative by phone or by letter to confirm eligibility and arrange a time to discuss their first plan.
For children or young people under the parental responsibility of the Minister, the OOHC caseworker must attend the planning conversation and should request that the meeting take place in person (or face to face online). It is the responsibility of the OOHC caseworker to ensure the child or young person and the carer are included in the planning meeting. Where parental responsibility is shared between the Minister and another person or persons, both parties should attend.
Further information about the planning process can be found at Creating your plan.
During the planning conversation, the NDIS participant will have the opportunity to talk about their life, the supports they receive now and any additional supports they need. The child or young person should be supported to actively participate in the discussion and decisions about their disability supports. They will also discuss their current goals and any goals they want to work towards in the future. Based on this, the NDIS plan will then be tailored to reflect the child or young person’s individual circumstances.
If the child or young person has an OOHC health management plan, it should be provided during the planning meeting to inform the discussion about support needs.
The NDIS is designed so participants have choice and control over their lives with appropriate safeguards in place to protect them from harm, abuse, neglect or exploitation. A range of supports and mechanisms, such as personal relationships, community connections, and formal mechanisms like regulations, ensure safety and wellbeing while supporting a person with disability to have a good quality life and reach their potential.
The planning conversation and the development of the NDIS plan is an opportunity to identify risks and any safeguards that may be required. The NDIS representative can enhance existing safeguards, identify ways to minimise risk and discuss other formal safeguarding mechanisms that may need to be accessed.
For more information on safeguards go to Safeguards and NDIS quality and safeguards.
The NDIA representative will use the participant statement and other information gathered during the planning process to develop an NDIS plan that meets the needs of the participant.
Supports needs to be linked to an outcome that has been identified in the participant’s plan and also:
For more information about reasonable and necessary supports, see Supports funded by the NDIS
The types of supports that the NDIS may fund for participants include:
Aids and equipment are known as assistive technology.
Before including any assistive technology support in a participant’s plan, the NDIS representative must be satisfied that the support is directly related to disability and will assist the participant to pursue their goals, objectives, and aspirations.
Where a particular type of assistive technology is being considered, the NDIA may seek an expert report detailing clinical reasoning and justification for why it is required, prior to approval.
During the NDIS meeting, the caseworker will need to:
All the information provided during the planning conversation will help the NDIS representative to create an NDIS plan for the child or young person. The plan then goes through an approval process within the NDIA. Once the plan is ready, the NDIS representative will contact the participant (or their representative) and let them know how they can use it. For children or young people in statutory OOHC, the OOHC caseworker who attended the planning conversation will receive a copy of the final NDIS plan.
A copy of the plan should be placed on the child or young person’s casework record. For DCJ staff, the plan needs to be attached to the case plan record on ChildStory. NGO OOHC providers will need to provide a copy of the NDIS plan to their local CFDU for them to attach to the child or young person’s ChildStory record.
After the NDIS plan is finalised, the OOHC caseworker should share the plan with the Local Health District OOHC Coordinator to complement the child or young person’s health management plan. This will also enable a more collaborative approach and holistic understanding of the child or young person’s needs.
OOHC caseworkers need to review the plan when it is received to understand what supports the NDIS will be funding for the child or young person. If the OOHC caseworker forms a view that the NDIS plan is inadequate and additional supports should be funded based on the evidence provided to the NDIS, they should discuss with their manager whether the issue should be raised with the NDIA locally or a review of a decision requested.
Refer to Appeals and Review of Decisions for further information.
Child protection casework staff should review the NDIS plan, if the parent/carer consents, to understand what supports the NDIS will be funding for the child or young person. If the child protection caseworker is concerned that support is not adequately funded in the plan, or missing from the plan, discuss with your manager or DCJ representative (for DCJ staff) to determine whether it is appropriate to raise the issue with the NDIA locally or whether the child or young person’s family should request a review from the NDIA.
Note: there is a difference between requesting a review (reassessment) of a plan and requesting a review of a decision. Requesting that the NDIA conduct an internal review of an NDIA decision must occur within three months of the plan approval date. You will need to work with the child or young person’s family and the support coordinator, to make the request. Refer to Appeals and Review of Decisions for further information.
If support coordination is not funded in the plan and the caseworker is concerned the parent/carer will not be able to implement the plan, they should discuss with their manager or DCJ representative to determine whether it is appropriate to request a review to seek this support.
Child protection and OOHC caseworkers will need to be clear with the NDIS support coordinator around roles and responsibilities.
The NDIA Support Coordinator will:
More information on the role of a support coordinator is available here.
If you encounter a situation with the NDIS that differs from these guidelines and needs clarification, speak to your manager to determine whether the matter needs to be raised with the NDIA locally or speak to your local DCJ representative.
After the NDIS plan is first received, the OOHC caseworker should engage a support coordinator. The support coordinator will work alongside the caseworker to arrange supports and engage with NDIS registered providers.
A provider is an individual or organisation delivering a support or a product to an NDIS participant. NDIS registered providers have met requirements regarding qualifications, approvals, experience and capacity to deliver the approved supports.
The NDIA has developed several resources to assist participants when choosing a NDIS registered provider. It is important to choose the provider or providers that are right for the participant.
These resources include information about how to manage cancellations and ‘no shows’ of scheduled appointments. For more information on choosing a provider and a list of registered providers in your local area see Find a registered provider.
A service agreement is simply a written agreement with a provider of disability supports. Service agreements should be simple and set out how and when supports will be delivered. Service agreements can be made between participants or their representatives and providers.
The support coordinator will arrange and negotiate service agreements for the NDIS supports for children and young people in OOHC.
Note: Support coordinators are also engaged via a service agreement. Contact the NDIA to discuss finding and engaging with a support coordinator.
Further information is provided at Making a service agreement
If you encounter a situation with the NDIS that differs from these guidelines and needs clarification, speak to your manager to determine whether the matter needs to be raised with the NDIA locally or speak to your local DCJ representative.
16 Dec 2022