Preparing for Your NDIS Plan Reassessment: A Step-by-step Guide

September 12th, 2023

If the term ‘NDIS Plan Reassessment’ seems unfamiliar, that’s because it’s the NDIA’s new name for a Plan Review.

This article provides a step-by-step guide to preparing for a Plan Reassessment, beginning with an overview of what they are and why they’re important.

What Is an NDIS Plan Reassessment and Why Is It important?

A Plan Reassessment is the process by which a participant or their nominated representative work with any support coordinators (when they have them) and the NDIA to:

  • Examine how well their Plan’s current mix of supports and services is meeting their needs and helping them to achieve their goals
  • Look at any changes to their situation, including any changes to their needs and goals, and
  • Decide what supports and services should be included in the participant’s next Plan to best meet their needs and help them achieve their goals.

A reassessment should happen when a participant is nearing the end of their current Plan. It may also happen as a result of a request from the participant or their nominated representative due to significant change to the participant’s goals, situation or needs.

The NDIA should contact a participant in the months before their current plan is due to end, but participants and their support coordinators (if they have them), should also be proactive in requesting a reassessment.

A lot can change over the duration of an NDIS Plan. That’s why it makes sense for the participant to regularly take stock and assess whether their existing mix of supports and services are well matched to their evolving needs and goals.

The bottom line is, once a Plan is a few months away from reaching its end, or if the participant’s situation, needs or goals have changed in any way, it’s time for them to begin thinking about how their plan should change, and including their support coordinator in the conversation if they have one.

Other Key Things to Know about Reassessments

Understanding what to expect from the plan reassessment process will help prepare participants for any outcome.

It’s worth keeping in mind that a request for reassessment won’t always yield the result a participant is seeking, and the NDIA is establishing plans for longer periods of 2 or 3 years extending plans.

Here are some other things worth keeping in mind:

  • Plan reassessment meetings can be held face-to-face, over the phone, or by video call. The participant can decide which suits them best.
  • Participants can invite a family member, friend, or support coordinator along to the meeting to help them through the process.
  • Participants can request a Plan Reassessment at any time if they believe one is required. They do not need to wait until the end of their current Plan.
  • When someone asks for a reassessment, the NDIA has 21 days to respond with either:
    • A Plan Variation.
    • A decision to reassess and replace the Plan.
    • A decision to keep the Plan as it is.

4-step Process for Plan Reassessments

Understanding the following steps in the process will help participants prepare for their Plan Reassessment.

Step 1: The Participant Check-in Call

The first step in the Plan Reassessment process is the participant check-in call.

The NDIA will make the check-in call up to 3 months before the participant’s current Plan is due to end. Every NDIS plan has an agreed reassessment date, usually 12 months after the plan begins but it can be up to 3 years later.

The purpose of the participant check-in call is to let the participant know it’s time to book and start preparing for their NDIS Plan Reassessment meeting.

Another purpose of the call is to provide the agency with a snapshot of how well the participant’s current supports are meeting their needs as they near the end of their current Plan.

During this discussion, the NDIA will ask a series of questions to help them work out whether the participant’s next Plan is likely to look a lot different to their current Plan, or much the same with just a few changes.

If the NDIA can see that a participant’s needs are fairly consistent and only minor changes are required, they may use this as grounds to deliver a Plan Variation instead of a full Plan Reassessment.

A Plan Variation is a recent update to the reassessment process, aimed at giving participants greater flexibility, choice and control when they need a relatively small change to their plan.

Plan Variations can be used to change the following items in a plan:

  • Minor technical errors.
  • Reassessment dates.
  • The management of funds.
  • Statement of participant supports.
  • Details as to who must provide a support or how those supports are provided.

If the check-in call reveals the participant’s Plan is likely to require more significant changes, the person making the call will help them book a time for a Plan Reassessment meeting.

They will also explain the next steps in the process, which includes some of the things they should start thinking about ahead of the meeting and what types of supporting information the agency will require.

Step 2: Questions to Think About

The following questions from the NDIS website are the kinds of things the NDIA will ask at the Plan Reassessment meeting.

Thinking about the answers to these questions will help participants prepare for their Plan Reassessment meeting.

  • What worked well in your Plan?
  • What goals did you achieve?
  • What didn’t work as well?
  • Do you have any questions about how your Plan is managed?
  • Would you like to change how you manage your funding?
  • Do you have any new goals you would like in your next Plan?
  • Have there been any changes to your situation?
  • Are you expecting any changes to your situation?

Some of the changes to a participant’s situation that the NDIA will want to know about here include things like leaving school, starting or leaving work, or moving out of home.

Participants can also gain some useful insights for their Plan Reassessment by focusing on a few related questions about their NDIS Plan, such as:

  • What disability-related barriers made things difficult for me?
  • Are there any types of assistive technology that could help me achieve my disability-related goals?
  • Am I happy with the supports I’ve received under my current Plan?
  • Have I been able to do the things I wanted to over the course of my current Plan?
  • Have I been learning new skills and trying new things?
  • Is the funding I’m receiving helping me achieve my goals?

If the funding isn’t helping the participant achieve their goals, their Plan Reassessment should result in them being funded for different supports or trying different providers in their next Plan.

Step 3: Gathering the Supporting Information

Much of the supporting information the NDIA will require ahead of the Plan Reassessment meeting will be in the form of relevant assessments or reports from the participant’s current service providers.

The purpose of these supporting documents is to explain how a provider’s services are helping the participant work toward their plan goals.

The way that a participant’s Plan is managed, also known as their ‘Plan type’, can affect the roles they need to perform in the Plan Reassessment process, including gathering supporting documents from their current service providers.

Recent Changes Affecting Participants

As mentioned near the beginning of this article, the NDIA has recently introduced some changes to the words they use to describe elements of the review process.

They have also altered some of the processes which impact the way participants can review and update their plans.

The most significant process change for participants to be aware of is that if a Plan reaches its reassessment date before the reassessment is completed, the current plan will be varied to extend it by 12 months. This ensures that participants can continue accessing their supports.

This also means participants don’t need to stress if the reassessment date is approaching and their Plan Reassessment is delayed.

Changes to the Words Used by the NDIA

The NDIA have changed some of the words they use when talking about reviewing and updating NDIS Plans as outlined below:

What it’s called now What it was called before
Reassessment date Review date or end date
Plan Reassessment Plan review, scheduled or unscheduled review, S48 review
Plan Variation Light touch plan review, plan extension, rollover or continuation

What If a Participant Doesn’t Agree with Their Plan Reassessment?

The statement below from the NDIS website offers the following advice if a participant doesn’t agree with the outcome of their Plan Reassessment:

“We’re committed to helping you understand how and why we make decisions. We’re also committed to helping you have a decision reviewed, if you believe the original decision we made was wrong.”

If participants want a decision reviewed, they need to request a review within 3 months of the decision being made.

What If the Existing Plan Needs to be Extended?

If a participant’s Plan is set to expire but no major changes are required, they can request a Plan Variation to extend it.

In this scenario, the same Plan is replicated across the new timeframe on a prorated basis, meaning the same level of funding is applied for the given span of time and none of the unspent funds from the existing funds are carried across. It’s essentially a new, shorter version of the previous Plan.

Sometimes the participant will be offered a ‘Plan Continuation’ which essentially rolls the existing Plan over for an additional 12 months, and unspent funds are carried over, too. This continuation would appear to be a completely separate option, one that isn’t a reassessment or a variation.

Support coordinators and participants need to work together to understand these options, whether or not they’re suitable and how to go about communicating their needs to an NDIS planner or Local Area Coordinator.

Need Help Preparing for a Plan Reassessment?

Participants can contact their local NDIS office for assistance or support with preparing for their NDIS Plan Reassessment. They can also seek assistance from a support coordinator, support workers or their nominated representative.

Working with a Plan Manager like Capital Guardians makes it easier for participants to manage the financial aspects of their Plan, and have access to the right information when it comes to their reassessment process.

Ross McDonald

Ross founded Capital Guardians in 2008. The original residential care payments business took around 7 years to establish itself when home care and NDIS payments were added as government changed spending from provider directed goals to consumer directed goals. Ross's previous career included PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Spotless Group, Sensis, Benetas (CFO) and MYOB (CFO).

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