1. What is the purpose of this operational guideline?
2. What is the relevant legislation?
3. Overview
4. Principles relating to plans
5. General matters relating to planning
   1. What is the planning process?
   2. What is a plan?
   3. When must the NDIA prepare a participant's plan?
   4. What must be included in a participant's plan?
   5. When is a participant's plan in effect?
   6. When does a participant's plan cease to be in effect?
   7. Can a participant's plan be varied?
   8. Can a participant's plan be suspended?
   9. What is the effect of suspending a participant's plan?
6. Timeframes for preparing a participant's plan
   1. What are the phasing rules?
   2. Prioritising participants with urgent circumstances
7. The participant's statement of goals and aspirations
   1. What is the importance of the participant's statement of goals and aspirations?
   2. Does a participant's statement of goals and aspirations need to be in writing?
   3. Who prepares the participant's statement of goals and aspirations?
   4. Supporting participants to prepare their statement of goals and aspirations
   5. The goals, objectives and aspirations of the participant
   6. The environmental and personal context of the participant
8. Performing a support needs assessment
   1. Reviewing existing information
   2. The planning and assessment conversation
   3. Requesting further information or reports to inform a participant's plan
   4. Assessing risks and safeguards
9. The statement of participant supports
   1. What is a general support?
   2. What are reasonable and necessary supports?
   3. Interaction between informal / mainstream supports and reasonable and necessary supports
   4. What is an in-kind support?
10. Deciding to include supports in a participant's plan
    1. What are the general criteria for supports?
    2. Which supports will not be funded or provided under the NDIS?
    3. Will the support assist a participant to pursue their goals, objectives and aspirations?
    4. Will the support assist the participant to undertake activities so as to facilitate their social and economic participation?
    5. Does the support represent value for money?
    6. Is the support effective and beneficial having regard to current good practice?
    7. Does the funding of the support take into account what is reasonable to expect others to provide?
    8. Is the support most appropriately funded or provided through the NDIS?
    9. Other considerations applicable to including supports in a participant's plan
    10. What assistance is available where a support is not most appropriately funded by NDIS?
11. Describing supports in a participant's plan
12. Setting the plan review date
13. Managing the funding for supports under a participant's plan (the plan management system)
    1. Participant can make a 'plan management request'
    2. Giving effect to the participant's plan management request
    3. How does the NDIA give effect to the participant's plan management request?
    4. Where there is no plan management request
    5. Person may request a review of the plan management decision
14. Approving the statement of participant supports
    1. Timeframe for approving statement of participant supports
    2. What must the NDIA consider when approving the statement of participant supports?
    3. Copy of plan to be provided to participant
    4. Participant may request a review of the decision to approve the statement of participant supports
    5. Requirement to notify of change of circumstances
    6. NDIA to comply with statement of participant supports
    7. Payment of NDIS amounts
    8. Obligations in relation to NDIS amounts
    9. Protection of NDIS amounts
15. Reviewing and changing a participant's plan
    1. Participant changes their statement of goals and aspirations
    2. Participant requests a review of their plan (request for an unscheduled plan review)
    3. Participant's plan reviewed at the initiative of the NDIA (unscheduled plan review)
    4. Participant's plan reviewed as part of the planning cycle
    5. Requesting further information or reports for the purposes of reviewing a participant's plan
    6. What happens when a participant's plan is reviewed?
    7. What is the difference between a plan review and an internal review?
16. Effect of temporary absence from Australia on plans
    1. The grace period
    2. Participant may request that the grace period be extended
    3. Extending the grace period

Appendix 1 - Table of guidance on whether a support is most appropriately funded by the NDIS