Participant Service Guarantee

The Participant Service Charter includes timeframes for our processes – set out under the Participant Service Guarantee.

The Participant Service Guarantee sets clear timeframes for key NDIS processes.

The NDIA must make decisions about access, plan approvals, plan reviews and nominee changes within these timeframes. This gives participants, families and carers greater certainty about how long processes will take.

Each quarter, the Agency reports against Participant Service Guarantee (PSG) timeframes in the Quarterly Report.

The NDIA continues to monitor and report on an expanded set of 18 PSG measures. However, reporting for PSG measures 3, 5 and 15 is currently unavailable.  

Eight of the 18 measures (44%) met or exceeded their target timeframe at a rate of 95% or higher (PSGs 1, 6, 7, 9, 10, 16, 17b and 19). 17 A further 5 measures reported results over 80% (PSGs 2, 8, 13, 18 and 20). We continue to implement changes to improve the participant experience and performance against the PSG measures, as outlined below.

Scheme eligibility and access (PSGs 1, 2 and 4)  

This quarter, the target timeframe for PSG 2 was met 82% of the time, a reduction from the previous quarter. The reduction is a result of staff being allocated to other priority work. PSG 4 results were stable at 68%.  

First plans (PSGs 6 and 7)  

A key NDIA focus has been to ensure participants receive their first plans promptly. More than 96% of participants received their first plan within PSG timeframes this quarter.  

Reviews and reassessments (PSGs 11, 12, 13, 14, 17a and 17b)  

The number of participants seeking a reassessment of their NDIS plan (PSGs 12, 13, and 14) continues to be high. This has contributed to a reduction in performance for PSGs 12 and 14, while PSG 13 increased by 3% this quarter. We are prioritising unscheduled requests by allocating more staff to this work, focusing on completing the oldest work first, and prioritising requests based on participant risk.  

We are also seeking to better understand the reason for the high number of new plan change requests and are giving participants better guidance on how to use their NDIS plan more flexibly.  

A continued increase in review requests and Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) decisions to vary a plan has contributed to a reduction in PSG 17a performance, while 17b performance is stable at 98%.  

The NDIA’s participant check-in process ensures every scheduled reassessment begins with contact from the planner or partner to discuss reassessment options well before any scheduled reassessment date. Plans are extended automatically if they have not been reassessed before expiry, so participants continue receiving supports

17 The unrounded performance of PSG 20 is 94.7%. Meeting the target is measured using unrounded performance. 

The tables below show the timeframes for each of the key NDIS processes, which have been pulled from the latest Quarterly Report. 

Use the ‘Print this Page’ function to download a PDF or print a copy of the current status of the Participant Service Guarantee timeframes.

Getting started with the NDIS

What we will doThe most days it will take usPerformance at March 2026 quarter (most current data)
Explain a decision28 days96%
Decide who can use the NDIS21 days82%
Make a decision about who can use the NDIS after we've been given more information14 days68%

Getting a plan

What we will doThe most days it will take usPerformance at March 2026 quarter (most current data)
Approve a plan56 days96%
Approve a plan for a child under 9 years56 days100%
Make a time to have a meeting to start your plan if you want to7 days85%
Have a meeting to start your plan if you want to28 days98%
Give you a copy of your approved plan †7 days99%

Changing a plan

What we will doThe most days it will take usPerformance at March 2026 quarter (most current data)
Start setting up a plan reassessment †56 days before the review date47%
Decide whether to do a plan reassessment, if you ask us to21 days29%
Do a plan reassessment we have agreed to28 days87%
Make changes to a plan †28 days39%
Review our decisions if we need to60 days34%
Make changes according to the review of a decision28 days98%
Put changes into place when the Administrative Review Tribunal asks us to †28 days90%
Cancel a participant-requested nominee14 days99%
Cancel a CEO-initiated nominee14 days95% 

Note: The NDIA's new participant check-in process ensures that every scheduled reassessment begins with contact from the planner or partner to discuss reassessment options well before and scheduled reassessment date. Plans are extended automatically if they have not been reassessed before expiry so participants have continuity of support. That is, participants do not stop receiving supports.
  
†From the September 2025 quarter, performance of most PSGs is measured from milestones built into the new computer system. PSGs 10 and 16 are captured within the same milestone. For PSGs 11, 14 and 18, performance is being measured from available data on processes and dates in the new computer system.

Making a complaint

What we will doThe most days it will take usPerformance at March 2026 quarter (most current data)
Fix your complaint if we can21 days86%
This page current as of
13 May 2026
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