What is an internal review of a decision?

If you are unhappy with a decision we have made, such as our decision to approve your plan, you can ask us to review that decision. This is called an internal review of a decision.

In an internal review of a decision, we will check if we made the right decision under the law by looking at your situation and disability support needs at the time of our original decision. An internal review of a decision won’t consider any changes to your situation and supports that have happened since we made our decision.

If your situation and support needs have changed since our decision, you can ask us for a plan review or let us know you’ve had a change in circumstances. 

What decisions can we review?

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.

There are some decisions we can review, and there are other decisions can’t be reviewed.

Our Guidelines, ‘Reviewing our Decisions ’ has information about:

• what kinds of decisions we can review
• who can ask for an internal review of a decision, and for what types of decisions
• what happens during an internal review of a decision
• what you can do if you still don’t agree with the outcome after an internal review of a decision.

What other options are available to you?

There are other options available to you, if you don’t agree with a decision we have made.

• You can ask us to explain our decision. We can also give you written reasons for our decision. Contact the NDIA for more information about this option.
• If the decision is about your approved plan, you can talk to your Local Area Coordinator (LAC), Early Childhood Partner or Support Coordinator for help with other ways to use your plan to access supports. 
• If you are not a participant, you can seek help from an LAC or Early Childhood Partner to find supports available for you. To access the NDIS, you can submit a new access request. Visit the Access request page for more information.
• We may identify your supports are best delivered by other service systems. Visit support for people who are not eligible for more information.
• You can get more evidence ahead of your next plan review. For more information about what evidence is required for your next plan review visit plan review reports, reviewing your plan and goals and preparing for your plan review on the NDIS website.

How do you ask for an internal review of a decision?

You must ask us to review the decision within 3 months from the day you receive our decision in writing.

There are a few ways you can ask us to review a decision. You can: 

• complete the Request for a Review of a Decision form and send it to us
• send us an email with any supporting evidence to [email protected]
• contact us by phone on 1800 800 110 or visit one of our offices
• send us a letter or email and include any evidence to support your request.

Alternatively, you can send us a letter with any supporting evidence to:

Chief Executive Officer
National Disability Insurance Agency
GPO Box 700
Canberra ACT 2601

Download the Review of a Decision form

• Request for a Review of a Decision form (PDF 134KB)
• Request for a Review of a Decision form (DOCX 80KB)

What information should you provide?

When you request an internal review of a decision, you can let us know:

• what decision you were expecting
• why you think we should make a different decision
• if there is any information you’ve already given us that you’d like us to reconsider
• if you have any new evidence, such as medical or therapy reports, you’d like us to consider.

Information to support your request may include reports or letters that detail your disability and how it impacts you on a day-to-day basis.

In some situations, we may need more information to review the decision. If so, we’ll contact you to confirm what information we need and why we need it.

More information about what to include in your request can be found at:

• Types of disability evidence
• Plan review reports
• Reasonable and necessary supports.

How long will it take to complete your request to review a decision?

We aim to complete all internal reviews within 60 days from the day after we receive your request. We will also provide you with reasons for our decisions.

Find out more about the commitments we’ve made under our Participant Service Guarantee.

What if your situation or details have changed since we made the decision?

An internal review of a decision checks if we made the right decision under the law, at the time the decision was made. If we’re reviewing a decision about your plan, we will look at your situation and disability support needs at the time of our original decision to approve your plan. 

This means any new support needs or changes to your situation since the decision was made, will not be considered as part of the internal review of the decision. If your situation or support needs have changed since our original decision to approve your plan, you may need a plan review or let us know you’ve had a change in circumstances. 

If you’re a participant, and your situation changes while waiting for an internal review of a decision, we encourage you to contact us.

We’ll let you know what options are available for your situation, and how this might affect your plan and your internal review of a decision.

If we decide to do a plan review, we’ll consider your new situation and new support needs, and decide what supports to include in a new plan. In some situations, we may approve the same supports as your previous plan.
You can learn more by reading our plan review guidelines.

What if you are still not happy after we do an internal review of a decision?

Once we make the internal review decision, we can’t do another internal review on the same decision.

If you don’t agree with the internal review decision, you can ask the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to review it.  

We call this an external review. 

You can’t ask for an external review until after we complete the internal review of a decision.

For more information about asking for an external review of an NDIS decision, check out the Administrative Appeals Tribunal website .

What if I have concerns about the decision-making process?

If you are not satisfied with the way the NDIA carried out its decision-making, you can provide feedback or make a complaint.