Changing your plan

Sometimes your plan might need to change. This page explains when and how you can request changes to your plan.

Changes to our language

We want to make it easier for you to talk to us about making changes to your plan.

You have told us that the ways we have been talking about ‘reviews’ is confusing.

As part of changes to the NDIS Act that come into effect from 1 July 2022, we are changing some of the words we use.

As a participants or authorised representative, you have the right to ask us to ‘vary’ or ‘reassess’ your plan.

If you are not happy with your plan, you can still ask us to review our decision.

We will continue to respond to these requests using the legislation and in line with our Participant Service Charter.

If you are not sure which of these words is relevant to your situation, we will talk to you more broadly about your plan and what ‘changes’ you want to make.

Sometimes, you might not need any changes, but just more help to implement your plan.

Other times, we might be able to vary your plan without doing a full reassessment or replacing it with a new one.

In each instance, we will work with you to make those changes and you will receive a letter explaining our decision. 

You can read more about this in Our Guidelines – Changing your plan .

When requesting a plan change reassessment, you must provide clear evidence. This includes detailed documentation that supports your need for a reassessment, such as:

  • medical reports
  • therapy assessments
  • recommendations from healthcare professionals. 

The words we use now

What we call it What we used to call it What it means for you
Reassessment date of a participant’s plan
  • Review date of a participant’s plan
  • End date of a participant’s plan
  • Every NDIS plan includes a ‘reassessment date’. 
  • We need to look at the plan with you by this date and decide if any changes are needed.
  • If a plan reaches its reassessment date before the reassessment is completed, the current plan will be varied to extend it by 12 months so you can continue accessing supports.
Plan reassessment (Participant or Agency initiated)
  • (Full) plan review
  • Scheduled or unscheduled review
  • Change of Circumstances (CoC) review
  • S48 review
You can ask for a reassessment at any time.
  • When we conduct a reassessment, we can decide to create a new plan or vary the current plan, depending on your situation.
  • You can read more about plan reassessments below
Plan variation
  • ‘Light touch’ plan review
  • Plan extension, rollover or continuation
  • New plans with similar supports and new plans with minor changes
  • Under the NDIS Act, there are some situations where we can ‘vary’ a plan without a full reassessment.
  • You can ask for a variation at any time.
  • If we do a variation, you will receive a copy of the varied plan within 7 days.
Internal review of decision
  • S100 review
  • Review of reviewable decision (RORD)
  • Participants can ask for a review of our decisions.
  • If a participant is not happy with the outcome of this review, they can also ask the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to review our decision.

Participant check-ins

We will continue using check-ins as a way to support you in using your plan.

We introduced participant check-ins as part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic to make sure that you could continue to get the supports you needed.

We have decided to keep them because you have told us that you like having the chance to talk to us about how your plan is working for you.

The participant check-in focuses on talking to you about your current situation, checking on your wellbeing and making sure your NDIS supports and other supports are meeting your needs.

Find out what to expect from a participant check-in.

Find more resources about changing your plan in accessible formats on the booklets and factsheets page.

Your first NDIS plan reassessment usually falls 12 months after your plan started.

We will check in with you before your reassessment date.

If you haven't heard from us six weeks prior, call us on 1800 800 110 or find and call your nearest office.

Find more resources about check-ins in accessible formats on the booklets and factsheets page.

Plan reassessments

We will normally contact participants or your authorised representatives 3 months before a plan reassessment is due and confirm details.

During the check-in, we will talk to you about booking in a plan reassessment meeting. We will also talk to you about what information you may need to provide at the meeting.

This might include assessments or reports from service providers to show how they are helping you work toward your plan goals.

You can have a plan reassessment meeting face-to-face, over the phone, or video call.

You will also have the option to invite supports along to the meeting, such as a family member, friend, or Support Coordinator.

You might also want to think about what you want to talk about at the plan reassessment meeting.

This might include:

  • 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? (e.g. are you planning to leave school, start or leave work, or move out of home).

If you’re not expecting any changes to your situation soon, you can also talk to your Local Area Coordinator or Planner about whether you would like a longer plan.

Asking for a plan reassessment

If you need changes to your plan before the reassessment date, you can contact us at any time to ask us about making changes to your plan.

If you lodge a request for a plan change reassessment without clear evidence, it may be declined. To help the process, make sure you have your evidence ready before you make a request for a plan change reassessment. 

If you have a change in circumstance requiring a change in your plan, and you have the evidence to support your request, you don’t have to worry – you will not be left with insufficient funds. 

If you ask us to reassess your plan, we will respond within 21 days by:

  • Varying your plan (see below for more information on plan variations);
  • Replacing your plan with a new plan; or
  • Making a decision not to reassess your plan.

We will contact you with our decision and the reason for our decision.

If you are not happy with this decision, you can ask us to review that decision.

You can read more about Our Guidelines – Reviewing our decisions .

You must spend your NDIS funding within your approved plan and on supports that meet the reasonable and necessary criteria under the NDIS Act.

Overspending your budget before the end of your plan funding period is not, by itself, a valid reason for a reassessment. By using your NDIS funding efficiently and effectively, you ensure you have ongoing support for the length of your plan.

If you suspect any unethical practices by plan managers, support coordinators, or providers more broadly, report them through the NDIA Fraud Reporting Form or the NDIS Commission website .

Plan variations

In some situations, we may be able to make changes to your plan without a full plan reassessment.

Under the NDIS Act, we can only vary a plan:

  • To correct a minor or technical error.
  • To change the reassessment date of the plan.
  • If there needs to be a change to the statement of participant supports in relation to managing the funding for supports or other aspects of the plan.
  • To make a change to an existing stated support to reflect a different provider or manner of support provision.
  • If you require crisis or emergency funding as a result of a significant change to your support needs.
  • If we receive new information in response to a NDIA request for information that had previously been made (e.g., assistive technology or home modifications); or
  • If a minor variation is required to increase the funding of supports in the plan.

If you ask us to vary your plan, we will respond within 21 days by:

  • Deciding to vary your plan;
  • Deciding not to vary your plan; or
  • Letting you know that we need more time.

If we vary your plan, you will receive a copy of the varied plan within 7 days.

Temporary measures for plan variations

We have started work to upgrade our computer systems so that we can quickly and effectively deliver plan variations.

Until this upgrade is complete, participants who have their plan varied will receive a ‘new’ plan.

This plan will have:

  • A new start date (even though it’s a variation of the existing plan);
  • Funded supports adjusted in line with the reassessment date); and
  •  A new reassessment date.

We will normally keep the new reassessment date as close as we can to the original reassessment date, but depending on your situation, we might work with you to put a longer plan in place.

Early childhood provider reports for children younger than 7

The NDIA requires providers working with children younger than 7 who are NDIS participants, to report on the services and supports they provide to you and your child.  

Provider reports give you a written summary of the progress you and your child have made towards your goals and the outcomes achieved as a result of services and supports received.  

Reports are also helpful when your child’s plan is being reassessed.  

You can read more about plan reassessments in our guides – changing your plan.

We encourage you to speak with your provider(s) about writing a report for your child which can be provided to us at least annually.  

You can talk to your provider(s) about including some funding in your plan for a report when setting up a service agreement with them.

Home and living supports

The NDIA may fund reasonable and necessary home and living supports, if they are unable to be met through mainstream, community, informal or other supports.

Participants can request these supports by completing the Supporting Evidence Form – Home and Living.

This form can be returned for consideration within 100 days of a plan reassessment, with a request for a plan reassessment, or with a request for a review of a decision.

You can read more about Home and living supports.

If your plan reaches its reassessment date 

The NDIA has made changes to the NDIS myplace portal to make sure that participants are not left without services if there is a gap between their plan reassessment date and a reassessment being completed.

All plans that reach their reassessment date will be automatically varied to extend it by 12 months.

The NDIA has also made further improvements including:

  • Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) and Supported Independent Living (SIL) supports will have service bookings increased automatically where a plan has been varied to extend by 28 days.
  • Unclaimed funds within a participant’s previous plan and service bookings will be available for 90 days after it has been replaced by a new approved plan. This gives participants and providers more time to make payment requests for services delivered during the previous plan period. 

This means participants can receive services regardless of a delay in the plan reassessment process. It also means providers can continue to claim for services while the participant prepares for a plan reassessment.

Letting your providers know

There will be an alert for participants in the NDIS myplace participant portal when a plan has been extended.

Check if your plan has been varied in the NDIS myplace participant portal and let your providers know the plan reassessment date has been extended, and they can continue to request payment for supports.

What will happen to my service bookings?

The system will make sure the service bookings that are due to end on your plan reassessment date do not end.

Will this affect the supports in my old plan?

We will make additional funding available in your NDIS plan if your plan is extended, except in the case of home modifications and assistive technology. 

When you are purchasing supports, you need to make sure you are only spending NDIS funds on supports which have been described in your plan. 

You can read more about what supports you can buy with your NDIS funding .

What happens when I try to claim payments after a new plan is place?

You can successfully make payment requests in the NDIS myplace portal for services delivered during the old plan period for up to 90 days after the new plan has been approved, if there are enough funds available. 

You will see a message in service booking details in the NDIS myplace portal letting you know that unspent funds will remain available for 90 days after the reassessed plan is approved.

More information: Our Guidelines

Updated information about what we consider when we make decisions under the NDIS is available in Our Guidelines

The guidelines are based on the NDIS Legislation and Rules. They explain what we need to consider and how we make decisions based on the legislation.

The updated guidelines make the NDIS more transparent, clearer and easier to understand.

You can read more about this in the Participant Service Charter.
 

This page current as of
3 July 2024