Independent assessment Q and A

We know independent assessments are a big change for people applying to access the NDIS, and for existing participants. And we understand that change can create uncertainty.

That’s why the Minister for the NDIS, Stuart Robert, has announced independent assessments will be introduced in 2021 now. We want to give applicants to the NDIS, existing participants and the disability community time to prepare for the introduction of independent assessments.

We are committed to working with participants, their families and carers, peak bodies, disability organisations and peer and family networks between now and the start of independent assessments, to make sure they work effectively for participants.

We’re already hearing from participants and the disability community about what they’d like to know about the introduction of independent assessments.

We’ve answered some of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) below.

FAQs

An independent assessment is a conversation about how your disability impacts your life. An independent assessment also looks at aspects of the environment in which you live, to see what factors help you participate in everyday life, or are a barrier to inclusion.

The assessment tools use a combination of questionnaires and observation that take into account different settings and different times. This is so we can find out from you what your good days and bad days look like.

Independent assessors, and the assessment tools do not replace the relationship a person has with their treating medical or allied health professional. The assessment tools don’t ask a person to retell their story, or explain their disability to a new or different allied health professional.

Instead, the assessment tools provide a reliable and consistent assessment of how a person functions in their daily life. For example, the activities a person can do independently, as well as activities where they might need assistance.

It’s important to remember that independent assessments are just one piece in a collection of supporting evidence that the NDIA considers when making decisions about a person’s eligibility for the NDIS, and in the planning process.

Independent assessments are designed to capture a person’s functional capacity as well as the environmental factors that impact on their ability to live an ordinary life, without making assumptions based on disability or diagnosis.

This means if you have a complex, rare or multiple disabilities, your independent assessment will provide an indication of the impact of your disability and your environment, as well as your strengths and support needs, rather than focussing on your diagnosis.

We want to make sure they work equally well for everyone, so before we launch independent assessments next year we are consulting on how they will work for specific groups such as people with complex needs or psychosocial disability.

Yes. You can bring a family member, support person or your treating health professional to your independent assessment.

If you are under 18, part of the assessment will be with you and your parent, guardian or carer, and part of it will be just with your parent, guardian or carer.

No, because assessors have to meet a certain level of qualification in order to provide independent assessments.

The assessors will be from a range of health professionals including but not limited to:

occupational therapists
physiotherapists
speech pathologists
clinical and registered psychologists
rehabilitation counsellors
social workers

Once they are appointed, assessors will go through further training in how to use the assessment tools, as well as receiving ongoing support and training.

We know that Australians with disability are currently spending somewhere between $130 million and $170 million on assessments associated with accessing the NDIS.

We want the NDIS to be available for everyone, no matter what their financial situation is.

Independent assessments mean that new and existing participants have the same opportunity to access internationally recognised, evidence-based and consistent assessments, which provide an up-to-date and complete assessment of your functional capacity, as well as your environment.

Additional material won’t be required for your independent assessment. You won’t need to worry about chasing evidence of your functional capacity – your independent assessments will capture all of the necessary detail. You can bring other information and evidence to your planning meeting help to develop your goals.

Independent assessors won’t be providing recommendations on the support needs of new or existing participants. They also won’t be providing you with clinical or other professional advice. Instead, independent assessors will work with you to develop a picture of the impact your disability has on your life, as well as any barriers you might face in day-to-day activities.

There are some big reasons why we are making these mandatory:

We want all people, regardless of their situation to have the same access to internationally recognised, evidence based assessments.
Having complete and consistent information will help us to make sure the NDIS is fair and consistent for all participants.
Having everyone go through the same assessment process will help us move from annual plan reviews, to plan reviews based on life stages, or when you experience significant changes in function. While we have already introduced the opportunity for longer plan durations we want more participants to have plan lengths which meets their needs.
Independent assessments were recommended in the Productivity Commission report and the Tune review to ensure we make consistent decisions.

From mid-2021, existing participants will start to be required to undertake an independent assessment.

Independent assessments make the planning process fairer and simpler for all participants. It will mean that if the impact of your disability changes, you will have all the evidence you need to support your planning conversation.

It won’t be something that you will need to do every time you have a planning meeting unless there has been a major change to your situation like starting or finishing school, starting a new job or moving out of home. You may also do an independent assessment if you have a significant change in circumstances, and need a significant change in your supports.

There are now more than 400,000 NDIS participants and so it will take a number of years before all existing participants experience the new independent assessment process.

No. The introduction of independent assessments will not change your review rights or your avenues for review. Independent assessments will mean better decision making for participants. With longer plans for participants with stable support needs, improved planning, and greater plan flexibility, you will be able to make the most of your NDIS plan, and work towards achieving your goals.

No. Although funded by the NDIA, the assessments are conducted separate to the Agency. They will be conducted by assessors from a range of health professions, like occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech pathologists, clinical and registered psychologists and behaviour support specialists.

Assessors provide the assessment report to the NDIA; they do not make decisions about a person’s access to the NDIS, or a participant’s plan budget.

The NDIS Act Review (also known as the Tune review) recommended the NDIA introduce assessments for new and existing participants for the purposes of decision-making, using NDIA-approved providers in a form set by the NDIA.

Independent Assessments are part of the NDIA’s Service Improvement plan.

Back in 2011, the Productivity Commission recommended the introduction of independent assessments, conducted by professionals in the allied health field.

Independent assessments do not have minimum or maximum time limits.

Depending on your age and disability, and how many assessments you need, your assessment will probably take between 1 and 4 hours. It can also take place over a number of days. It isn’t something we want to rush.

It’s important to remember that independent assessments are just one piece in a collection of supporting evidence that the NDIA considers when making decisions about access and planning.

Your doctor or allied health professional will continue to provide evidence of disability and supporting evidence, which is required to request access to the NDIS. Following this process the NDIA will support applicants to obtain information to show how their disability affects their life though an independent assessment.

Participants will need to complete an independent assessment from time-to-time and at different stages of their lives to make sure they continue to get the funding that is right for them.

You may be asked to complete an independent assessment, when you:

are approaching a new life stage, for example starting school, or preparing to enter the workforce
have a change of circumstances
request a plan review
have stable supports and would like a longer plan
have supported independent living supports in their plan
are having their NDIS access reassessed
are preparing to transition out of the NDIS.

Yes. We have considered and assessed more than 60 recognised and standardised tools for independent assessments and will make this information public shortly.

We have also developed a framework for independent assessments, which explains the tools which will be used, and how they have been selected. This framework was published on September 7 2020.

You can request a copy of your independent assessment from your planner or Local Area Coordinator.

Participants can request a review or appeal decisions made by the NDIA, if they feel a decision made about them is wrong.

No. To make sure the independent assessment process is consistent, your independent assessment can only be done by an allied health professional on the independent assessor panel.

Your doctor or allied health professional will still be involved in your access request for the NDIS, as they will continue to be responsible for diagnosis and providing important information relating to your disability as part of the eligibility requirements.

It’s important to remember that independent assessments are just one piece in a collection of supporting evidence that the NDIA considers when making its decisions.

We’re conducting an open and competitive tender process to find the organisations and professionals to deliver independent assessments.

The assessors conducting the independent assessments comprise a range of health professionals including:

occupational therapists
physiotherapists
speech pathologists
clinical and registered psychologists
rehabilitation counsellors
social workers.

Independent assessors will only be able to conduct assessments related to their profession. Responses will be market-driven and have not been set by the tender, to ensure competitive pricing to attract high quality applicants.

We’ll also be training the assessors and putting in place a quality performance framework to make sure the assessments are done consistently and correctly.

The assessor panel will be live, and we can bring on more assessors, to meet demand, or changing needs.

The assessors will be drawn from a panel, which is being established through an open and competitive tender process.

Although funded by the NDIA, the assessments are conducted separate to the Agency as well as the individual to provide an objective and unbiased assessment of a person’s functional capacity and support needs.

NDIA delegates will still be making decisions about a person’s access to the NDIS, or a participant’s plan.

Functional assessments have always been part of the NDIS process, however current arrangements can be complex, costly and inconsistent.

Participants have reported they have spent thousands of dollars chasing assessments to show their functional capacity.

By making the independent assessments free, we are removing the financial burden of evidence gathering, to access and use the NDIS, and making sure participants have the right assessments to assist in the planning or review process.

The NDIA estimates this will save people with disability collectively between $130 million and $170 million per year based on the cost of assessments.

Independent assessments mean that new and existing participants have the same opportunity to access an internationally recognised, evidence-based and consistent assessment, which provides an up-to-date and complete assessment of their functional capacity.

Wherever possible, participants will have a choice of assessor or the organisation who can deliver their independent assessments, from a panel of assessors engaged by the NDIA.

Like seeing a doctor, you can choose the gender of your assessor based on your own personal preference.

No. New and existing participants referred for an independent assessment won’t have to join long waiting lists for allied health services. Instead, once you’ve been referred to an independent assessor, the assessor will need to make contact with you and arrange your appointment for an assessment within 10 days.

The Government has set out the timeframes for access and plan development in the Participant Service Guarantee.

Organisations delivering independent assessments will also need to meet or exceed a range of service levels, as set out in their contract.

One of the aims of the new approach to assessments is to improve the current state where there are many cases of seeking further information and slowing the access process.

The assessment tools have been chosen to ensure they work for every type of disability to build an overall picture of how a person functions in different areas of their life. The tools are tailored to different age groups and focus on functional capacity rather than disability or diagnosis.

In fact, the approach of assessing function is designed to ensure that the impacts of all disabilities are well understood, where a focus on the diagnosis or disability may not identify all of the ways the disabilities affect your life.

Yes. Extensive training will be undertaken by all assessors conducting independent assessments.

We ran the two pilots to test the assessment process and the tools, to make sure the way independent assessments are applied is in line with the NDIS Act, and the Productivity Commission’s 2011 advice.

We’ve also chosen a suite of independent assessment tools (the toolkit) to make sure the independent assessments produce consistent and reliable results between different assessors, and different types of participants.

We’ve also released our Independent Assessment Framework. The Framework explains why we’re introducing independent assessments, and how independent assessments will provide new and existing participants with consistent and reliable evidence of their functional capacity.

Yes. All assessors will be suitably qualified with relevant experience. Independent assessors working with children will have the right experience and knowledge to work with kids.

When independent assessments start in 2021, they will be for applicants to NDIS, and existing participants aged 7 to 64 years. During 2021 we’ll look at how independent assessments apply for participants younger than 7.