Your child’s NDIS plan: NDIS plan reassessments

An NDIS plan reassessment: what is it?

An NDIS plan reassessment is a review of your child’s NDIS plan by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA). A plan reassessment makes sure that your child’s plan is meeting their needs.

There are 2 types of plan reassessments:

CEO-initiated: this is when the NDIA does a regular review of your child’s NDIS plan. It usually happens every 12-24 months around the time of your child’s plan reassessment date.
Participant-requested: this is when you ask for a review of your child’s plan because you think it’s no longer meeting your child’s needs. You can ask for this at any time.

What does an NDIS plan reassessment involve?

An NDIS plan reassessment can start when you ask for it. But it usually starts with a ‘check-in’.

About 3 months before your child’s plan reassessment date, your local area coordinator or an NDIA planner will contact you to arrange the check-in. At this check-in, you, your child and the local area coordinator or NDIA planner will talk about how your child’s plan is working.

A check-in ahead of an NDIS plan reassessment can have 2 outcomes:

Your child doesn’t need a full plan reassessment. In this case, your child might continue with their current plan, get a new plan that’s the same as the old one, or get a varied plan.
Your child does need a full plan reassessment. In this case, the next step is an NDIS plan reassessment meeting.

An NDIS plan reassessment meeting is when you meet with the local area coordinator or NDIA planner to talk in more detail about your child’s NDIS plan and your child’s needs. The local area coordinator or NDIA planner will arrange this meeting for you.

After an NDIS plan reassessment meeting, the final step of an NDIS plan reassessment is when your local area coordinator or an NDIA planner sends a new plan for your child to the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) for approval.

Note: if you get to 2 months before your child’s plan reassessment date and you haven’t heard about a check-in, contact your local area coordinator or NDIA planner or the NDIA.

You’ll always have a check-in at the start of the NDIS plan reassessment process. You might have check-ins for other reasons too. For example, if your child has a longer plan, you might have a check-in once a year. Or your NDIS representative might check in with you if you’re using too much or too little of the funding in your child’s plan.

Preparing for an NDIS plan reassessment meeting: questions

The NDIS plan reassessment meeting is a key part of the NDIS plan reassessment process, so it’s important to prepare for it. You can prepare for an NDIS plan reassessment meeting by thinking about the following questions.

Goals

What progress has your child made towards their NDIS goals?
How did the supports in your child’s plan help them work towards their goals?
Which goals does your child need to keep working on? Which goals do you need to change? Do you need to add any new goals?
Who can help your child work towards their goals?

Supports

What supports worked well, and what didn’t work well?
Will there be changes in the next 12 months that mean your child needs more support or different goals – for example, starting a new school or moving house?
Do you want to make any changes to your carer’s statement?

Plan management and funding

Do you want to change how all or some of your child’s funds are managed?
How did you use the funding in your child’s current plan? What supports did you spend funds on?
Do you have any unspent funds in your plan? Why? For example, your child might have missed sessions because they were sick or needed a break. You can’t roll over unused funds, but you might need similar funds to support your child’s goals in the next plan.
Have you had any problems using your child’s plan?
Is a 12-month plan right for your child? Or would you prefer a longer plan?

The meeting itself

Do you want to take a support person with you to the meeting?
Would you prefer to meet face to face, on the phone or via video call?

Preparing for an NDIS plan reassessment meeting: NDIS provider reports

As part of your preparation for your plan reassessment meeting, you’ll sometimes need to contact each of your NDIS providers to ask for a report. These reports show how your child’s plan has been used and ensure the new plan is right for your child.

The reports should include information about:

supports the NDIS providers gave your child – for example, number of therapy sessions
effects of your child’s developmental delay or disability on everyday life
your child’s progress towards their goals
challenges or issues your child faced and how you resolved them
provider recommendations for the next plan.

If you’re using NDIS registered providers, they should be ready to provide reports. But you might need to request reports from providers who aren’t registered with the NDIS. It’s a good idea to give these providers plenty of notice.

Providers will charge for reports. The funding for these reports is included in your child’s current NDIS plan and the fees are included in your service agreement.

If you have a support coordinator, they can help you get reports from providers. Your local area coordinator might also be able to help you get reports from providers.

It’s best if you send the reports to your local area coordinator or NDIA planner before the plan reassessment meeting.

An NDIS plan reassessment meeting: what to expect

You might be able choose how to have your child’s NDIS plan reassessment meeting – face to face, by video chat or over the phone.

At the plan reassessment meeting, you’ll discuss the following areas:

Your child’s goals – which goals has your child worked towards achieving? Do you need to set any new goals for your child’s next plan?
Services and supports – how did the services and supports in your child’s last plan meet your child’s needs and help your child work towards achieving their goals?
Your child’s disability or developmental delay and its effect on everyday life – have there been any changes? For example, does your child have a new diagnosis or health condition that affects their everyday life?
Your family situation – is your child starting preschool or school or moving schools? Have there been any family changes, like a new baby on the way? Has anything affected your ability to provide care and support?
Mainstream and community services – does your child need support to take part in new or different activities?
NDIS eligibility – has anything changed that might affect your child’s eligibility for the NDIS?
Other new information – is there anything you want or need to discuss that isn’t covered above?

After an NDIS plan reassessment meeting: what to expect

If your child’s current plan is working well, your local area coordinator or NDIA planner might recommend that your child gets a new plan with the same supports as the existing plan.

If your child’s current plan isn’t meeting their needs, your local area coordinator or NDIA planner might recommend that your child gets a new plan with new or different supports.

Either way, your local area coordinator or NDIA planner will send your child’s new plan to the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) for approval. The NDIA will decide whether the new plan is OK as it is or needs changes.

When the NDIA approves the new plan, you’ll receive the plan either in person, in the mail or through the myplace portal.

If you disagree with what’s in your child’s new plan, you can ask for a review of the plan.

Your child’s current plan will be extended by up to a year if the plan reassessment doesn’t happen or a new plan isn’t approved before the current plan ends. This means you won’t have a gap in funding, and you can keep using your child’s current plan until you get a new one.