How to prepare for an NDIS plan reassessment

The NDIA now calls it a plan reassessment, not a plan review, and the name change is worth taking seriously. A review sounds like an exam you pass or fail. A reassessment is a conversation about evidence, and the side with the better evidence usually gets the better result. Most of that evidence is gathered in the weeks before the meeting, which is exactly the part people skip.

What happens, and when

Two to three months before your plan’s reassessment date, your my NDIS contact will get in touch for a check-in. They will ask how the current plan is going, whether your situation has changed, and what evidence you will need. That call is the starting gun. Everything below is easier if it is already underway by the time it comes.

After you hand in your evidence, a planner considers which supports relate to your disability, help you towards your goals and build your independence. The NDIA says it will let you know within 90 days. Three outcomes are possible: your plan is varied, a new plan is created, or nothing changes. If there is a new plan, they book a meeting to walk you through it.

If your situation has changed significantly and there is no check-in coming, you do not have to wait for one. You can ask for a reassessment at any time.

Write down the hard weeks, not the average one

The most common mistake is describing a good week. People do it out of pride, or because the planner asks “how are you going?” and the honest answer feels like complaining. But a plan built on your best week will not hold up in your worst one, and your worst week is when you need it.

Keep a short note for a fortnight, ideally the fortnight before the check-in. Four things are worth recording each day:

• What took longer than it should have, and how long.
• What did not happen at all because nobody was there to help.
• What somebody else did for you that they cannot keep doing.
• What it cost you afterwards: the day you lost to recovery, the appointment you cancelled.

Dates and specifics, not adjectives. “Tuesday: could not shower until Mum arrived at 4pm” says more than “showering is hard” ever will.

Get the reports in before you need them

Anything from an occupational therapist, a physiotherapist, a psychologist or a GP carries more weight than the same point in your own words, and every one of them takes longer to arrive than you expect. Allied health practitioners on the Sunshine Coast are routinely booked four to six weeks out, and a written report takes time after the appointment.

Ask early, and ask for the right thing. A report that restates your diagnosis adds little; the planner already has that. A report that describes function is what moves a decision: what you can and cannot do on a given day, how long tasks take, what happens without support, and what the practitioner recommends and why. If a support worker from your in-home supports has been with you for a while, a short letter from them describing a typical shift is evidence too.

Give the evidence to the NDIA through the service hub, or in person to your my NDIS contact. Keep copies of everything.

Know the difference between what you want and what is fundable

Funding follows goals. If a goal is “get out more”, the supports that attach to it are narrower than if the goal is “build the confidence and skills to use public transport independently”. Same life, different plan.

The NDIA can only fund supports its rules allow, and it publishes a list of what it does not fund: everyday living costs, things other government services already pay for, supports unrelated to your disability. Framing a goal so the support clearly sits inside those rules is not gaming the system; it is speaking the language the decision is made in.

Think three years out, not one

The check-in will ask about changes you expect over the next few years: leaving school, starting or leaving work, a change in living arrangements. Plans can now run longer than twelve months, so a plan built only around this year may be the one you are still living on in year three. Say what is coming.

Bring someone

A support coordinator, a family member, an advocate, a worker who knows you. Someone who will notice when a point is lost and raise it again, and who can take notes while you talk. You are allowed to have anyone you like in the room, and it is not a sign of weakness. Planners see it every day.

Ask what happens next, before you leave

Before the meeting ends, ask three things and write the answers down: when the decision is expected, what the process is if you disagree with it, and who your contact is from here. Having the name of the person who told you matters later.

If the plan comes back with less than you need

You have the right to ask for a review of the decision, and the clock is tight. An internal review must be requested within three months of the decision. A different NDIA staff member looks at whether the original decision was right under the law. If you still disagree after that, you can ask the Administrative Review Tribunal for an external review, and you must ask within 28 days of the internal review outcome.

You can have an advocate or legal support through the external review, and the NDIS Appeals Program exists for exactly that. One limit to know: NDIS funding cannot be used to pay someone to represent you at the tribunal, though it can cover the disability supports you need to take part.

None of this is a reason to go in expecting a fight. It is a reason to keep good records from the start, so that if it comes to a review, the evidence is already in the file. If you are choosing who will help you through the next plan, our guide to questions to ask any NDIS provider is a good place to start, or get in touch.

Common questions