You’ve had your child’s NDIS planning meeting, what next?
Follow up with your planner
Follow up with your planner after the meeting—especially if you ran out of time and didn’t get to discuss something important. If you haven’t seen the final wording of the goals, you can ask to be sent them before they’re submitted to the NDIA. Make sure you’re happy and request changes if needed.
Find out what the planner submitted
Ask your planner what they’ve recommended to the NDIA, and check if anything you requested has been left out. If they’ve decided something isn’t reasonable and necessary, and you disagree, it’s important to know so you can advocate for it.
If the planner doesn’t support something you’ve asked for, you can ask them to document that you don’t agree with their decision. This information will go to the NDIA for review.
Plan review
If you’re unhappy with your child’s plan, you can request what’s known as an internal review of a decision. This must be made within 3 months of the plan start date. Start spending the current funds, your plan stays active while the review is underway. Depending on the outcome, you might receive a variation to the existing plan or a completely new one.
For children under 9, ask your Early Childhood Partner to lodge the review; for children 9 and over, contact your Local Area Coordinator (LAC). Make sure you have supporting evidence, such as recent medical reports and therapy assessments, to back up any requests.
Request documentation
Sometimes it’s hard to access the full plan in the portal. The person you had your planning meeting with (whether it’s an Early Childhood Partner, Local Area Coordinator, or NDIA planner) can email you a copy so you don’t have to wait for it in the post.
You can also ask if they’ve received any extra information, such as how a decision was made or why something wasn’t funded. If there’s any detailed correspondence, ask them to email it to you for your records.
Sharing your child’s full plan
Sometimes providers ask you for a copy of your child’s plan. What they actually need is a copy of the goals, your child’s NDIS number and the plan start and end date. You can scan the relevant pages of the plan and save it somewhere easy to access, especially if you
need to send it to multiple providers. You do not need to share information about funding amounts. The only person who needs a copy of your child’s full plan is a Plan Manager (if your child’s plan is plan managed).
Have a plan for yourself following the planning process.
As a parent or carer, it can be hard focusing on the negatives or ‘skill deficits’ of your child! Think about how you are advocating for your child, rather than focusing on the negatives. After the process, make space for yourself to ‘recover’ and shift your thinking back to how amazing your child is, the progress they have made, and their strengths. It may be catching up with a friend for a coffee and debrief.
Embrace choice and control
Instead of calling NDIA and asking if you can buy this or that with your child’s funds, do your own research. After all, the person on the other end of the line doesn’t always have enough information to make an informed decision based on your child’s circumstances. If you are self-managing, you can refer to the questions listed in the NDIA guide to self management booklet. If you are Plan Managed, you could speak to your Plan Manager.