FOI 25/26-3703 Document 8

EC Recording support justifications for children younger than 9

SGP KP Publishing

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FOI 25/26-3703 SGP KP Publishing – EC Recording support justifications for children younger than 9

1 Recent updates …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 5

2 Before you start …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 6

3 Why we record support justifications …………………………………………………………………….. 7

4 Guidelines to record support justifications ……………………………………………………………. 8 4.1 Make sure justifications are objective ……………………………………………………………………… 8 4.2 Weighting evidence ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 8 4.3 Reasonable and necessary criteria in the legislation ………………………………………………… 8

5 Example justifications for approved supports: Early childhood intervention for Gerald, aged 3 years ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10 5.1 Section 34(1)(aa) the support is necessary to address needs of the participant arising from an impairment in relation to which the participant meets the disability requirements (see section 24) or the early intervention requirements (see section 25). …………………………………… 10 5.2 Section 34(1)(a) the support will assist the participant to pursue the goals, objectives and aspirations included in the participant’s statement of goals and aspirations. ……………………….. 10 5.3 Section 34(1)(b) the support will assist the participant to undertake activities, so as to facilitate the participant’s social and economic participation. ……………………………………………… 10 5.4 Section 34(1)(c) the support represents value for money in that the costs of the support are reasonable, relative to both the benefits achieved and the cost of alternative support. ……. 10 5.5 Section 34(1)(d) the support will be, or is likely to be, effective and beneficial for the participant, having regard to current good practice. ………………………………………………………….. 11 5.6 Section 34(1)(e) the funding or provision of the support takes account of what it is reasonable to expect families, carers, informal networks and the community to provide. ………. 11 5.7 Section 34(1)(f) the support is an NDIS support for the participant. …………………………… 11

6 Example justifications for approved supports: Orthotics for Alice, aged 4 years …… 12 6.1 Section 34(1)(aa) the support is necessary to address needs of the participant arising from an impairment in relation to which the participant meets the disability requirements (see section 24) and/or the early intervention requirements (see section 25). …………………………….. 12 6.2 Section 34(1)(a) the support will assist the participant to pursue the goals, objectives and aspirations included in the participant’s statement of goals and aspirations. ……………………….. 12 6.3 Section 34(1)(b) the support will assist the participant to undertake activities, so as to facilitate the participant’s social and economic participation. ……………………………………………… 12 6.4 Section 34(1)(c) the support represents value for money in that the costs of the support are reasonable, relative to both the benefits achieved and the cost of alternative support. ……. 12 6.5 Section 34(1)(d) the support will be, or is likely to be, effective and beneficial for the participant, having regard to current good practice. ………………………………………………………….. 13 6.6 Section 34(1)(e) the funding or provision of the support takes account of what it is reasonable to expect families, carers, informal networks and the community to provide. ………. 13 6.7 Section 34(1)(f) the support is an NDIS support for the participant. …………………………… 13

7 Example justifications for declined supports ……………………………………………………….. 14 7.1 Section 34(1)(aa) the information you gave us doesn’t address needs of the participant arising from an impairment in relation to which the participant meets the disability requirements (see section 24) or the early intervention requirements (see section 25). ……………………………. 14 7.2 Section 34(1)(a) The information you gave us doesn’t show this support will help you pursue the goals in your NDIS plan. ………………………………………………………………………………. 14 7.3 Section 34(1)(b) The information you gave us doesn’t show this support will help you do things that will increase your social and economic participation. ………………………………………… 14 7.4 Section 34(1)(c) The information you gave us doesn’t show this support is value for money. This means there are different supports that are better value for money because they can give you the same or better outcomes. …………………………………………………………………….. 14 7.5 Section 34(1)(d) The information you gave us doesn’t show enough evidence this support is likely to be effective and beneficial for you. I looked at best practice and the evidence you provided to make this decision. ……………………………………………………………………………….. 15

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7.6 Section 34(1)(e) This support is something that’s reasonable to expect your informal supports, like family and friends, to provide. ……………………………………………………………………. 15 7.7 Section 34(1)(f) This support isn’t funded by the NDIS as it’s not an NDIS support. ……. 15 7.8 Rule 5.1(a) I haven’t approved this support because it is likely to cause harm to you or pose a risk to other people. We need to consider risk of harm for all supports, such as support workers, therapies or equipment. …………………………………………………………………………………… 15 7.9 Rule 5.1(b) I haven’t approved this support because the information you gave us doesn’t show this support addresses your disability support needs. Your disability support needs are those that arise from, or are caused by, your disability. …………………………………………………….. 16 7.10 Rule 5.1(c) I haven’t approved this support because it would duplicate other supports provided by the NDIS. ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 16 7.11 Rule 5.1(d) I haven’t approved this support because it is related to a ‘day-to-day living cost’, such as groceries, rent or utilities, that are not attributable to your disability support needs. These are costs that are not caused by or a result of your disability support needs. …………….. 16 7.12 Rule 5.3 (a) I haven’t approved this support because it isn’t legal, either under Australian government law or under a law that only applies in your state or territory. ……………. 16

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When we say, early childhood intervention supports we mean Early Intervention Supports for Early Childhood which is an NDIS support we fund in NDIS plans for children younger than 9.

This article provides guidance for a planner delegate to:

understand why we record support justifications in plan approvals for children younger than 9
understand guidelines to record support justifications
view examples of approved and declined supports justifications for children younger than 9.

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1 Recent updates

7 April 2026

New article based on article Understand support justifications
Provides justification examples for both approved and declined supports for children younger than 9.

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2 Before you start

You have made a decision to approve or decline a support using article Change the draft budget.

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3 Why we record support justifications

A well-written justification helps the next planner delegate, early childhood partner, local area coordinator, or Agency staff member understand what was funded and why.

Planner delegates need to make evidence-based decisions, using administrative law, and communicate these decisions clearly.

It is a responsibility of planner delegates to document a rationale for each support funded in a child’s plan. Each support category needs an appropriate, plain English justification to explain the reasons for the decision.

Being clear about the reasons for our decisions:

reflects the principles outlined in the Participant Service Charter (external)
delivers the ‘communicating with us’ promises in the Participant Service Improvement Plan (external)
is a requirement of the legislation.

This information can be used:

to record consistent decision-making justifications in the system
to explain decisions to the family at the plan meeting
to respond to a request for an explanation of a decision
during an internal review of a reviewable decision
to support an Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) case (external review)
to explain the decision in letters to the child’s family.

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4 Guidelines to record support justifications

Follow these guidelines when you record your justifications for approved and declined supports. It is very important that your decision-making is clearly explained. Make sure someone who does not know the child and their family, and who has not seen and heard the evidence you considered, can follow your decision-making process.

Keep the text short, simple and in plain conversational English.
Avoid jargon.
Introduce all acronyms before using them. For example, ‘Assistive Technology (AT)’.

4.1 Make sure justifications are objective

Include facts based on evidence and avoid personal opinions or feelings. Reference all information the child’s family has provided in your decision. This includes any documents or material used in your decision making such as medical or allied health reports, teacher and other school reports, conversations, carer impact statements, planning meeting conversations, emails and family or informal support submissions.

4.2 Weighting evidence

If you have given less weighting to a particular type of information, explain your reasoning. For example, where two reports are contradictory and you have used the more recent report to make your decision, explain why you have given more emphasis to the recent report.

4.3 Reasonable and necessary criteria in the legislation

For approved supports you’ll explain your decision for all criteria.

Cross-check your decision against the statutory criteria to make sure you meet all necessary sections. Don’t include considerations that aren’t required by the criteria in the legislation.

For supports that do not meet one or more of the criteria, explain your decision about each criterion.

Provide the basis for how you made your decision against each of the reasonable and necessary criteria in the legislation.

Provide the reasoning you used to reach your outcome on the overall case. For example, explain what supports you haven’t included in the child’s plan and why.

Provide the explanation for decreasing support in the plan.

Provide the basis for including a support that significantly inflates the value of a support category. In your explanation, include:

how much the budget has increased (check PCST)
which supports have increased and why

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reasons and evidence for the increase
what factors should be considered at the next plan reassessment? For example, is the support expected to reduce in future plans? Is future funding dependent on evidence of progress resulting from capacity-building?

Note: The field character limit is 1500. Special characters can cause an error when you copy justifications from SAP CRM to PACE. Remove characters |%<>* before you can select save.

For justifications which exceed the 1500-character limit, save the justification in a Word document with the naming convention: case_number_plan_justification_dd-mm-yyyy.

Where a separate justifications document is uploaded, make sure that all the legislative criteria are discussed. Upload the document to the case under Documents. Reference the document within the justification field.

Note: Approved or Declined supports included in the participants plan also need to be recorded in Handover Notes in the Plan Approval Case. This includes any risks that require monitoring over the plan duration. Handover notes will help the My NDIS contact support the participant to use their plan. Refer to article Add handover notes for a plan approval case.

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5 Example justifications for approved supports: Early childhood intervention for Gerald, aged 3 years

redacted: [s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies](/library/documents/bc455e3f7247-foi-24-25-0515-documents/document-015__47e-d-certain-operations-of-agencies/)

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redacted: [s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies](/library/documents/bc455e3f7247-foi-24-25-0515-documents/document-015__47e-d-certain-operations-of-agencies/)

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6 Example justifications for approved supports: Orthotics for Alice, aged 4 years

redacted: [s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies](/library/documents/bc455e3f7247-foi-24-25-0515-documents/document-015__47e-d-certain-operations-of-agencies/)

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redacted: [s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies](/library/documents/bc455e3f7247-foi-24-25-0515-documents/document-015__47e-d-certain-operations-of-agencies/)

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7 Example justifications for declined supports

redacted: [s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies](/library/documents/bc455e3f7247-foi-24-25-0515-documents/document-015__47e-d-certain-operations-of-agencies/)

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redacted: [s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies](/library/documents/bc455e3f7247-foi-24-25-0515-documents/document-015__47e-d-certain-operations-of-agencies/)

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redacted: [s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies](/library/documents/bc455e3f7247-foi-24-25-0515-documents/document-015__47e-d-certain-operations-of-agencies/)

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redacted: [s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies](/library/documents/bc455e3f7247-foi-24-25-0515-documents/document-015__47e-d-certain-operations-of-agencies/)

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