Understand and update the plan conversation support tool

DOCUMENT 8 Disclosure Log - FOI 24/25-0952 OFFICIAL Knowledge Article

For Internal Use Only The contents of this document are OFFICIAL.

Understand and update the plan conversation support tool

Guidance in this document is not approved for use unless you view it in PACE.

This article provides guidance for all NDIA staff and partners to:

• understand the plan conversation support tool (PCST) • update the plan conversation support tool.

Note: If you’re an accessible technology user, learn tips for using the PCST in article Update the plan conversation support tool as an accessible technology user. This article is to complement, not replace guidance in this article.

Recent updates

6 November 2024

• Removal of specialist planner information from Complete the compensation

reduction task section • Added new guidance when making an update to the PCST from a draft budget that’s

not yet approved • Updated Next Steps.

14 October 2024

Sections removed and added to article Generate and upload the budget breakdown:

• generate and review the budget breakdown. • add the plan conversation support tool and budget breakdown to a case.

3 October 2024

Guidance updated to include:

• new steps for recording the budget • new steps for completing the compensation recoveries task

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For Internal Use Only • new steps for reviewing the budget breakdown • information about when to update the PCST, including making high decision

delegate (HDD) changes • removal of guidance for accessible technology users. This is now included in article

Update the plan conversation support tool as an accessible technology user.

Before you start

You have:

• understood the participant’s disability-related support needs • made a decision to fund supports using Our Guideline – Reasonable and necessary

supports (external) and relevant Operational Guidelines (external) • received technical advice if needed, using article Create a technical advice case • received the home and living decision if needed, using article View and update a

home and living application • understood the draft budget using article Understand the draft budget • read and understood article Support categories.

Understand the plan conversation support tool

In PACE, draft budgets are developed based on the:

• Typical Support Package (TSP) for first plans. This is based on information collected

during the community connections, early connections and access stages of the

participant journey • supports in the participant’s previous plan, transitioned from SAP CRM • supports from the participant’s current plan for reassessments or variations.

If you’re a delegate, you’ll review draft budgets against information and evidence to make sure it meets Our Guideline – Reasonable and necessary supports (external).

We’ve developed the PCST to support delegates when adjusting the TSP, or the previous plan budget. Use the PCST, instead of other resources, as it’s the only accepted tool for developing budgets. The prices in the PCST are current and updated according to the NDIS product catalogue.

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For Internal Use Only Who can use the plan conversation support tool?

If you’re a delegate, use the PCST to:

• develop a budget that meets Our Guideline – Reasonable and necessary supports

(external) and that are NDIS supports (external). • provide evidence to support your decision to approve the participant’s plan.

If you’re partner or agency staff, use the PCST to understand how the plan was developed and how different budget categories were funded. Use the Budget Calculator tool (external) to support plan implementation.

When to use the plan conversation support tool

You must use the PCST for all new plans and reassessments. Staff should also use the PCST for all s47a and s100 processes wherever possible.

Note: The budget breakdown will not demonstrate how the total budget was calculated when used for s47a or s100 processes, however the tool is designed to support staff to calculate the variations correctly.

If a HDD recommends changes to the draft budget and you used a version of the PCST:

• after 3 October, you can use the same version of the PCST to make changes • before 3 October, you must recreate the PCST and make changes using the new

version of the PCST.

This is to make sure the participant can get a copy of their budget breakdown if needed. Learn about HDD recommendations in article Understand and action High Decision Delegate (HDD) referrals.

You shouldn’t use the PCST:

• to replace current existing support tools, such as the SIL or SDA price tool. You

should use information from existing tools to determine a budget that reflects the

participant’s support needs. To develop a budget in each category, you should

record information from these tools in the PCST • for plan implementation. Use the Budget Calculator tool (external).

Update the plan conversation support tool

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For Internal Use Only You must record factual and accurate information in the PCST. The PCST forms part of the participant’s record and must be added to the case.

If a participant or their authorised representative would like to know more details about their total budget amount, they can ask for a copy of their NDIS budget breakdown which is generated using information from the PCST. Go to article Receive and action a request for a budget breakdown.

Note: The participant may ask to see information on their record through the Participant Information Access process or Freedom of Information process. For more information, go to Our Guideline – Your privacy and information (external).

Access the plan conversation support tool

When you’re starting to develop a draft budget

Use the most current and up-to-date version of the PCST. Each time you use the PCST, open it from the PACE tools and resources library on the 3P Hub.

1. From the PACE tools and resources library on the 3P Hub, open the Plan conversation

support tool.

2. If you:

• don’t use JAWS, go to step 3 • use JAWS, learn tips about saving and using the PCST in article Update the plan

conversation support tool as an accessible technology user.

3. Save a copy on your local device using the naming convention

[Case number] Plan conversation guide Day_Month_Year.

For example, 12345 Plan conversation guide 29_July_2024. If you need to save more

than one version of the PCST, add a number to the end of the file name

4. Go to section Record participant details in this article.

When you’re making changes to a draft budget that’s not yet approved

1. From the Person Account, select the Documents tab.

2. Locate and select the correct Plan conversation support tool file from the documents table.

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For Internal Use Only Note: You can enter ‘plan conversation guide’ in the Search bar to quickly find all documents of this type.

3. Select Download. The document will appear in your computer’s Downloads folder.

4. Rename the copy on your local device using the naming convention [Case number] Plan conversation guide Day_Month_Year. For the day, month and year, use the date you’re making updates to the tool.

For example, 12345 Plan conversation guide 29_July_2024.

Note: Remember to add a number to the end of the file name if you’re updating the tool on the same date. This is so duplicate documents are not added to PACE. For example 12345 Plan conversation guide 29_July_2024_2

• Go to section Record participant details in this article.

Record participant details

Use these steps to record participant details in the plan conversation support tool.

1. From the Plan conversation support tool (PCST) summary, confirm the pre-

requisites are complete.

2. From the Procedure, select Answer questions in Record participant details.

3. At Record the participant’s full name, record the participant’s name.

4. At Record the participant’s NDIS number, record the participant’s NDIS number.

5. At Do you have evidence to show the supports meet the NDIS funding criteria?

select from the drop-down options.

6. At Record the budget type, select from the drop-down options.

7. At Select the participant’s age range, select from the drop-down options. If the

participant is younger than 9, at What is the participant’s age range, select from the

drop-down options.

8. At Confirm the Modified Monash Model (MMM) record the participant’s postcode,

suburb and state.

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For Internal Use Only Note: If the MMM doesn’t display for the suburb recorded, use a neighbouring suburb with

the same postcode or MMM. Confirm the neighbouring suburb using the Health

Workforce Locator (external).

9. At Confirm plan duration, record the plan start date using DD-MM-YYYY or

DD/MM/YYYY. For example, 01-12-2026.

10. At Select the amount of years from the drop-down options, select the plan duration

years. All plans including new plans and plan reassessments must be 12 months or less

until PACE is updated to enable funding periods.

11. If you need to add months to the plan duration, at Select the amount of months from

the drop-down options, select the amount of months. If you don’t need to add any

months, leave this blank.

12. If you’re completing a plan variation, at Plan variation date, record the date the

variation will take effect using DD-MM-YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY. For example, 01-03-

Note: This must not be earlier than the day the variation is made.

13. Based on the plan start date and proposed duration, the plan conversation support

tool will generate the amount of:

• months • weeks • weekdays • Saturdays • Sundays • Public Holidays.

14. Take note of the duration amounts to help record support in the PCST. For example, if

the participant needs support on a public holiday, you’ll need to use the amount of public

holidays when recording support in the PCST.

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For Internal Use Only Note: To reduce duplication, the PCST won’t include any weekdays, Saturdays or Sundays

where there is a public holiday. For example, if the plan duration is 5 weekdays and

there’s a public holiday during this time, the PCST will generate a duration of 4

weekdays and 1 public holiday.

15. At Record the budget, record draft PACE budget or current plan budget for each

support category. For example, the draft PACE budget for assistance with daily life.

16. Confirm the total budget is the same as the total draft PACE budget or current plan

budget.

17. Select Return to budget summary.

18. If you’re completing a:

• plan variation or internal review, go to section Complete the budget update • new plan or plan reassessment, go to section Record participant support needs.

Complete the budget update

Use these steps to action a budget update in the PCST.

1. From the Plan conversation support tool (PCST) summary, go to Procedure.

2. Confirm Answer questions for Participant details is complete.

3. Select plan variation or internal review, complete the budget update.

4. From the Budget update, go to Support category.

5. Select the relevant support category. Record supports that need to be added or

removed using section Record participant support needs in this article.

Note: You’ll need to enter these supports for the full duration of the plan. PACE will pro- rata the supports to be for the time left in the plan.

Note: Don’t record supports from the original funded amount. The supports recorded in the PCST will be added or subtracted from the original decision.

6. Select the instalment type from the drop-down options. If you select:

• Recurring, this will generate an annual amount for the increase or decrease amount

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For Internal Use Only • Regular, this will generate a monthly amount for the increase or decrease amount • Once-off, this will generate the total, once-off amount for the increase or decrease

amount.

7. Select the budget update type from the drop-down options. If you select:

• Increase, this will generate the increase amount for supports recorded in the PCST • Decrease, this will generate the decrease amount for supports recorded in the

PCST.

Note: If you’re completing a plan variation, only decrease funded supports where there’s

a minor or technical error. For example, moving funding from a support category

added in error to a new category added as part of the budget update. If major

changes are needed, complete changes as part of a plan reassessment (s48). • Make sure you don’t decrease the funding amount below the amount that has

already been paid for the support category. This will create a negative balance in the

participant record.

8. The Increase or Decrease amount will generate based off:

• supports recorded in the PCST • the plan duration, including the plan start date or plan variation date to the plan

reassessment date • the budget update type, including recurring, regular or once-off. • For example, if: • a plan variation is in progress; the PCST support category total is divided by the time

remaining in the plan from the plan variation date to plan reassessment date. This

will be a monthly amount for regular, annual amount for recurring or total for once-off

items. The amount generated will be the increase or decrease amount to record in

PACE. Note: You can’t backdate supports in a plan variation. You can only include

supports from the date the plan variation will take effect. • an internal review is in progress; the PCST support category total is divided by the

duration from plan start date to plan reassessment date. This will be a monthly

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For Internal Use Only amount for regular, annual amount for recurring or total for once-off items. The

amount generated will be the increase or decrease amount to record in PACE.

9. Record the increase or decrease amount in PACE using article Action a budget update.

10. Select Return to budget summary. If you:

• don’t need to apply the compensation reduction amount (CRA), go to Next Steps in

this article. • need to apply the CRA, go to section Complete the compensation reduction task.

Record participant support needs

Use these steps to record NDIS funded supports in the plan conversation support tool.

1. From Flexible support budget and Stated support budget, select support categories

relevant to the participant. Don’t select support categories that aren’t related to the

participant’s support needs. Learn about support categories in article Support

Categories.

2. From the relevant support category, answer questions for support items which relate to

the participant’s support needs. Don’t answer questions for support items that don’t

relate to the participant’s support needs.

3. If a question you want to answer is blacked out or N/A, check you have answered all the

questions in Record participant details.

4. From the relevant support item, record supports that meet the NDIS funding criteria for

the participant in the purple fields.

5. Once questions for support items which relate to the participant’s support needs are

complete, review the support category summary to make sure supports are correct. If

support items:

• align with the participant’s support needs, continue to step 6. • don’t align with the participant’s support needs and need to be updated, repeat steps

2 to 5 in this section.

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For Internal Use Only 6. At Next steps, select:

• Continue: this will take you to the next support category. • Back: this will take you to the previous support category. • Return to budget summary: this will take you to the plan conversation support tool

(PCST) summary page. • Return to budget update: this will take you to the budget update section of the

PCST.

7. Complete these steps for each Flexible support budget and Stated support budget

support categories relevant to the participant’s support needs.

8. If you:

• want to see an example of these steps, go to section Example: Record participant

support needs for assistance with daily life • don’t need to apply the compensation reduction amount (CRA), go to Next Steps in

this article. • need to apply the CRA, go to section Complete the compensation reduction task.

Example: Record participant support needs for assistance with daily life

Use this section to understand how questions may be completed when recording assistance with daily life.

1. From Flexible support budget, select Assistance with Daily Life. You’re now on the

Assistance with Daily Life page.

2. In this example, the participant needs assistance with self-care activities. Complete the

Assistance with self-care activities section.

3. At Does assistance with self-care activities meet the NDIS funding criteria? select

from the drop-down options. If you select:

• Yes, supports that can be recorded will show as purple, as this support may meet

the NDIS funding criteria.

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For Internal Use Only • No, questions will show as N/A and be blacked out, as this support wouldn’t meet

the NDIS funding criteria.

4. Record supports that meet the NDIS funding criteria for the participant in the purple

fields.

5. At Support item, select from the drop-down options. Include support using the level,

time of day, and day of week which meets the NDIS funding criteria.

6. At Ratio of support, select from the drop-down options.

7. At Quantity, record the amount needed. For example, the amount of hours or amount of

items which meet the NDIS funding criteria. The Quantity unit will show if you need to

include the support as hours or per item.

8. At Frequency, record how often the support is needed.

9. At How often, select how to measure the Frequency from the drop-down options. For

example, 10 weeks or 10 months during the plan period.

10. The PCST will generate supports using the Support item, Ratio of support, Quantity

and Frequency. For example, Support item / Ratio x Quantity x Frequency = Budget.

11. In this example, the participant needs on-call overnight assistance. At How much

funding quoted for on-call overnight assistance meets the NDIS funding criteria,

record the amount quoted.

12. In this example, no other assistance with daily life support items relate to the

participant’s support needs. Review the Assistance with daily life summary to confirm

supports recorded are correct. Support items align with the participant’s support needs.

Complete the compensation reduction task

Use these steps if you’re a compensation delegate and need to apply the compensation reduction amount (CRA).

Complete the compensation reduction task if:

• another person or entity was at fault for causing the participant’s disability

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For Internal Use Only • the participant received compensation or a lump sum payment from a judgement or

settlement for their disability or impairment.

1. From the Plan conversation support tool (PCST) summary, select Complete the

Compensation Reduction Task.

2. At Have you identified

• another person or entity was at fault for causing the participant’s disability • the participant received, is receiving or may be entitled to compensation or a lump

sum payment from a judgement or settlement for their disability or impairment?

select from the drop-down options.

3. At Record the compensation reduction amount to be excluded from NDIS funded

supports, record the amount to be reduced in the relevant support categories. This

amount will be reduced from the PCST summary.

4. Confirm the total compensation reduction amount (CRA) is correct. If the CRA:

• is correct, continue to step 5 in this section. • isn’t correct, repeat step 3 in this section.

5. Select Review supports generated in the plan conversation support tool. Go to

section Check plan conversation support tool summary in this article.

Check the plan conversation support tool summary

Use this section to check the plan conversation support tool (PCST) summary.

1. From the Plan conversation support tool (PCST) summary, review the Flexible

support budget and Stated support budget.

2. Confirm supports align with your decision against the NDIS funding criteria, including

the:

• Budget: this is the draft PACE budget or current plan budget recorded for each

support category. • PCST budget: this is the amount for supports recorded in the PCST.

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For Internal Use Only • Monthly PACE input amount: this is the monthly amount of the PCST budget. Use

this amount to record the budget in PACE.

3. If supports align with your decisions against the NDIS funding criteria, add or adjust the

support categories for:

• new plans or plan reassessments using article Change the draft budget • plan variations using article Action a budget update.

4. At the Plan conversation support tool summary, make sure the total PCST budget

aligns with the updated draft budget in PACE. If the PACE budget and PCST budget

aren’t the same:

• make sure participant details are correct using section Record participant details

in this article • repeat steps in section Record participant support needs in this article.

The PACE budget and PCST budget must be the same. If a participant or their authorised representative would like to know more details about their total budget amount, they can ask for a copy of the NDIS budget breakdown.

Next steps

1. You’ll need to make any changes to the draft budget in PACE. For a:

• new plan, plan reassessment, or internal review, go to article Change the draft

budget. • plan variation, go to article Action a budget update.

Feedback about the plan conversation support tool

We’ll continue to review feedback and improve the plan conversation support tool. If you’re:

• Agency staff, create a ticket using 3P PACE Service Delivery Support. Select

Practice and Process in the 3P Area dropdown. • Partner staff, give feedback to your Super User.

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Disclosure Log iif} 24/29-0982

ndis Knowledge Article For Internal Use Only Article labels

PACE user role names

No change.

Topics

No change.

Case names

No change.

Ownership

No change.

Version control

Brief Description of Change

Removal of specialist planner information from Complete the compensation reduction task

section.

8.1 DCM308 Added new guidance when making DRAFT 2024-10-22

an update to the PCST of a draft budget that’s not yet approved.

Updated Next Steps. 8.2 SDOO001 EL1 review DRAFT 2024-10-24 AT0022 ; EL2 review 8.3 SJQ251 DRAFT 2024-10-24 BiL review RW0020 8.4 DCM308 Action BiL feedback DRAFT 2024-10-30 8.5 DCM308 Actioned additional BiL feedback DRAFT 2024-11-01

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For Internal Use Only Sent for SG approval

9.0 CS0074 Class 2 Approval APPROVED 2024-11-01

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