NDIA Accountability Project

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Make fund management decision

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Make fund management decision

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

This article provides guidance for a planner delegate, planner (non-partnered area) or review officer to:

  • understand fund management types
  • identify risks and consider safeguards
  • record the fund management request
  • make a self-management decision
  • make a registered plan manager decision
  • assign fund management to support categories
  • calculate registered plan manager funding
  • add registered plan manager funding.

Recent updates

3 October 2024

Updated guidance to reflect legislation changes from 3 October 2024. Interim guidance on considering criminal convictions and plan utilisation when making fund management decisions.

Before you start

You have:

Understand fund management types

Participants have three options for how they manage the funding in their plan

  • Agency-managed: we manage the funding and pay providers.
  • Using a registered plan manager: a registered plan manager manages the funding and pays providers.

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  • Self-managed: the participant, plan nominee or child representative, manages the funding and pays their providers.

Participants can choose a combination of these three options. To learn more about fund management, go to section What are your options for managing your funding? in Our Guideline – Creating your plan (external).

Identify risk and consider safeguards

Consider if there are any unreasonable risks to the participant. To learn more about managing risks, go to section What supports or strategies can we use to reduce risks? in Our Guideline – Creating your plan (external).

You’ll also have to review information on the Person Account to help determine any risks.

You’ll need to check:

  • any previous relevant plan management decisions and risk assessment tools. Check if there is information already captured that details the reason for the current fund management decisions. Consider if those reasons still apply
  • if the participant, nominee, or child representative is under legal orders. Details of who is responsible for the participant’s financial decisions should be recorded on the Person Account on the Relationships tab
  • if there’s a history of self-management or using a plan manager. This is available on the My Budget tab
  • information in the Check-in case
  • information in the Participant Risk Assessment case
  • information in the Personal and Environmental Circumstances case
  • information in the Access Request case
  • information in Internal Notes.

You may need to complete a new Participant Risk Assessment case to record any relevant risks. Use the Activity Log during the case to capture any additional information related to the fund management decision. Go to article [Create and complete a participant risk assessment case](case).

Go to Our Guideline – Creating your plan (external) for more information about identifying and managing risks around fund management.

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Consider criminal convictions

A participant or nominee can’t self-manage funding if they have been convicted of an offence that either:

  • is punishable by 2 or more years
  • involves fraud or dishonesty.

A participant or nominee with a relevant criminal offence can still request to use a registered plan manager for some or all of their funding. If they don’t make a request, their funding will be Agency-managed.

Until further advice is provided, do not ask the participant or their nominee if they have previously had any criminal convictions. Don’t ask the participant or nominee for more information if another person discloses information about the person’s criminal history.

You should only consider declining fund management due to a criminal conviction where the information is otherwise made available to the NDIA. For example, if the participant or their nominee has disclosed this information to us, we have a court record or a previous criminal history check, or the participant is currently serving a custodial sentence and is being supported to transition from a custodial setting.

You should only decline fund management if the information we already have shows that the offence involves fraud or dishonesty, or the person received a sentence of 2 or more years. Information that they served a custodial sentence is not enough information without this detail.

You should still consider other risks that may mean the participant or nominee can’t manage their funding.

Offences punishable by 2 or more years

Make sure you only consider the length of the sentence as determined by the court, not the amount of time served. Time spent on remand can’t be considered if the person wasn’t convicted.

Offences involving fraud or dishonesty

Fraud and dishonesty offences involve a dishonest act or omission carried out with the purpose of deceiving to obtain benefit. Fraud and dishonesty offences include:

  • obtain benefit by deception
  • forgery and counterfeiting, including counterfeiting currency, forging documents, or possessing equipment to make false or illegal instruments

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  • deceptive business or government practices, including fraudulent trade practices, misrepresentation of professional status, or illegal non-fraudulent trade practices
  • other fraud and deception offences, including dishonest conversion.

Consider plan utilisation

A participant, nominee, child representative or plan manager can’t manage funding if it’s not likely that the person will spend the funding:

  • only on NDIS supports for the participant, and
  • in line with the participant’s plan.

Spending funding in line with the participant’s plan means only spending funding on the supports included in the plan. To spend in line with the plan, the person needs to:

  • spend the funding in the way we describe. This includes any stated supports, where we describe the supports more specifically
  • make sure funding will last for the whole length of the plan
  • if the plan includes funding periods and funding component amounts, make sure the funding will last for the length of each funding period.

The person also needs to make sure they only buy NDIS supports or an agreed replacement support that relates to the participant’s disability.

Review any previous plans to check for issues in the way they’ve been utilised.

Consider if there are any risks about the way previous plan funding has been spent that would mean the person would be unlikely to spend their funding on NDIS supports in line with the participant’s plan.

Note: A funding component amount is the total amount of funding that will be provided for a NDIS support, or group of NDIS supports, in a plan. A funding period is a period in which funding is available to be used. Funding periods may be specified either for the total funding amount, or for funding component amounts in a plan.

We are currently updating our computer systems. Until these are finished, funding periods will be 12 months, and funding components will look the same as the current support categories of core, capacity building, capital and recurring. To learn more, go to Our Guideline – Creating your plan (external).

Consider safeguards and supports to reduce risk to the participant

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If you identify any risks that may impact the choice or intent of the participant, nominee or child representative, you’ll need to consider safeguards and supports to reduce risk.

Consider the following:

  • financial capacity building supports, if the participant has a goal to self-manage some or all of their funding. To help the participant build their financial capacity, include financial management capacity building supports. Go to article Change the draft budget.
  • a support coordinator or a registered plan manager to provide financial management capacity building support for training in plan and financial management, if the participant has a goal to self-manage their plan.
  • other supports and strategies to support the participant to manage their plan how they choose.

Examples include:

  • mainstream and informal supports
  • funding for support coordination
  • regular check-ins
  • having a reduced plan duration.

Go to Our Guideline – Creating your plan (external) for more information about strategies to reduce risks.

Include the safeguards and supports you’ve considered to reduce risk in the Handover Notes for a Plan Approval case or Log an activity or internal note for a Plan Change or Participant Budget Update.

Record the fund management request

If the participant, nominee or child representative’s request is to self-manage their funding or use a registered plan manager, you’ll need to decide whether to approve this request. You’ll need to factor in any risks and safeguards when making your decision.

PACE will only display the fund management types you can assign to support categories, based on your decision.

In a Plan Approval, Plan Change or Participant Budget Update case:

  1. Select the Fund Management tab.

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  1. Record the fund management choice or intent by selecting the checkbox next to:

    • The participant wants to self-manage some or all of their funding.

    • The participant wants to use a plan manager for some or all of their funding.

      Note: You can select more than one of these options if the participant would like more than one fund management type.

  2. Then:

    • make a self-management decision, if you need to.

    • make a registered plan manager decision, if you need to.

      Note: If the participant, nominee or child representative has not made a choice who they want to manage their funding or their choice is to have agency-managed funds, you don’t need to select either of the checkboxes. Select Save and Assign and continue reading from section Assign fund management to support categories in this article.

Make a self-management decision

In a Plan Approval, Plan Change or Participant Budget Update case:

  1. Select the Fund Management tab.

  2. Review the self-management Recommendation and Recommendation Detail for the participant. You need to consider the recommendation, however you do not need to agree with the recommendation. This recommendation doesn’t apply for nominees or child representatives.

    Note: This recommendation is based on risks identified during information gathering.

  3. Select the Decision from the drop-down list.

  4. Do you need to make a decision that a nominee or child representative can self-manage?

    • Yes, go to step 5
    • No, go to step 9 to make a decision for the participant to self-manage.

  5. When the participant is under 18 years of age, they must have a child representative recorded. The only exception is where the participant is approved to self-represent, this will be recorded on the Relationships tab of the Person Account. More than one child

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representative can be recorded for the participant. However, only one person can be assigned as their payment nominee.

  1. If any authorised representative (nominee or child representative) is listed, PACE will display the name of the person. You need to check for their bank account details at the plan meeting or during your plan change conversation. Learn more in article, View bank account details.

    Note: If an authorised representative is not listed, you should confirm this is correct at the plan meeting or during your plan variation conversation. If an authorised representative is required, you’ll need to complete the nominee process. Go to article Record a child representative request or Confirm and record the nominee request.

  2. Select the Justification from the drop-down list.

  3. Provide Justification of your Decision using one of the below templates:

    • Eligible for self-management without support I have approved your request to self-manage funding.
    • Eligible for self-management with support I have approved your request to self-manage funding and included additional support in your plan to help you do this.
    • Not recommended for self-management I have not approved your request to self-manage funding. This is because I identified an unreasonable risk to you that cannot be reduced with capacity building supports or safeguards.
    • Ineligible for self-management I have not approved your request to self-manage funding. This is because you or your nominee or child representative are bankrupt or insolvent under administration.
    • Ineligible for self-management I have not approved your request to self-manage funding. This is because you or your nominee has been convicted of an offence punishable by 2 or more years, or that involves fraud or dishonesty.

  4. If you’re using evidence to support your justification, select the Evidence Type from the drop-down list:

    • If you select Document, go to step 10
    • If you select Other, go to step 11.

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  1. Enter the Evidence Link. To bring up a list of evidence that’s linked to the case, press the spacebar. Select the correct evidence document to link to the decision. You can view linked evidence on the Evidence tab of the case. To learn more about linking evidence, Go to article [Add and link evidence to a case](case).
  2. Enter the Evidence Explanation into the free text field.
  3. If you need to add more evidence to support your justification, select Add and repeat from step 9.
  4. If required, make a registered plan manager decision. Otherwise, select Save and Assign.

Make a registered plan manager decision

In a Plan Approval, Plan Change or Participant Budget Update case:

  1. Select the Fund Management tab.

  2. Select the Decision from the drop-down list.

  3. Select the Justification from the drop-down list.

  4. Provide Justification of your Decision using one of the below templates:

    • Approved for using a registered plan manager without support I have approved your request to use a registered plan manager.
    • Approved for using a registered plan manager with support I have approved your request to use a registered plan manager and included additional support in your plan to help you do this.
    • Not recommended for using a registered plan manager I have not approved your request to use a registered plan manager. This is because I identified an unreasonable risk to you that cannot be reduced with capacity building supports or safeguards.

  5. If you’re using evidence to support your justification, select the Evidence Type from the drop-down list:

    • If you select Document, go to step 6

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  • If you select Other, go to step 7.

  1. Enter the Evidence Link. To bring up a list of evidence that’s linked to the case, press the spacebar. Select the correct evidence document to link to the decision. You can view linked evidence on the Evidence tab of the case. To learn more about linking evidence, Go to article [Add and link evidence to a case](case).

  2. Enter the Evidence Explanation into the free text field.

  3. If you need to add more evidence to support your justification, select Add and repeat step 5.

  4. If you approved the use of a registered plan manager, Add handover notes for a plan approval case or Log an activity or internal note for a Plan Change or Participant Budget Update.

  5. Ask the participant if they know the registered plan manager they want to use.

    Note: If they do, record the provider details using article Add or cancel a relationship.

  6. Select Save and Assign.

    Note: When using a registered plan manager, PACE will automatically add the Choice and Control support category with a $0 budget. You’ll need to add registered plan manager funding to the draft budget.

Assign fund management to support categories

Once you have decided the fund management type or types, you’ll need to assign fund management to each support in the draft budget.

  1. On the Support Category Fund Management Settings screen, the list of support categories in the draft budget will appear.

  2. Select the Fund Management Type for each support category in the list.

    The available options will be based on the fund management decision:

    • Agency for agency-managed. This is the default fund management type and will be available without recording a decision.
    • Plan for plan-managed. This will be available if you have made a registered plan manager decision.

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  • Self for self-managed. This will be available if you have made a self-management decision.

Note: Choice and Control can only be selected as Plan. This support category is for registered plan manager set-up fees and ongoing costs. This will result in the Choice and Control budget displaying in the provider portal.

  1. Once all supports have a Fund Management Type, select Next.

Record justifications

  1. On the Justifications screen, you’ll need to provide a Justification and Additional Justification Detail for each fund management type that was assigned to a support category.

    For example, if you assigned supports to Plan and Agency, you’ll need to record a Justification and Additional Justification Detail for plan-managed and for Agency-managed.

  2. In Additional Justification Detail, provide the reason that the associated support categories were assigned to this fund management type.

    For example, support 1 and support 2 will be self-managed by the participant because they live in a remote area and would like to choose a provider that best supports their needs.

Review and submit

  1. Review the fund management decision. If you need to change this, select the Fund Management Settings step.
  2. Review the Support Category Fund Management. If you need to change this, select the Support Category Fund Management Settings step.
  3. Review your Justifications. If you need to change this, select the Justifications step.
  4. Select Submit.
  5. If any support categories are plan-managed, continue reading from section Calculate registered plan manager funding in this article. Otherwise, go to Next Steps in this article.

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Calculate registered plan manager funding

When using a registered plan manager, PACE will automatically add the Choice and Control support category with a $0 budget.

You’ll need to update this with the:

  • Plan management set up costs. This is a once-off (per plan) fee for setting up the financial management arrangements.
  • Plan management monthly fee. This is a monthly fee for the ongoing maintenance of the financial management arrangements.

For a Plan Approval case, you’ll need to use the Plan Conversation Support Tool (PCST) to calculate the funded amount for the Choice and Control support category. You must use the PCST for all new plans and plan reassessments. Go to section Add registered plan manager funding in article [Understand and update the plan conversation support tool](tool).

For a Plan Change or Participant Budget Update case, you’ll need to look up the following support items in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (external):

  • Plan Management – Set Up Costs 14_033_0127_8_3
  • Plan Management – Monthly Fee 14_034_0127_8_3
  1. Where the fund management type is changing to plan-managed for the first time, you’ll need to include the Plan Management – Set Up Costs. To calculate this amount, divide the total amount by the remaining duration of the plan. For example, if the remaining plan duration is 1 year 6 months, divide the total amount by 18.
  2. Add the amount for Plan Management – Set Up Costs calculated in step 2 to the Plan Management – Monthly Fee amount listed in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (external). This will be the total monthly amount that you’ll need add to the Choice and Control support category.

Add registered plan manager funding

  1. In a Plan Approval case, select the Draft Budget tab or In a Plan Change or Participant Budget Update case, select the Budget Update tab.
  2. Select the Choice and Control support category from under the Stated Supports heading.

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  1. Check the Budget Type is Stated.

  2. Check the Instalment Type is Regular.

  3. Enter the amount that was calculated into the Amount field.

  4. Select TSP Variance Reason from drop-down list.

  5. Under the Justifications heading, select the checkbox to confirm this support meets all of the NDIS funding criteria.

    Note: This support relates to participants’ choice and managing the funding for supports under participants’ plans, as stated in the NDIS Act 2013. Until there is a PACE update, you’ll need to complete the checkbox.

  6. The Justification will automatically populate for this support. You can edit the justification to make it specific to the participant’s support needs. For more information about recording justifications, go to article [Add budget justifications](justifications).

    Note: This field has a limit of 3000 characters. Certain special characters in this field may cause an error, this is generally caused when copying justifications from SAP CRM into PACE. If you see the characters |%, you’ll need to change these before you can select Save.

  7. If you’re using evidence to support your justification, select the Evidence Used checkbox.

  8. Select the Evidence Type from the drop-down list:

    • If you select Document, go to step 11.
    • If you select Other, go to step 12.

  9. Enter the Evidence Link. To bring up a list of evidence that’s linked to the case, press the spacebar. Select the correct evidence document to link to the decision. You can view linked evidence on the Evidence tab of the case. To learn more about linking evidence, go to article [Add and link evidence to a case](case).

  10. Enter the Evidence Explanation into the free text field.

  11. If you need to add more evidence to support your justification, select the checkbox Add further evidence links and repeat from step 10.

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  1. Select Next.

Select support items and check plan comments

Plan comments will print on the participant’s plan. You’ll need to select which support items you’re funding under each support category.

  1. Check the plan comment for the Plan Management support item in the Choice and Control support category.
  2. Select Next.

Review and submit

  1. On the Review and Submit screen, you’ll be able to view the Base Description and the Plan Comments for the Choice and Control support category.

    Note: The support category Base Description and Plan Comments will print to the participant’s plan. The Base Description cannot be edited.

  2. Review the support category plan comment:

    • Keep the text short, simple and in plain conversational English.
    • Check your spelling and grammar.
    • Avoid jargon.
    • Avoid the use of special characters, such as < > or % as this will cause an error or the comment to appear blank.

  3. Once you’ve confirmed the base description and plan comments are correct, select the acknowledgement checkbox to confirm this.

  4. Select Submit.

Next steps

For a:

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Article labels

PACE user role names

No change.

Topics

No change.

Case names

No change.

Ownership

No change.

Version control

Version Amended by Brief Description of Change Status Date
11.0 JC0088 Class 2 BM approval
Guidance updated to mention PCST must be used for all plans and plan reassessments.		 APPROVED 2024-08-06
12.0 JC0088 Class 2 approval.
Interim guidance on considering criminal history and plan utilisation when making fund management decision.		 APPROVED 2024-10-02

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