NDIA Accountability Project

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FOI 21/22-1015 – Participant Planning Questions

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FOI 21/22-1015 – Participant Planning Questions

Scope

  1. How many plans were reassessed in the last financial year (30 June2021)

  2. How many APS employees did the NDIA have as at 31 December 2021 to review Participant Plans?

  3. Can you please provide the typical support packages by age group/disability/state or overall?

  4. How do you determine the typical support packages are reasonable and necessary and how often is this reviewed? What is the evidence that is used to determine TSPs

  5. How many plans does the NDIA manage (NDIA-managed plans) as at 31 December 2021?

  6. How many NDIA planners does the NDIA have as at 31 December 2021.

  7. What is the information and evidence required to determine a participant’s core support budget and how is this benchmarked against the TSP?

Response

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FOI 21/22-1015

As at 31 December 2021, as per roles listed in the NDIA Instrument of Delegation, the NDIA had 2,236 APS employees available to review participant Plans. This includes employees available to undertake scheduled plan reviews, participant-requested plan reviews and internal reviews.

A Typical Support Package (TSP) is a baseline amount of funding based on the participant’s disability, individual support needs and characteristics.

There are approximately 15,000 TSPs considering all the combinations of disability, age, level of function, and other adjustment factors so providing these is not feasible.

TSPs have been developed by the NDIA in collaboration with disability experts, including people with a disability, professionals and subject matter experts. The TSP is based on information including a participant’s age, disabilities, level of functional impairment, and current and potential mainstream, informal and community supports. Continuous improvement of the TSPs is informed by participants’ lived experience and emerging trends and evidence.

NDIA planners use TSPs to understand if a participant’s funded supports are within the expected range and to make sure they are using an evidence based and nationally consistent approach to planning.

Plan developers develop a plan with the participant that meets the participant’s needs and helps them to work towards their goals. The plan developer applies reasonable and necessary decision making to determine the appropriate level of funded supports to be included in the participant’s plan. The plan developer compares the proposed plan value against the TSP and may adjust the TSP up or down in response to information available regarding the participant and their individual circumstances.

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FOI 21/22-1015

The planner will record their reasonable and necessary decision making in the NDIA business system and will record any evidence about the participant’s goals, impairments, individual situation or need for supports as appropriate. The plan is then submitted to a plan delegate for approval.

The TSP is a guide for Planners, which is one input when making reasonable and necessary decisions about the funded supports to be included in a participant’s plan. Planners ask for and consider evidence, participant input and lived experience in determining funded supports. Planners also consider whether supports should be provided through the NDIS. Plan developers apply reasonable and necessary decision making to develop a plan that meets the participant’s needs and helps them to work towards their goals. Participants maintain choice and control in how they deploy the funds in their NDIS plan, including which provider will deliver the support, the timing of care and support, and how it should be provided. This can also involve a range of options from choosing whether to request to self-manage their plan, have the agency manage their plan or engage a registered plan manager.

The TSP is a guide only. The decision to include reasonable and necessary supports in the participant’s plan is based on whether the support meets all sections of the reasonable and necessary criteria. This includes considering whether the supports should be provided through the NDIS.

  1. 502,413

  2. As at 31 December 2021, the NDIA employed 1,822 APS4 to APS6 Planners.

It is important to note that not all the staff captured in these questions are actively reviewing participant plans day to day, as there are many other tasks involved in the NDIA’s review and planning processes.

  1. Reasonable and necessary supports | NDIS Creating your plan | NDIS Your plan | NDIS