FOI 21/22-1015
DOCUMENT 1
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
1.
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2.
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.
3.
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.
4.
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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The planner wil record their reasonable and necessary decision making in the
NDIA business system and wil record any evidence about the participant’s goals,
impairments, individual situation or need for supports as appropriate. The plan is
then submit ed 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 wil 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.
5.
502,413
6.
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.
7.
Reasonable and necessary supports | NDIS
Creating your plan | NDIS
Your plan | NDIS
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