NDIS planning and supports rules

The NDIS is moving to a new way of planning, called new framework planning. Each participant will have a support needs assessment: a guided conversation with a trained NDIA assessor. Their budget is then worked out from what that assessment finds.

The aims are budgets linked to assessed need, more flexible funding and longer plans. At the same time, the NDIS Supports Rules, which set out what the NDIS will and won’t fund, are being updated, including a new definition of therapy.

The Department asked for feedback on four new rules, a draft assessment report template and a draft participant plan. Adults will move to new framework planning from April 2027.

We support the aims of new framework planning. Our comments are about people with psychosocial disability, meaning disability that comes from a mental health condition, and autistic people who also have mental health conditions.

• Hear from treating clinicians. None of the 23 targeted assessments covers mental health or psychological therapy. We asked for one that includes a report from the person’s treating psychologist or other treating clinician.
• Look at the whole year. Many mental health conditions come and go. Needs should be rated over a set window, twelve months by default, not on the day of the assessment.
• Show the evidence. The assessment report should list the evidence the assessor relied on, and the person and their clinician should be able to respond before the budget is set.
• Fund therapy that works. The rules should say psychological therapy for psychosocial disability counts, and set funding from the evidence for how much therapy is needed, not a flat level.
• Act quickly after a relapse. A relapse or hospital admission should lead to a fast plan change, not a full reassessment months later.
• Keep noise-cancelling headphones. For many autistic people they are a sensory regulation support, not a lifestyle item. They should still be funded where a therapist has assessed the need.