The NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) aims to give families of children with disability more choice and control over the supports that your child receives. Below we take a look at the process involved.

Preparation

It’s important to be as well prepared as possible for the NDIS. Once you’ve confirmed that your child is eligible for the NDIS, you’ll want to understand the basics of how the NDIS works. This includes the types of supports that the NDIA will fund and the criteria for receiving supports. Here are some useful links to get you started with your preparation:

• There are lots of new words and terms associated with the NDIS, check out this simple NDIS Glossary for the most important ones
• Understand the Reasonably and Necessary criteria applied to your request for your child’s supports
• Understand the NDIS Funding Categories
• Book in and get prepared for your Planning Meeting and understand what you need to take along with you.

Planning Meeting

The planning meeting is a conversation between yourself and a Local Area Coordinator (LAC) or a Planner and will help decide what supports get included in your child’s NDIS plan. Being well prepared for your child’s NDIS planning meeting will help to get the best outcomes and funding for the support that your child needs to meet their goals.

This NDIS Planning Meeting Checklist will help you to communicate important information on the day of your planning meeting as well as help you to plan in advance and structure your meeting and the information that you need to provide to get the most out of your NDIS plan.

Set goals for your child

As part of the planning meeting process you will set the goals that are to be included in your child’s plan. These are the goals that they will work towards with support. Your child’s goal will be unique to them, here are some examples:

• To move around more independently
• To develop friendships
• To be able to play safely at home
• To communicate with my friends in a way that they understand me
• To move from one activity to the next without feeling overwhelmed
• To be more active
• To dress myself
• To go to the toilet by myself

Understanding your child’s plan

After your planning meeting you will receive your child’s NDIS plan. It’s important to take the time to understand the plan and the funding that has been allocated. Make sure that all of the details in the plan are correct. If you spot any issues or have any concerns you can ask for a plan review.

Finding the right support

Once you’re happy with your child’s plan the next step is to find the right providers to deliver the supports in your child’s plan.

If you have Support Coordination included in your child’s plan, finding a Support Coordinator is a good first step as they can then help you find providers to deliver the supports your child needs. Other important steps to consider when choosing providers for your child are:

• Seek referrals from your child’s health / hospital team as they will understand your child’s needs and the providers that might be a good fit
• Seek recommendations from other families of children with disability in your network
• Research online to find providers that specialise in the types of support that your child needs
• Talk with potential providers over the phone or in person to get a good understanding of the support that they will provide

Managing your funding

Once your child is receiving NDIS funded supports, you’ll need to track your budget (to avoid under or over-spending) and pay your providers when they invoice you. If you are Plan Managed your Plan Manager can do this on your behalf which will save you the time involved in the financial administration of your child’s plan. If you prefer to look after this yourself it’s a good idea to allocate an average of 1.5 hours per week to take care of your NDIS finances.

Plan Review

At the end of your child’s plan period, their plan review will take place. You will need to provide feedback on the supports received during the plan period and whether they met your child’s needs and helped them to reach their goals. You can have your plan review meeting face-to-face, over the phone, or even via a video call if available - whatever suits you best. You may need to provide assessments or reports from some of your child’s service providers for their plan review meeting. This is to show how their supports and services are going. Find out more about NDIS Plan Reviews.

Further Information

Our sister organisation InFocus have a team or Brisbane based Plan Managers and Support Coordinators ready to help you get the most out of your child’s plan. Simply email enquiries@infocusdisability.org.au or call 1800 928 437 to find out more.