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NDIS New Framework Planning – What We Know So Far

Adult Youth NDIS Disability

This information is correct as at 12th March 2026.  Decisions and new rules made by the Commonwealth, States and Territories, and the NDIA could change how budgets are calculated, how the Flexible Budget and Stated Supports will work, and when people will transition to New Framework Planning.   

Your voice matters, as a community we can advocate together to help shape what New Framework Plans will look like.

The NDIA will be starting New Framework Planning with people over 18 years old who have less complex issues from 1st July 2026.  All participants aged 16 years and over will be transitioned to New Framework Planning by 2nd October 2029.  Participants under 16 years will transition to New Framework Planning from 1st July 2027 to 2nd October 2029.  There is no Support Needs Assessment tool chosen yet for participants under 16 years.

Right now, all NDIS participants have what the Government now calls ‘Old Framework Plans’.  These NDIS plans are built by funding reasonable and necessary supports in different support categories under the Core, Capacity Building and Capital budgets.  The Core budget is flexible, but the Capital and Capacity Building budgets have very little or no flexibility.  Participants need to get reports from treating professionals to prove what supports we need, and the NDIA planner decides what supports to fund.

In New Framework Planning, things will look very different.

 

Step 1:  Impairment Notice

Existing NDIS Participants will receive your Impairment Notice.  New participants have been sent their Impairment Notices with their letter approving access to the NDIS since 1st January 2025.  The impairment categories in the NDIS Act are:

  • intellectual
  • cognitive
  • sensory
  • neurological
  • physical
  • impairments relating to a psychosocial disability.

Autism is under the ‘neurological’ impairment category, and some autistic people may have other categories too, like Cognitive or Intellectual.  Depending on what disability or disabilities are listed in your NDIS file (both primary and secondary disabilities), you might have one, two, or more impairment categories in your Impairment Notice.  It’s a good idea to find out what disability or disabilities are in your NDIS file now, so that you can start getting more evidence to have your file corrected.  You can do this through the Participant Information Access Request.

Step 2:  Preparation Meeting

The Preparation meeting will be with a Local Area Coordinator (LAC) or NDIS Planner.  At this meeting you will find out more about what to expect in the Support Needs Assessment, check what evidence and information is on your NDIS file and be able to ask questions.  If there are any complex issues that would make it harder for you to transition to New Framework Planning in the next few weeks, the Preparation Meeting is a good time to explain that.

Step 3:  Notice of Transition to New Framework Planning

The Notice of Transition to New Framework Planning is a letter telling you that you will be changing to the New Framework Planning process.  Because of the changes to the NDIS Act in 2024, once you receive this letter, there is no going back to Old Framework Planning.

Step 4:  Support Needs Assessment

The Support Needs Assessment will take approximately three hours, which can be split into multiple meetings if needed.  It might be in-person or by video meeting.  The Support Needs Assessor will be a NDIA staff member.  Most will not be allied health professionals.  The Support Needs Assessor will use the I-CAN v6 to have a ‘conversation’ with you.  They will ask questions about your support needs, but won’t ask all of the questions in the I-CAN.  You can see an example of the I-CAN v6 sample report here.  They will also use the Personal and Environmental Circumstances Questionnaire (PECQ), which the NDIA are still developing.  We don’t know what the PECQ will include yet.  Some participants will be asked to get other reports from treating therapists if they need supports like Home or Vehicle Modifications, high or medium cost Assistive Technology, or Specialist Disability Accommodation.  The Assessor will then write your Support Needs Assessment report, which will be sent to the NDIA.

Step 5:  Receive and Use Your New Framework Plan

The Support Needs Assessment report and the PECQ, along with your Impairment Notice (and other reports for some supports if needed) will be used to calculate your New Framework Plan funding.  The Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments will agree on Rules that will say how the funding is calculated, and what funding will be in the Flexible Budget and what will be Stated Supports.  Once your Support Needs Assessment report has been sent to the NDIA, it will be calculated into your total funding amount, Flexible Budget and Stated Supports.  This information will then be sent to your NDIA Planner.  The Planner will not be able to change your total funding or Stated Supports.  The Planner will be able to decide:

  • How the funding is managed (Self Managed, Plan Managed or Agency Managed)
  • What Funding Periods are in your plan (maximum of 12 months, but may be 6, 3, or even 1 month)
  • What Restrictions will be made to your Flexible budget.
  • Whether the Support Needs Assessment report is valid, or there needs to be a new Support Needs Assessment done.

The NDIA Planner will have the power to restrict some, most or all of your Flexible Budget.  Restrictions to the Flexible Budget work the same as Stated Supports.  This means that you would only be able to spend that part of the funding for the purpose written in the plan.  The NDIA will most likely restrict some, most or all of the Flexible Budget to therapy.

Step 6:  Receive your New Framework Plan

When you receive your first New Framework Plan, it will look very different to your Old Framework Plan.  You will still be able to appeal the plan through the S100 Internal Review of Decision pathway.  You can appeal the whole plan, including the Support Needs Assessment report, how the funding is managed and the Funding Periods in your plan.  The Internal Reviewer will decide whether to order a new Support Needs Assessment, change how your funding is managed or the Funding Periods in your plan.  You can also appeal to the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) if you’re not happy with their decision.  But, the ART will only be able to order that the NDIA do a new Support Needs Assessment.

 

How Support Categories in Old Framework Plans Map to the Flexible Budget and Stated Supports in New Framework Plans

Support Type Name

 Supports Included

NFP Budget Type
In-home and Community Supports (IHCS)

  • Assistance with Daily Life
  • Assistance with Social, Economic & Community Participation
  • Home and Living Supports
 In-home care (self-care, nursing, complex behaviour supports, Supported Independent Living (SIL), Individual Living Options (ILO), live-in carers, etc.); Community access and group activities

Flexible Budget
Consumables Disability-related consumables, low-cost Assistive Technology, continence aids, Auslan, Home Enteral Nutrition (HEN)

Flexible Budget
Transport

Transport, specialised driver training

Flexible Budget
Therapy

  • Capacity Building – Improved Daily Living
 Therapeutic supports (e.g. Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Speech Pathology, Psychology etc.  It’s likely that the NDIA will restrict some, most or all of the Flexible Budget to Therapy.

Flexible Budget
Employment Supports (ES)

  • Capacity Building – Finding & Keeping   a Job
 Supports in employment, employment assessments and counselling

Flexible Budget
Assistive Technology (AT) Assets

  • Capital – Assistive Technology
  • Capital – Assistive Technology – Maintenance, Repair and Rental
 High‑ and mid‑cost assistive technology includes major equipment and related services such as modified furniture, communication and vision/hearing tools, home automation, prosthetics, vehicle and mobility aids (like wheelchairs), recreational equipment, and the set‑up, maintenance and repair of these items.

Stated Support
Support Coordination (SC) Support Coordination and Psychosocial Recovery Coaching

Stated Support
Short Term Respite (STR) Short‑term respite supports give participants time away from their main unpaid carers overnight, by funding accommodation and the supports needed to stay there, either individually or in a group setting.

Stated Support
Behaviour Supports (BS) Supports that create and carry out a behaviour support plan, including assessing and writing the plan, using interim plans, training and monitoring staff and informal supports in positive behaviour support, helping the person build social skills, and any extra transport needed to access these supports.

Stated Support
Plan Management Supports provided by a registered plan management provider to manage the funding of supports under a participant’s plan.

Stated Support
Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) Provision of Specialist Disability Accommodation.

Stated Support
Home Modifications (HM) Home modification supports pay for changes to a participant’s home so they can live there safely and as independently as possible, including installing equipment, structural and repair work related to disability or NDIS equipment, the design of these changes, and any required approvals or certifications.

Stated Support
Medium Term Accommodation (MTA) Medium‑term accommodation is temporary housing for a participant when their current home is unsuitable, and they cannot yet move into their long‑term home because it is not ready or the supports they need to live there are not available.

Stated Support
Residential Aged Care (RAC) NDIS supports provided to participants living in an approved residential care home.

Stated Support
Private Vehicle Transport

  • Transport payments paid as a periodic payment
 Private vehicle transport – costs for people unable to use public transport

Stated Support
Assistance Animals Supports that fund an eligible assistance animal, including assessing and matching the animal with the participant, providing food and grooming, vet care such as medications and vaccinations, and yearly reviews to keep the animal accredited.

Stated Support
In-Kind Supports Programs that are funded by State and Territory Governments:

  • Personal care in schools;
  • Specialist school transport.

Not budgeted in NFP (managed outside plan budget)

Table hard to read?  Download a PDF version here.

 

What We’re Concerned About

SWAN is concerned about a number of things in New Framework Planning.

  • The NDIS Reforms are being rushed to meet the Commonwealth Government’s deadline of 1st July 2026 for rollout of New Framework Planning. When huge changes are rushed, mistakes happen, and risks to participants may be missed by decision-makers.  We think that the Government must delay rollout of New Framework Planning until at least 2027.
  • There has been no real co-design of New Framework Planning with the disability community. The Government promised co-design of all NDIS reforms with the disability community, then set deadlines that didn’t allow time for co-design to happen.
  • We still haven’t seen the Rules for New Framework Planning. The Government must release all Rules for New Framework Planning, including the budget calculation method, so that the disability community can give meaningful feedback on the Rules.
  • Support Needs Assessments will mostly be done by NDIA staff who are not allied health professionals. We think that Support Needs Assessments should be done by allied health professionals with experience in the participant’s disability type.  Unless this happens, we are very concerned that information about participants’ support needs may not be fully included, and participants may receive New Framework Plans that don’t have enough funding to meet their needs.
  • The I-CAN may not be suitable for collecting information on the support needs of:
  1. autistic people,
  2. people with sensory disabilities,
  3. people with complex communication needs,
  4. people with degenerative disabilities,
  5. people with episodic or fluctuating disabilities,
  6. First Nations people, and
  7. people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) communities
  • There has been no full testing of Support Needs Assessments and the budget calculation with participants. NDIA has only tested the ‘experience’ of doing a Support Needs Assessment.
  • The NDIA found that there is currently no suitable tool for assessing the support needs of people under 16 years, yet the Government has set a start date of 1st July 2027 to start New Framework Planning for this age group.
  • The NDIA will be able to restrict some, most or all of the ‘Flexible Budget’.  We don’t think this is in line with the Government’s promise of flexible funding.
  • The changes to the NDIS Act in 2024 limited appeal rights for participants in New Framework Planning. The ART must be able to order the NDIA to increase a participant’s funding when it’s inadequate, and order a independent Support Needs Assessment be completed by allied health professionals not employed by the NDIA.

 

What You Can Do

  • SWAN are supporting Every Australian Counts’ advocacy on New Framework Planning.
  • Subscribe to Every Australian Counts to stay up to date with the changes, and how to have your say.
  • Contact your Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers and local members of Parliament and the Senate to tell them about your concerns.
  • Sign up to NDIS Engage to learn more about how to have your say on New Framework Planning.
  • Share your story by emailing info@everyaustraliancounts.com.au.

 

Find Out More:

Check out SWAN’s submission to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’s consultation on the New Framework Planning Rules.