Understanding your plan
Getting ready for your plan reassessment, without the dread
The meeting that decides your funding for the next year or two. A bit of preparation changes how it goes, and most of that preparation is just writing things down as they happen.
A plan reassessment is the meeting where your plan is looked at again and a new one is written. People still call it a plan review, and the NDIA still knows what you mean.
Most people walk in underprepared, not because they are careless, but because the useful information is the sort you forget by Thursday.
Start writing things down now
You do not need a system. A note in your phone is enough. What you want, when the meeting comes, is specifics.
- The shift that got cancelled and what that meant for your week.
- The appointment you missed because there was no transport.
- The thing you can now do on your own that you could not do last year.
- The support that turned out to be the wrong fit, and why.
Describe a hard week, not a good day
This is the part people get wrong, and it costs them. On the day of the meeting, most of us put our best face on. We say we are managing. We minimise.
Planners are working from what you tell them. If you describe your best day, you will be funded for your best day. Describe an ordinary week, including the parts that go badly, and say how often the bad parts happen.
It is not complaining. It is the only accurate answer to the question they are asking.
Bring the paperwork that backs it up
- Reports from your allied health people, if you have them.
- Your current plan, with the parts you used and the parts you did not.
- Anything that has changed: a new diagnosis, a new house, a carer who can no longer help.
- Your goals, in your words. They belong to you, not to the planner.
You do not have to go alone
Take a family member, a friend, an advocate, your support coordinator, or your provider. Ask for an interpreter if you want one — it is free, and the meeting will be better for it.
When the new plan arrives
Read it against what you asked for. If something you talked about is missing, ask why. If you disagree with a decision, you can ask for an internal review, and there are time limits on that, so do not sit on it.
If we support you and a reassessment is coming up, tell us. We can put together what we have seen on shift, which is often exactly the detail that is missing.
General information only. For advice about your own plan, talk to your planner, your support coordinator, or ring us on 0435 785 828.
