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If you or your child receives NDIS-funded occupational therapy or speech therapy, you have probably heard that significant changes are coming. The Federal Government is overhauling the entire NDIS planning process, introducing a new way of building plans that will affect how budgets are set, how support needs are assessed, and how long plans last.
These NDIS plan changes are the most substantial since the scheme launched. They start rolling out from 1 July 2026, beginning with participants aged 16 and over. Understanding what is coming, and what you can do to prepare, can make a real difference to the supports you receive.
This article explains what is changing, what it means specifically for therapy access, and what practical steps you can take right now.
Replacing the current planning system from 1 July 2026 (participants aged 16+)
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The NDIA contacts you with information to help you get ready. You can gather supporting documents, bring a support person, and note your daily life goals. Your current plan stays active until a new one is made.
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A trained NDIA assessor meets with you to discuss your daily life and support needs using the I-CAN v6 tool — a strengths-based framework covering 12 life domains. A family member or carer can attend with you.
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The NDIA uses the assessment report to calculate your total funding amount and create your plan. You receive an explanation of how your budget was determined — either as flexible funding or stated supports.
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An optional implementation meeting is available. You choose and purchase supports from the NDIS Supports List. Plans will run for longer periods with fewer scheduled reviews.
Under the Getting the NDIS Back on Track Act 2024, the Federal Government is replacing the current planning process with what it calls “new framework planning.” The changes affect three core areas: how your support needs are assessed, how your budget is calculated, and how your plan is structured.
Currently, participants and families often need to gather expensive therapy reports and allied health assessments to support their plan. Under the new model, a trained NDIA assessor conducts a structured conversation with you — called a Support Needs Assessment (SNA) — using a tool called the I-CAN v6. This covers 12 areas of daily life, from personal care and mobility to communication and community participation.
Your budget will shift from three separate categories (Core, Capacity Building, Capital) to a simpler structure of flexible funding and stated supports. Flexible funding can be used for any approved NDIS support, giving you more freedom in how you manage your therapy budget.
The NDIA has confirmed that participants do not need to do anything right now. Current plans stay in place until you move to the new system, and you will be contacted before anything changes for you.
Occupational therapy and speech therapy remain funded NDIS supports under the new rules. Both services are explicitly listed on the NDIS Supports List and will continue to be accessible for participants who need them.
However, the shift in how budgets are calculated introduces real questions for families and participants who rely on therapy. Under the current system, a detailed Functional Capacity Assessment completed by your occupational therapist directly informs your plan. Under the new system, the NDIA assessor’s report drives the budget calculation. Your therapy evidence can still be submitted, but how much weight it will carry in the new process is not yet fully confirmed.
This makes one thing clear: having thorough, up-to-date therapy documentation before your assessment is more important than ever.
Disability advocacy organisations including Every Australian Counts and Advocacy for Inclusion have raised concerns that the new process relies heavily on a point-in-time conversation. For people with fluctuating conditions, complex communication needs, or a disability that affects how they present in unfamiliar situations, a single assessment interview may not capture the full picture.
This is where your treating therapist’s knowledge genuinely counts. An occupational therapist who knows you, or who has worked with your child over time, can document support needs in a way that a single conversation simply cannot replicate. That documentation can be submitted alongside the SNA and, where accepted, helps build a more complete picture of what you actually need.
For parents of children with autism or developmental delay: Children under 18 are not in the initial 2026 rollout. The separate Thriving Kids program, which launches in January 2028, will affect children aged 0–8 with low-to-moderate developmental needs. Children with significant or permanent disability will remain eligible for the NDIS. Our previous post on the Thriving Kids model explains this in detail.
Whether your plan review is coming up soon or you won’t transition to the new framework for some time, there are practical steps you can take now to put yourself in the best position.
Reports from your occupational therapist, speech pathologist, or other allied health professionals should ideally be no more than 12 months old at the time of your assessment. If your therapist has not written a recent report, speak to them about scheduling one before your plan review or transition notice arrives.
A Functional Capacity Assessment conducted by an occupational therapist provides the most comprehensive documentation of how your disability affects everyday activities. It covers personal care, household tasks, mobility, communication, and more. This report can be submitted to the NDIA alongside your SNA and remains one of the most useful pieces of evidence you can have.
Vague descriptions of progress are less useful than measurable, specific ones. Work with your therapist to document outcomes like “now independently manages morning personal care routine” or “communicates needs using AAC device in 80% of daily situations.” These specifics carry much more weight than general statements about improvement.
Unexplained underspending in your current plan can signal to the NDIA that you need less funding than you actually do. If there is a gap between what you are funded for and what you are spending, document the reasons — therapy waitlists, provider shortages, or difficulty finding suitable supports in your area are all legitimate explanations worth noting.
Your NDIS plan goals form the basis for the supports you are funded for. Goals like “I want to live more independently” are too broad. “I want to safely prepare a meal at home without assistance” gives the NDIA a clear picture of what supports are needed and how progress can be measured.
The current NDIS plan review process — now officially called a “plan reassessment” — still applies until you transition to the new framework. Understanding how it works is useful whether you are due for a reassessment under the current rules, or preparing for the shift to the new system.
The NDIA will typically contact you about six weeks before your plan’s end date. From that point, gathering therapy reports, progress notes, and updated goals takes time — so ideally you should be preparing two to three months in advance. Once a reassessment is under way, the official timeframe for completing it is between 28 and 42 days, though more complex situations can take longer.
If your circumstances change significantly before your scheduled review — a new diagnosis, changes to your living situation, or a significant shift in your support needs — you can request an early plan reassessment. The NDIA will consider this alongside supporting evidence.
Our occupational therapists at Zenzability can help you put together the right evidence, whether that’s a Functional Capacity Assessment, an updated therapy report, or clear, measurable goals that reflect your genuine support needs. We work with NDIS participants and families across the Macarthur region, including Campbelltown, Camden, Narellan, and surrounding areas.
It is worth being honest about the concerns that have been raised about these changes. Advocacy organisations representing people with disability have not uniformly welcomed the new framework. Advocacy for Inclusion warned in February 2026 that there are significant risks participants could be worse off, and that the assessment process itself could cause harm for people with trauma histories, fluctuating conditions, or complex communication needs.
Every Australian Counts has called for the rollout to be delayed to at least 2027, and for the budget calculation rules — which determine how assessment scores translate into dollar amounts — to be made publicly available before the system launches. Those rules have not yet been released.
We share these concerns because our participants and their families deserve an honest picture of what is happening. We are watching the rollout closely and will update our advice as more detail becomes available.
The new framework planning process starts from 1 July 2026 for participants aged 16 and over. It will be phased in gradually — most participants won’t see changes immediately. The NDIA will contact you before anything changes for you, and your current plan stays in place until a new one is made. Children under 16 begin transitioning from 1 July 2027.
A Support Needs Assessment (SNA) is a structured conversation between you and a trained NDIA assessor. It uses a tool called I-CAN v6, which covers 12 areas of daily life including self-care, communication, mobility, and community participation. The assessment can take up to three hours. You can bring a family member, carer, or support person with you.
Under the current rules, the NDIA has an official timeframe of 28–42 days to complete a reassessment once it is under way. Simple reviews with clear evidence typically take 6–8 weeks from the initial contact to receiving your new plan. More complex situations, particularly those involving changes to living arrangements or significant new needs, can take three to six months.
Yes. Occupational therapy and speech therapy remain funded NDIS supports under the new framework. Both are listed on the NDIS Supports List. However, the way budgets are calculated is changing, which is why having up-to-date therapy reports and a current Functional Capacity Assessment matters. Good documentation helps ensure your therapy needs are reflected in your plan.
Yes. If your circumstances change significantly — a new diagnosis, a change in your living situation, a major shift in your support needs, or the loss of informal supports — you can request an early plan reassessment. You will need to provide supporting evidence to explain why your current plan is no longer meeting your needs.
The most useful therapy reports for NDIS include: a description of how your disability specifically affects your daily activities (not just your diagnosis), standardised assessment scores that provide objective data, quantified support needs including frequency and intensity, measurable progress outcomes, and a clear statement of what supports are needed and why, linked to your NDIS goals. A Functional Capacity Assessment provides the most comprehensive version of this evidence.
These terms refer to the same process. The NDIA officially changed the name from “plan review” to “plan reassessment,” but most participants and providers still use both terms interchangeably. A scheduled reassessment happens at the end of your plan period, while an unscheduled reassessment can be requested when circumstances change.
