Planning

Once your access request is approved the next step is the planning meeting. This can occur with either a local area coordinator (LAC for short) or a planner. A planning meeting is where the NDIA collect information about the person with disability and the person with disability can put funding requests forward. After the planning meeting, a participant is provided a plan which outlines what supports have been funded.

It is important that you have evidence to support your funding requests. VALiD have created a guide which outlines 10 steps to excellent NDIS reports, which can help practitioners understand how NDIS reports need to be written.

It is recommended that you write down your goals, participant statement and funding requests before going into the planning meeting. This ensures nothing is accidentally forgotten. The NDIS website has an entire section on planning, as well as a planning booklet. There are other planning resources such as the pre-plan template by Summer Foundation and a comprehensive booklet by Independence Australia. The person with disability may find that one of these documents are more relevant to them than the other.

It is also important for you to know how you want to manage your NDIS plan. The Western Australian Department of Communities have developed an informative table to understand your options, your responsibilities and the flexibility that comes with different management options.