Somewhere near the end of your plan, the NDIS will look at whether it still matches your needs. Sometimes that is a light-touch check and the plan rolls over. Sometimes it is a full reassessment meeting that decides your funding for the next year or longer. You usually cannot control which one you get. You can absolutely control how prepared you are.
How reassessment actually works
Three things are useful to know up front:
- It is not automatic that funding continues. Each plan is built on the evidence in front of the planner at the time. Supports that are not backed by evidence are the ones that quietly shrink.
- Plans do not suddenly stop. If your plan reaches its end date before a new one is approved, the old plan generally keeps operating until the new one lands. Nobody should be left with no funding overnight.
- The meeting may be by phone or video. You can ask for face-to-face, ask for a longer meeting, and bring anyone you like: family, advocate, support coordinator or a provider who knows your needs.
The evidence that moves the needle
Planners make decisions on paper, not vibes. In rough order of weight:
1. Reports from your therapists and providers
An occupational therapist, physio, psychologist or support provider writing specifically about your support needs and what happens without support is the strongest card you hold. Ask for these 6 to 8 weeks before the meeting, because good reports take time. The magic ingredients in a useful report: what support you receive now, what it achieves, what would deteriorate without it, and what is recommended next, with hours or frequency attached.
2. A support diary
Two ordinary weeks of "what support actually happened today and what would have gone wrong without it" beats a vague description every time. It does not need to be fancy. Date, what help was needed, who provided it, what it took. Hard days included.
3. Your spending story
If you used your funding fully, that supports continuing it. If you underspent, be ready to explain why: provider waitlists, hospital time, no suitable services in your area. An explained underspend is context; an unexplained one looks like over-funding.
4. Incident and change evidence
Falls, hospital admissions, lost supports (a carer who moved away, a program that closed), new diagnoses. Changes in circumstances are exactly what reassessments exist to capture, but only if they get said out loud and ideally on paper.
What to say in the meeting (and what not to)
The single most common mistake is answering "how are you going?" the way we are all socially trained to: "pretty well, thanks." In this one meeting, social politeness works against you, because funding follows support needs, not resilience.
- Describe the bad days, and how often they come. "On a bad week, which is about one in three, I cannot shower safely without help" is precise and honest.
- Describe what support makes possible. Not "the support worker is lovely" but "with support I get to my medical appointments; without it I missed four last year."
- Anchor everything to your goals. Plans are built around goals, so connect supports to them: "to keep living independently, I need..."
- Do not minimise, and do not exaggerate. Planners read hundreds of these. Accuracy with evidence is more persuasive than either stoicism or drama.
Bring a one-page summary. Top of page: your goals. Middle: current supports and what each achieves. Bottom: what has changed and what you are asking for. Hand it over at the start. You have just made the planner's job easier and steered the agenda at the same time.
The 6-week preparation checklist
| When | Do |
|---|---|
| 6-8 weeks out | Request updated reports from every therapist and key provider. Be explicit: "this is for my NDIS reassessment, please include recommendations with hours." |
| 4 weeks out | Start the support diary. Check your spending against each budget in the portal or with your plan manager. |
| 3 weeks out | Write the one-page summary: goals, current supports, what changed, what you are asking for. |
| 2 weeks out | Decide who is coming with you and brief them. Chase any reports still outstanding. |
| 1 week out | Read your current plan once more. Note anything stated in it you rely on, so it does not silently disappear. |
| On the day | Documents in one folder (paper or digital), one-pager on top, phone charged if it is a phone meeting. Say the bad-day truth. |
After the meeting: checking and challenging
When the new plan arrives, read it the same week, against the old one:
- Has any budget category shrunk or vanished? (Our budget guide explains the categories.)
- Are supports you rely on still there, with similar hours?
- Is the plan management type what you asked for?
If something important got cut, you do not have to accept it. Ask the NDIA for an internal review (generally within three months of the decision), and if that fails, the Administrative Review Tribunal sits behind it. Disability advocates can help with both, free. The earlier you start, the better the odds, and fresh provider letters supporting the specific cut item are the most useful thing you can add.
Quick answers
What if my plan ends before the reassessment happens?
The existing plan generally continues under the same arrangements until the new one is approved. Supports should not suddenly cut out.
Should I sound positive, or describe my worst days?
Be accurate, including about hard days. Funding follows support needs, and only describing good days understates yours. Describe what a bad day looks like and how often they happen.
Can someone come with me?
Yes - family, a friend, an advocate, your support coordinator or a provider. A second person who knows your needs catches what you forget.
What if the new plan is worse?
Request an internal review from the NDIA, generally within three months. Beyond that sits the Administrative Review Tribunal. Free disability advocates can help with both.