How to prepare for your NDIS plan review (and get it right)

A plan review can feel daunting, but it is genuinely an opportunity: a chance to make sure your NDIS funding reflects how your life actually is now, not how it was a year ago. The participants who get the most out of a review are almost never the ones who talk fastest — they are the ones who walk in prepared. Here is how to be one of them.

First, know what a review is

A plan review (increasingly called a “plan reassessment”) is when the NDIA looks at your current plan and decides what your next one should contain. It usually happens as your plan nears its end date, but you can also request an early review if your circumstances change significantly — a health decline, a housing change, a carer no longer being available. The review is not a test you can fail; it is a decision point, and your job is to make sure the decision is based on a full, current picture of your life.

Start with your goals

Everything in your plan flows from your goals, so this is where preparation begins. Think about what you want the next 12 months to look like — more independence at home, learning a new skill, more community connection, a move toward work, study or volunteering, or simply staying well and safe. Write your goals down in your own words. Vague goals lead to vague funding; clear goals give the planner something concrete to fund toward.

Gather your evidence

Evidence is what turns a request into an approval. Before your review, pull together:

• Recent reports from allied health, doctors or specialists (occupational therapists, physios, psychologists, GPs)
• Notes on what has worked and what has not in your current plan
• Concrete examples of times you needed more support than you had
• Any changes in your health, circumstances or living situation
• A record of how your current funding was actually used (and where it ran short)

Show what changed

If your needs have grown, be specific about where and why. This is where most reviews are won or lost. A general statement like “I need more support” is easy to set aside. A concrete example — “the week my mum was in hospital I had no overnight support and it wasn’t safe”, or “my OT report shows I now need two people for transfers” — is far harder to ignore. Pair every request with a real situation and, where you can, a piece of evidence.

Think in the NDIS’s language: reasonable and necessary

The NDIA funds supports that are “reasonable and necessary” — related to your disability, good value, likely to be effective, and not something another system (like health or education) should provide. You do not need to memorise the legislation, but framing your requests in those terms helps. For each support you want, be ready to answer: how does this relate to my disability, and what does it help me do that I otherwise could not?

Prepare for the conversation itself

• Ask whether the meeting is by phone, video or in person, and how long it will run
• Have a support person, family member or coordinator with you if that helps
• Bring your goals and evidence in a form you can refer to easily
• Ask for anything you do not understand to be explained — it is your plan
• Take notes, or ask someone with you to, so you remember what was said

You do not have to do it alone

A support coordinator can help you prepare, gather evidence, articulate your goals and make the case for the funding you need — and can often join the meeting with you. Good preparation is one of the most valuable things a coordinator does, and it frequently makes the difference between a plan that just carries over and one that genuinely reflects your life.

If your review is coming up and you feel underprepared, that is reason to reach out sooner rather than later. The earlier the preparation starts, the stronger the case you can build.