When the new NDIS plan arrives, does your client know what to do next?

There was a question from one of my OTs last week that stopped me in my tracks.

What happens when there hasn’t been a significant change in a participant’s function or circumstances, but their plan simply didn’t have enough funding in it to begin with?

(P.S. If you're not up to speed on the new requirements around "significant change in function" read more about it here: https://www.verveotlearning.com.au/blog/ndis-plan-reassessments-understanding-the-changes-from-27-august-2026)

My immediate response was that this is exactly why the section 100 review process matters. If the participant disagrees with the decision the NDIA has made about their plan, they generally have three months to request an internal review of that decision.

Then came the next part.

“But the three months have already passed.”

And that is where this becomes much bigger than knowing which NDIS form to complete.

Writing the report is only part of our job

There has been a lot of discussion recently about the changes to plan reassessments, variations and reviews (read more here: https://www.verveotlearning.com.au/blog/review-reassessment-or-variation-what-ots-need-to-know-now)

But this conversation made me think about what happens after our report leaves our hands.

A participant might have had an excellent functional capacity assessment. We might have clearly described their function, support needs and recommendations.

Then the new plan arrives.

Do we know what was funded?

Does the participant understand whether the plan reflects the evidence we provided?

Does the family know there may be a time limit if they disagree with the decision?

Or do we simply continue providing therapy until, months later, somebody realises the funding was insufficient from the beginning?

Under the current NDIS processes, that distinction matters.

If nothing significant and ongoing has changed, waiting until funding becomes a problem and may leave the participant with fewer options than they had when the plan was first issued.

We can’t assume somebody else is watching

This becomes particularly challenging when there is no Support Coordinator involved.

I hear from OTs who complete an FCA and never hear the outcome. Often there are participants who don’t want to disclose how much funding they received. There are historical reasons for some of this.

For years, participants were advised not to tell providers how much funding was in their plans because of concerns that services would simply use whatever was available.

I understand why our clients may still be cautious.

But we now have to balance that caution against the practical reality that participants need to understand what has been funded and what options are available if the decision does not meet their needs.

We cannot support somebody to act within a timeframe if nobody knows the clock has started.

Taking the lead doesn’t mean taking over

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the role OTs will play as the NDIS continues to change.

For me, taking the lead does not mean making decisions for participants or stepping outside our role. It means helping people understand the process surrounding the clinical work we are already doing.

At onboarding, we can ask why the assessment is being requested.

When preparing a report, we can clarify how it is intended to be used.

When a new plan arrives, we can encourage the participant or family to look at the outcome rather than assuming everything is fine.

If recommendations haven’t been funded, we can help them understand that there may be options they need to explore promptly.

That doesn’t mean the OT needs to become the participant’s NDIS administrator. It does mean we need enough understanding of the system to recognise when timing matters.

This is also about communication

There is another side to this.

We cannot expect families to tell us about plan outcomes if we have never explained why that information might be relevant.

Instead of simply saying, “Send me your new plan”, we can explain the reason for the conversation.

Did the new plan include the supports we assessed as being required?

Has anything important been left out?

Does the participant understand the decision they received and what they can do if they disagree with it?

They do not necessarily need to hand over every detail of their plan for us to have that conversation.

The goal is not to control their funding. It is to make sure an opportunity to respond to a decision isn’t unintentionally lost.

Our role is changing

I don’t think any OT can know every detail of an NDIS system that continues to evolve, that can take time.

 But I do think we need to become increasingly aware of what happens around our clinical recommendations.

A technically excellent report has limited value if the participant doesn’t know what to do when the decision comes back.

So perhaps one of the questions we need to add to our practice isn’t another assessment question at all.

It’s a follow-up question.

Your new plan has arrived. What did the NDIA decide? Now, what do we need to do next?