Tips for your NDIS Plan Meeting
Your NDIS planning meeting can be lengthy, and at times overwhelming or even confusing.
This is such an important meeting, as it influences the type and size of plan funding you receive.
- Don’t go alone. Even if you don’t need help communicating, bring someone for moral support. Prep them beforehand on the key things you want to remember so they can help you stay on track.
- Write down the questions you have, and the information you absolutely must communicate.
- Keep a log or journal of your disability-related needs over a week. Write down everything you do or spend that you would not do or spend if you did not have a disability. Give a copy to your NDIS or LAC planner at your planning meeting.
- Write up two weekly calendars – one showing how your life looks now, and one showing how you would like it to look if you had the funding you need. Give a copy of each to your planner.
- Bring a copy of any recent reports or assessments (from the last 12 months) from allied health professionals, if you have them. If you don’t, don’t stress – there’s no need to pay for extra reports before your planning meeting.
- Write down your goals. This is how your funding is determined, and you will need to record them in your plan. Think about broad, exciting goals that expand your world – try a new sport, join a new group, think about getting a job or starting a business, or moving out of home.
As a minimum, you will need two goals for the next year, and one or two longer term goals to include in your plan. See our resources on writing goals. - Decide how you want to manage your NDIS plan before your planning meeting. Funding for plan management is in addition to your plan funding. With the right plan manager like Plan Hero, you will feel supported and looked after.
Plan management can’t be denied to any participant or nominee who asks for it, and the funds for it are on top of your regular plan funds. To have Plan Hero be your plan manager, give these details to the NDIS or your planner:
Plan Hero Pty Ltd trading as Plan Hero
Provider Number: 4050079575
ABN: 43 641 197 659 - Think about whether you need or want someone to help you manage your NDIS plan. This is different to having someone accompany you to the meeting. You may want a parent, sibling, or unpaid carer you trust to be your nominee, which means they can act on your behalf with the NDIS.
- Your planning meeting can be done by phone, at the NDIS or LAC offices, out in the community, or in your home. Let your planner know what works best for you. See our tips for an NDIS planning meeting by phone.
- At the start of your planning meeting (or sometimes before, on the phone) you will be asked questions designed to work out your level of disability-related needs. These questions are a big part of what decides your funding levels.
Concentrate, ask them to repeat or explain the question if you are unsure. Answer slowly and always think of the hardest day or the most challenging time when you respond.
Sources
This resource has been shared with full consent from The Growing Space.
