Therapy Report Writing for NDIS Plan Reassessments

How to Write an NDIS Therapy Report for a Plan Reassessment or NDIS Access Application

This guide is for allied health professionals writing a report to support an NDIS participant’s plan reassessment or NDIS application. It sets out the information the NDIS asks to see in a report.

A strong report explains your therapy approach, the outcomes achieved during the reporting period and the participant’s progress towards their goals. It also provides evidence about the supports the participant needs to keep working towards those goals.

In this guide

• Step 1: Understand what an NDIS therapy report is
• Step 2: Outline your service details
• Step 3: Demonstrate progress towards goals
• Step 4: Define additional supports needed
• Step 5: Give detailed recommendations
• Step 6: Share the report with the participant
• Tips for writing a report that works for the participant

Step 1: Understand what an NDIS therapy report is

Allied health providers write NDIS application and NDIS plan reassessment reports to support a participant’s access request or plan reassessment.

The report should explain your therapy approach and provide evidence of the outcomes achieved and progress made towards the participant’s goals.

The report helps the NDIA understand:

• the outcomes you and the participant achieved during the reporting period; and
• the supports the participant needs to work towards their goals.

Step 2: Outline your service details

Include the following details about the service you provided:

• the type of service provided;
• the therapeutic approach used;
• the duration of supports;
• the frequency of supports;
• the goals you and the participant worked towards; and
• the intended outcome of providing the supports.

Step 3: For Plan Reassessments: Demonstrate the participant’s progress towards their goals

Show how the NDIS supports you delivered helped the participant work towards their goals.

Assess changes in functional capacity

To show progress towards goals, your report should:

• summarise the participant’s functional capacity at the start of the plan period;
• describe the assessment measures used to measure functional capacity, such as the Timed Up and Go test (TUG), the 6-minute walk test or the Berg Balance Scale (BBS);
• provide evidence of the therapies that were trialled;
• describe progress towards the participant’s goals, including a summary of the assessment measures used to quantify that progress; and
• measure and describe how the participant’s functional ability is progressing towards their therapy outcomes and goals.

Document barriers or challenges to progress

Describe any barriers or challenges that affected the participant’s progress and explain how you addressed them.

Include:

• whether you considered, or needed to review, your therapy approach to help the participant overcome the barriers or challenges; and
• why a therapy outcome was not achieved, where relevant.

Highlight any risks to the participant

If there were risks to the participant while NDIS supports were being delivered, describe the risks and how you addressed them.

Example: linking therapy outcomes to an NDIS goal

Participant goal: Increase the ability to get up from a bed or chair and walk independently within the home.

How therapy outcomes support that goal: A 25% increase in standing balance and lower-limb strength may increase the participant’s ability to move independently around their home.

Step 4: Define additional supports the participant needs

A plan reassessment report can explain whether a participant needs extra support (aka funding) to work towards their goals.

In your report:

• define the additional NDIS, informal, community or mainstream supports that could help the participant work towards their goals; and
• summarise any informal, community or mainstream supports you recommended or referred the participant to.

Step 5: Give detailed recommendations

Give detailed, evidence-based recommendations for NDIS, informal, community or mainstream supports.

Your report should:

• summarise the supports you recommend for the participant in the next plan period, including the participant’s expected progress towards their goals; and
• justify recommendations for more or different NDIS supports.

  Explain the expected outcomes and any risks or impacts on other NDIS supports, where relevant.

When making recommendations, consider these questions:

• Are the recommendations within your scope of practice and expertise?
• How are the recommended supports linked to the participant’s therapy outcomes and goals?
• How will the supports enhance and work well with the participant’s life and environment?
• What risks, if any, could the participant face if the recommended supports are not provided?

The information and evidence in the report helps the NDIA decide whether recommended NDIS supports meet the reasonable and necessary criteria for funding.

Step 6: Share the report with the participant

After writing the report, share it with the participant. They can then give it to the NDIA during their plan reassessment.

If you have the participant’s consent, you can also upload the report through the provider portal.

Tips: It’s the NDIS, it’s never straight forward!