PACE and changes to the NDIS: The latest.

Girl sitting in front of a laptop with headphones on with a woman standing looking over the girls shoulder
Girl sitting in front of a laptop with headphones on with a woman standing looking over the girls shoulder

There are changes taking place within the NDIS.

These include a new computer system (called PACE), some new processes and additional NDIS support categories.

The new system is already rolling out to people getting their first NDIS Plan. Existing participants can also expect to be moved to the new system at the time of your next plan reassessment. Rollout of the system will take up to 18 months from late 2023.

Use these quick links if you’d like to jump ahead.

NDIS provider payment times.

To strengthen the NDIS by reducing fraud and non-compliant behaviour, the NDIA has announced some changes to the claims review process.

Starting March 2024, the NDIA is taking more time to check claims before they’re paid. This will extend payment timeframes by a minimum of 24 hours on top of existing payment turnaround times.

For some complex claims that require additional checks, payments made by the NDIA may take up to 10 days.

Female Leap in! team member smiling and wearing a telephone headset
Female Leap in! team member smiling and wearing a telephone headset

Getting a plan manager on PACE.

If your NDIS Plan is on the new PACE system simply call the NDIS on 1800 800 110 and ask them to endorse Leap in! as your plan manager – it’s that easy!

Or, if you’d rather us call the NDIS on your behalf you can use our simple online sign up and we’ll take it from there.

Find out more

What is the NDIS PACE system?

The NDIS PACE system is a new business system for the NDIS and its partners. It’s going to replace the existing computer system the NDIS uses to communicate with you and manage your NDIS Plan.

The NDIS says the new system is designed to:

  • Improve the participant and provider experience
  • Provide clearer and more consistent information about how decisions are made
  • Make systems and processes more consistent nationally
  • Make it easier to implement recent changes to the NDIS Act.

The system will hold participant information, enquiries, plans and budgets. It also connects to a new myNDIS participant portal.

Creating your NDIS Plan – What’s changing.

About four months before your plan reaches its reassessment date, your NDIS contact (Local Area Coordinator/Early Childhood Partner) or NDIA planner will be in touch to talk with you about your current plan.

They will work with you to do a plan reassessment.

They will ask you about:

  • How your plan is going
  • Your budgets and how you’ve used your funding
  • Any reports you have from providers
  • Any new or different information about your situation.

New plans may be for up to three years except for children under 9.

Top tip: It’s a good idea to confirm with your planner if you would like to manage your plan in the same way (plan manage, self manage or have the NDIA manage) and provide the name of your plan manager at this initial meeting when your preference is to plan manage.

 

Situation 1: If your new plan will be like your current plan.

If you’re generally happy with your current plan, the NDIS will use your current plan and budget as a starting point for your next plan. You won’t need to provide as many details and reports as you may have previously if your plan doesn’t need to change.

Your new plan will be like your current plan if:

  • Your support needs haven’t changed much
  • Only small changes or no changes are needed
  • Your plan continues to meet your needs
  • Your supports still meet the NDIS funding criteria.

Even if you need small changes, the NDIS can develop your new plan based on your current plan. When your plan is developed this way, you won’t need a plan meeting.

 

Situation 2: If your new plan needs to be different to your current plan.

If you need more, less or different supports, your NDIS contact will work with you to reassess your existing plan and develop a new plan.

They will explain the information and evidence you will need, how to gather the information and other details about the reassessment process. Once your plan is developed, you will be invited to a plan meeting.

Top tip: It’s important to confirm with your planner if you would like to manage your plan in the same way (plan manage, self manage or have the NDIA manage). You also need to provide the name of your plan manager at your plan reassessment if your preference is to plan manage.

 

What’s not changing?

  • How the NDIS makes decisions about funding. The “reasonable and necessary” test still applies
  • What the NDIS can fund
  • NDIS eligibility criteria.

Your NDIS Plan will still be based on your individual needs.

Plan reassessments, plan implementation meetings and participant check-ins.

Plan reassessments

You will only need to attend a plan reassessment if your new plan will be different to your current plan. A plan reassessment is an opportunity for you to request changes to your plan if needed.

The following processes have changed:

  • You will need to record your preferred providers (including your plan manager if you have one) at your plan meeting or plan reassessment
  • You will give consent for providers to see your plan if you want them to.

 

Optional plan implementation meetings.

The NDIS has introduced new plan implementation meetings which you may be offered to help you get started with and use your plan.

Plan implementation meetings will be with your NDIS partner (usually an Early Childhood Partner or Local Area Coordinator). These meetings are optional – you can choose whether to participate or not.

At plan implementation meetings, you can talk about:

  • How to use your plan to make the most of budgets and supports
  • How you will manage and pay for your supports
  • Getting support to make service agreements
  • The check-in process.

 

Participant check-ins.

The NDIS will contact you every 12 months or so for a participant check-in. Unlike plan implementation meetings, participant check-ins are not optional.

Participant check-ins involve your NDIS partner talking with you to see how your plan is working and how you’re going with your goals. It’s a way for the NDIS to ensure your plan still meets your needs, especially if you have a longer plan, such as three years. This doesn’t mean your plan has to change.

  • Check-ins will happen every year
  • You can take a family member, supporter or someone who helps you
  • Your NDIS contact may also check in with you if you haven’t spent your funds or are spending a lot of your NDIS Plan budget.

Changes to NDIS support categories.

When you transition to the PACE system, you will notice some changes to support categories. While most support categories remain the same, there are some new supports and names have changed for others.

Under Core supports, there is one new support category:

  • Home and living: Covers supports to help you live as independently as possible.

Under Capital supports, there are two new support categories:

  • Assistive Technology, maintenance, repair and rental
  • Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA).

Under Capacity Building, there is one new category and several category names are changing:

  • New support category: Behaviour support – This includes specialist behavioural intervention supports to help improve your quality of life.
  • Support coordination is renamed to Support coordination and psychosocial recovery coach
  • Improved relationships is renamed to Relationships
  • Improved health and wellbeing is renamed to Health and wellbeing
  • Improved learning is renamed to Lifelong learning
  • Improved life choices is renamed to Choice and control: This is where you can find your plan management funding.

 

Recurring support categories.

These are supports the NDIS pays to you directly on a regular basis. This means you don’t need to make a claim for these supports.

Currently, the only recurring category is Transport – this funding is for everyday transport needs.

Top tip: The new support categories are all stated supports. A stated support is funding in your NDIS Plan that is allocated for a specific support or service. The funding cannot be used for any item other than the one specified.

New support categories.

Home and living supports.

Home and living is a new support category under Core supports. It covers a range of stated supports that can help you live more independently. There is no flexibility with stated supports. They are restricted to using the funding as described in your plan.

Home and living supports include:

  • Supported Independent Living (SIL)
  • Medium term accommodation
  • Individualised living options (ILO)
  • Assistance with daily life tasks provided in a residential aged care facility.

 

Assistive technology maintenance, repair and rental.

Assistive technology maintenance, repair and rental is a new support category under Capital supports. This new support category splits maintenance, repair and rental off from the existing Assistive technology support category.

If you have assistive technology (AT) funding in your plan, you are likely to have some funding in this category. It covers short-term rental and trial of AT as well as repair and maintenance costs.

It is a stated support so must be used in the way described in your NDIS Plan.

 

Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA).

SDA is a new support category under Capital supports. This stated support is used to fund a specially designed house for people with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs.

 

Behaviour support.

This new support category under Capacity Building supports is designed to help individuals develop behavioural management strategies to reduce behaviours of concern. This includes specialist behavioural intervention supports to help improve quality of life.

Flexible Core supports.

The new-look NDIS plans will have more flexibility. When your funding is flexible, you can use it to buy supports from other flexible support categories, as long as they have the same fund
management type. For example, if all your Core support funding is plan managed.

Under the current system, plans have separate amounts listed for each support item under Core supports.

New plans will have the Core supports budget listed as a total figure to use flexibly across:

  • Assistance with daily living
  • Social and community participation
  • Consumables.

This flexibility does not include transport supports. Make sure you check your plan to see if your funding for these support categories is described as flexible or stated. Stated Core supports such as Supported Independent Living (SIL), Medium Term Accommodation (MTA) and Individualised Living Options (ILO) cannot be used flexibly.

Community connections: Connecting to supports in your area without an NDIS Plan.

If you have a disability and need help to access services and support in your community, an NDIS partner can help through the community connections service.

Community connections are available to people with disability aged 9 to 64, and their families. You don’t need to be on the NDIS or join the NDIS to get community connections support.

The NDIS partner (usually a local area coordinator or LAC) can talk to you about the services you access and what you need. They can then work with you to develop a personalised community connections plan to help you make the most of available services in your area.

This can include:

  • Help to access information
  • Support to access mainstream and community supports outside of the NDIS such as education, health services and social networks
  • Helping you connect with things in the community that are important to you
  • Connections with other people for peer support
  • Help to apply to the NDIS.

Developing a community connections plan is usually done over one or two meetings and doesn’t cost anything. You can also talk to an NDIS partner for advice about services that may be suitable for you without getting a community connections plan.

 

Early connections and the early childhood approach.

To find out about supports available for children under 9, check out the following Leap in! resources:

New NDIS website.

The NDIS has built a new website which is still being developed. It has loads of information about the changes and new systems and for people transitioning to the NDIS PACE system. The existing website remains live for people who haven’t moved to PACE.

New website https://improvements.ndis.gov.au

PACE FAQs: Your questions about the NDIS changes answered.

The NDIS says it’s making changes to improve participant experience, as well as ensure greater consistency in decisions made by staff.

It’s also implementing some recent changes to the NDIS Act, the main law governing how the NDIS operates.

PACE is the name of a new business computer system for NDIA staff and partners. It will replace the current system once the rollout is complete. It’s a big change so expected to take more than a year to complete.

PACE is the platform or program that the NDIS staff will use to manage participant information, enquiries, NDIS Plans and budgets. It will also connect to a new NDIS participant portal.

PACE started rolling out across the country on 30 October 2023. Anyone who is beginning the plan reassessment process after that date is likely to be moved to PACE.

Your NDIS contact (local area coordinator/early childhood partner) or NDIA planner will contact you and explain what happens next. They’ll ask you how your plan is going, how you’ve used your funding and anything that’s changed. You will only need to attend a plan meeting if your new plan will be different to your current plan.

At your planning meeting, your NDIS contact will tell you if your plan is under the PACE system. Each time you contact the NDIS, the operator will remind you which computer system your plan is under.

Your new plan may be longer, depending on your needs. The NDIS has said that it may offer longer plans of up to three years to people with stable support needs who are unlikely to go through a big transition during that time.

Young children and teenagers moving from school to further education/work are likely to receive shorter plans. You can ask your NDIS contact for a longer plan during the renewal process.

No. For longer plans, you will get the same budget for each year. That means you get an annual amount to manage and spend on supports and services you need to pursue your goals.

You won’t be able to dip into the next year’s funds if your funding runs out so it’s important to manage your budget carefully each year. Your budgets will be indexed annually in June based on any changes in price limits (same as currently).

A plan implementation meeting is a chance to meet with your NDIS contact after you get your new plan – it’s a new thing being introduced to help people get started and make the most of their plans.

Attending a plan implementation meeting is a good idea if you:

  • Are new to the NDIS
  • Are getting a new NDIS Plan
  • Have had changes to your current NDIS Plan
  • Have asked for changes to your NDIS Plan that have not been approved.

It’s not compulsory to attend. If you feel confident managing your plan by yourself or with your support coordinator and plan manager, you don’t need to attend a plan implementation meeting.

The way people apply to access the NDIS is changing.

If you are aged 9-65 and think you meet the NDIS access requirements you can contact your local NDIS office or NDIS partner. This person can then help connect you to disability supports in your local area or support you to apply for the NDIS, if you’re eligible.

If you’re applying on behalf of a child younger than 9, check out The NDIS early childhood approach for children under 9 and contact your local early childhood partner.

If you live in a remote or very remote area, have complex support needs or are in a hospital or justice setting, contact the NDIS for assistance. They can help you apply if you’re eligible. Or you can complete the NDIS access request form.

Your NDIS Plan will show a whole dollar figure for each support type rather than as a line-by-line cost, giving you more flexibility over how you use your total budget.

For example, you will see your Core supports budget as a total figure, to use flexibly across your assistance with daily living, social, community participation and consumables supports.

Capacity Building may still include stated supports that must be spent on a specified support or service. It cannot be flexibly spent on anything else.

Some changes are being made to support types and categories. Any new NDIS Plans generated after 30 October 2023 may reflect these changes.

There will now be 4 support types instead of three:

  1. Core
  2. Capacity Building
  3. Capital
  4. Recurring (new).

There have also been 6 new support categories added:

  • Home and Living (Core)
  • Behaviour Support (Capacity Building)
  • Assistive Technology Repairs and Rental (Capital)
  • Specialist Disability Accommodation (Capital)
  • Transport Recurring (Recurring)
  • Young People in Residential Aged Care (YPIRAC) (Core).

Recurring supports are where funds are paid directly on a regular basis into your nominated bank account. You don’t need to make a claim for these supports.

Recurring transport is a new support category for participants who receive transport funding (for people who cannot use public transport without substantial difficulty due to their disability). Funding will generally be the same amount as before, with eligible participants receiving it pro rata into their bank account on a fortnightly basis.

In most cases, Capacity Building supports have changed in name only. However, the following additions have been made:

  • Support coordination now covers support coordination and psychosocial recovery coaches
  • There is a new support category called Behaviour Supports.

The NDIS improvements website has loads of helpful information.

Eligibility for the NDIS is based on functional capacity, not diagnosis and this doesn’t change with the new system. However, how this information is recorded is different in the new system compared with the existing system.

The old system records all of a participant’s conditions and disabilities. However, it was limited to recording one disability as a person’s primary disability.

The new system will initially record primary disability but is designed to remove this requirement in the future once the supporting processes are complete.

You’ll find your plan management funding in the Choice and control support category under Capacity Building supports.