How to prepare for your child’s NDIS plan reassessment

By The Jay Way team

Published 24 October 2026 · Checked against official sources 24 October 2026

A plan reassessment is when the NDIA replaces your child’s current NDIS plan with a new one. As at 24 October 2026, every plan has a reassessment date, and you can also ask for a reassessment earlier if your child’s needs have significantly changed in a way that is likely to continue. To prepare, gather recent reports that show what has changed, think about your child’s goals, and know your options if you disagree with the outcome.

The short version: the NDIS now calls this a “plan reassessment”, although many families still say “plan review”. The NDIA will contact you before a scheduled reassessment. If you want one earlier, you need to use the plan reassessment request form and include recent evidence. Bring therapy progress reports, your child’s goals, and a clear picture of what has changed since the last plan. If you disagree with a decision, you can ask for an internal review within 3 months.

Is a plan reassessment the same as a plan review?

The NDIS’s current guidelines use “plan reassessment” and “reassessment date” for the time your child gets a new plan. Many families still say “plan review”, so you may hear both. In the NDIS guidelines, the word “review” now describes something different: asking the NDIA to look again at a decision it made, called an internal review.

A plan reassessment is different from a plan variation. A variation is a change to your current plan, for example to change how funding is managed, to add urgent short-term funding or to fix an error.

When does a plan reassessment happen?

There are two main paths.

• Scheduled: every plan has a reassessment date, and the NDIA looks at your plan with you by that date. The NDIS says it will contact participants 2 to 3 months before a scheduled reassessment, and you can choose whether it happens by phone, video call or face to face.
• Earlier than scheduled: you can ask, or the NDIA can decide to do one itself, if the plan no longer meets your child’s disability support needs.

Since 27 August 2026, the criteria for asking for an earlier reassessment are tighter. There needs to be a significant and ongoing change to your child’s functional capacity or to their living, education, work or informal support arrangements. Examples in the NDIS guideline include starting school, a change in living arrangements (for a child, moving into out of home care) and a significant change to the informal supports, such as family, the person relies on.

The NDIA also runs check-ins during a plan. It may check in each year, before the reassessment date, if the plan may not be working, or when you ask for one.

How do I ask for an earlier plan reassessment?

1. Complete the NDIS plan reassessment request form.
2. Attach recent evidence that shows the significant and ongoing change.
3. Send both by the service hub, by post to NDIA, GPO Box 700, Canberra ACT 2601, or hand them to your my NDIS contact or local office.

Only the participant, their plan nominee, their child representative or a legal guardian can make the request. You can’t give consent to a provider to ask on your behalf. If the request isn’t on the form with the information and evidence the NDIA needs, it isn’t a valid request and the NDIA can’t decide it.

The NDIA has 90 days from a valid request to decide. It can reassess the plan, vary it, or decide not to reassess. The NDIS says you can keep using your current plan while it decides. If no decision is made within 90 days, the request is treated as declined and reviewed automatically.

What should I gather before the reassessment?

The NDIS says evidence needs to be recent: within 4 months of the date you ask, and after your child’s current plan was approved. It should come from an appropriately qualified professional. The NDIS lists examples such as a GP or medical specialist, an allied health professional, a psychologist or mental health practitioner, and a behaviour support practitioner. Types of evidence it lists include a letter or report from a treating professional, a new functional capacity assessment, a behaviour support plan and a psychology report.

Useful things to collect:

• Therapy progress reports. The NDIS says it may ask for evidence of progress towards goals before a reassessment. A progress report should cover what supports your child received, how they helped, any measurable gains, how supports are coordinated, and any barriers.
• Early childhood progress reports. For children in the early childhood approach, the NDIS says providers will give you a report on your child’s progress. You can pass it to your my NDIS contact, upload it, or ask your provider to send it for you.
• Evidence of what has changed. This could be a new assessment, a school report, or a letter from a treating professional that explains the effect on daily activities.
• Your own notes. A short list of what has changed, with dates.

Ask for reports early, because the evidence needs to be recent when you submit it.

What should I think about beforehand?

• Goals. The NDIS says your goals are your own, can be big or small, and are written in your words. You can add or change goals at any time. Think about what you want your child to work towards in the next plan.
• What has changed. Think about communication, social interaction, learning, mobility, self-care and self-management. The NDIS uses these areas when it looks at functional capacity.
• How funding was used. The NDIA usually looks at how supports were used. The NDIS says that unspent funding doesn’t automatically mean less funding, and that there can be reasons you couldn’t use it. It also says that if a support is consistently not used, the NDIA may ask whether it still meets the funding criteria.
• What is working and what isn’t. The NDIS says supports built to develop a skill may not appear in the next plan once the skill is built, and that for most children early childhood supports are expected to reduce over time. It will keep funding supports that meet the funding criteria.
• Questions for your child’s providers. The appointment question builder below can help you plan what to ask for, such as a progress report.

What happens at a check-in or reassessment?

At a check-in, the NDIS says your my NDIS contact will ask things like how you’re going, how your child is going with their goals, whether they have new goals, how supports are being used, whether the supports meet their needs and whether anything has changed. If the plan is working, it continues. If it isn’t, they will talk with you about a variation or reassessment.

At a reassessment, the NDIA considers your child’s goals, situation and support needs. After the plan is approved, the NDIA sends you a copy within 7 days.

What are the October 2026 funding changes?

Since 1 October 2026, new and reassessed plans include a funding reset for two support categories: social, economic and community participation supports, and improved daily living skills supports. The NDIS says budget allocations are reduced by 50 per cent and 10 per cent respectively, with some supports excluded, such as employment supports and disability-related health supports. The NDIA says it will tell you how much your funding is reduced by when you receive the new plan. The NDIS also says a support determination isn’t a reviewable decision. Ask the NDIA how the reset applies to your child’s plan.

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing says the reset won’t apply to plans that move to new framework planning, which is scheduled to start transitioning from 1 April 2027.

What if I disagree with the decision?

The NDIS describes these steps:

1. Ask for the reasons. You can contact the NDIA to ask why it decided what it did and to ask for a funding breakdown.
2. Ask for an internal review. You have 3 months from the day after you receive the decision in writing. The NDIA says it can’t do an internal review if you ask after 3 months. You can ask by form, phone, letter or email, and a different staff member reviews the decision. It helps to say what decision you expected, why, and attach any new evidence. The NDIA aims to finish within 60 days, and your plan stays in place until then.
3. Ask the Administrative Review Tribunal. If you disagree with the internal review decision, you can ask the Tribunal for an external review. You have 28 days from the day after you receive the internal review decision.

The NDIS lists a decision not to reassess a plan and a decision not to vary a plan among the decisions that can be reviewed. If more than 3 months have passed since a plan was approved, the NDIS says you can still ask for a plan reassessment or a plan variation. It treats asking for a reassessment as different from asking for a review of a decision.

Free tools to help

• NDIS plan reassessment checklist: a free checklist for preparing your evidence, goals and questions.
• Appointment questions: build a question list to take to a paediatrician or therapy appointment, including asking for a progress report.

Official sources

• NDIS Our Guideline: Plan reassessments (30 September 2026)
• NDIS: What is a plan reassessment
• NDIS Our Guideline: Reviewing our decisions (24 September 2026)
• NDIS Our Guideline: Your plan (1 October 2026)
• NDIS Our Guideline: Creating your plan (30 September 2026)
• NDIS Our Guideline: Therapy supports (27 July 2026)
• NDIS Our Guideline: Early childhood approach (2 September 2026)
• NDIS: Securing the NDIS for future generations (current as of 1 October 2026)
• Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: Funding changes for NDIS supports (24 September 2026)

This article is general information. It isn’t medical, legal, financial or NDIS eligibility advice. Every child’s circumstances are different, and government programs and requirements can change. Check the official sources above before you apply.