Muriel Cummins

Suddenly, everyone seems to be talking about new assessments for the NDIS, called Support Needs Assessments. What are they and why are they such a talking point? Read on to find out more.

What are the new Support Needs Assessment?

Last year, the NDIS legislation was changed. One of the changes, was to introduce a new, mandatory ‘Support Needs Assessment’(SNA). The assessment aims to be a consistent approach to measuring support needs for NDIS participants. All NDIS participants will be required to undergo an SNA, and government has said they want the new assessments to start by September 1^st 2025.

What will the Support Needs Assessment measure?

The assessment will measure disability support needs, and the assessment will be used to calculate the funding in participants plans. Based on what is written in the legislation, the assessments may also help decide what ‘stated’ supports the person may need, for example, assistive technology or home mods. The assessments may also play a role in working out if the participant will benefit from an early intervention pathway. We don’t yet know if the assessments will also play a role in determining ongoing eligibility for the NDIS.

What will the Support Needs Assessment involve?

We don’t yet know a lot about what the NDIA has planned for the support needs assessments. Currently, there is no public consultation or a way to have your say on these assessments. So, we really only know what needs to be involved in the SNA, based on the legislation that came into effect in October last year.

Last week, the government released three tender opportunities, asking companies to send them proposals for assessment tools, assessment administration systems, and assessor training programs. The tender release indicates the SNA design is already underway, and has come as a surprise to many, as the disability community were unaware the assessments were being developed currently and were waiting for co-design.

What did the tender documents ask for?

The tender documents asked for three separate responses:

1. The first NDIA tender seeks a single applicant to provide three key functions for assessing support needs for all adults aged 16 and over. This includes supplying a tool (or tools) to assess support needs, providing training and accreditation to ensure staff can use the tool effectively, and developing a computer system to integrate the tool into NDIA processes. The NDIA prefers one organization or a group working together to handle all three aspects.

2. The second NDIA tender seeks information on assessment tools for measuring disability support needs in specific areas like assistive technology, vehicle and home modifications, disability-related health supports, and high-level attendant care. The tool must identify the specific types of supports the person needs, under these headings.
3. Thirdly, the NDIA is seeking submissions for assessment tools for Support Needs Assessments for children under 16. The NDIA wants the community to send ideas for the assessment tools for use with children, that could identify the child’s disability support needs, and ‘stated’ supports in the child’s plan.

What about co-design?

The broader disability community has not been involved in co-designing the new Support Needs Assessments. A recent campaign statement by Every Australian Counts has asked governments to slow the pace of NDIS reforms to allow more time for co-design. Over 250 organisations signed the Campaign Statement, including most of Australia’s disability representative organisations, plus a range of advocacy and provider groups. The Campaign Statement highlighted that the disability community expect genuine co-design on NDIS assessments, as this was promised by the government in their 2022 response to the NDIS Joint Standing Committee Inquiry on Independent Assessments. The NDIS Review, a major review of the NDIS completed in 2023, also recommended co-design of new NDIS assessments.

What are some factors to consider in building new Support Needs Assessments?

The NDIS Joint Standing Committee Inquiry report described the need for assessments to be person-centred, for assessment approaches to minimise potential trauma and potential distress, and for the assessments to be ‘fit-for-purpose’ – meaning, the assessments need to be capable of doing their job. The best way to make sure an assessment can do its job, is to trial it first, through research and piloting, before rolling it out to large numbers of people. This is especially important as it will determine the participants plan budget.

The NDIS Joint Standing Committee Inquiry report also recommended giving participants a choice of provider to complete their assessment, to make sure the assessor is familiar and skilled in working with those exact disability needs experienced by the person. Choice would mean the assessment process could be more person-centred and flexible. For example, it was recommended that the assessments could be delivered as a Medicare item, under Australia’s Medicare Benefit Schedule, with no gap fee to ensure equity and fairness. Delivering assessments in this way, could keep costs for government down as it would mean using existing government infrastructure.

What needs to happen next?

Every Australian Counts campaign statement has asked for more time to co-design. The new Support Needs Assessment are a critical part of the NDIS and must be well-designed and must work for participants. If the Support Needs Assessments are designed collaboratively, tested so we can be sure they work, and delivered by trusted health professionals, they have the potential to bring fairness and equity to NDIS decision-making. They have the potential to restore trust in the system and improve the lives of people with disabilities across Australia.

Links:

1. NDIS Joint Standing Committee Inquiry to Independent Assessments Final Report (2021) Independent Assessments – Parliament of Australia Retrieved 26/01/2025
2. National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Bill 2024 – Parliament of Australia Retrieved 26/01/2025
3. Best-Practices-Support-Needs-Assessment-for-the-NDIS-OTSi-31012025-FINAL.pdf
4. Final Report | Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability Retrieved 26/01/2025

Note: the original version of this article stated that the tender is valued at over $7.5 million. This was an assumption only and not based on any of the information provided by the NDIA as part of the Request for Tender. The value of the tender is not included in the procurement documents.