NDIS Plan Review: What Evidence Do You Need?

At an NDIS plan review, now formally called a plan reassessment, the planner can only fund what the evidence supports. Two participants with the same diagnosis and the same needs can walk away with very different plans, and the difference is almost always the evidence. This guide focuses on exactly that: what evidence matters, who provides it, and how to put it together.

If you want the broader picture of timing and the meeting itself, start with our guide on how to prepare for your NDIS plan review.

What the planner is looking for

Every funded support has to meet the reasonable and necessary criteria. In practical terms, the planner needs to see four things clearly:

1. How the disability affects daily life, in specific and functional terms.
2. What the person's goals are.
3. What supports are needed to work towards those goals, how much and how often.
4. Why those supports are the right ones, and what they have achieved so far.

Good evidence answers all four. Weak evidence usually answers only the first, and even then only by naming a diagnosis.

The types of evidence

Allied health reports

Reports from occupational therapists, speech pathologists, psychologists, physiotherapists and behaviour support practitioners are usually the backbone of a plan. The strongest reports describe what was done during the plan, what changed, what is still difficult, and a specific recommendation with hours, frequency and the reason for it.

Functional assessments

Structured assessments of daily living skills, such as a functional capacity assessment, are especially useful when support worker hours, supported living or major changes are on the table. They turn "needs a lot of help" into a clear, measurable picture.

Medical evidence

Letters from GPs and specialists confirm diagnoses and describe changes in health. They matter most when something has changed, such as a new diagnosis, a deterioration or a hospital admission.

Support worker and provider records

Progress notes, incident records and shift reports show what daily life actually looks like. A summary from a provider who sees someone every week is powerful, because it reflects the ordinary days, not just a single appointment.

School, work and community

Letters from teachers, employers, day program staff or community groups show how the disability affects someone outside home and therapy rooms. A teacher describing the support a student needs to get through a school day, or an employer describing the adjustments that keep someone in work, is practical evidence planners take seriously.

Your own statement

A written account from the participant or family, in plain words, of a typical week, what is hard and what they hope for next. Planners read these, and a clear, honest statement often ties the rest of the evidence together.

How the funding was used

Spending across the plan tells its own story. Underspending needs an explanation, such as waitlists or a provider leaving. Consistent full use of a support, with outcomes to show for it, supports continuing or increasing it.

Common mistakes

• Diagnosis instead of impact. A report that lists conditions without describing daily functioning gives the planner very little to work with.
• Vague recommendations. "Continued therapy recommended" is easy to cut. Hours, frequency and purpose are much harder to argue with.
• Evidence that does not connect to goals. Every recommendation should link back to something the person is working towards.
• Reports arriving too late. Ask for them about four months before the plan ends.
• Describing the best day. Evidence should reflect a typical or hard day, because that is what supports are for.
• Contradictions. If the OT report says one thing and the support worker notes say another, the planner will notice. Someone needs to read everything together before it is submitted.

How a support coordinator builds the case

This is one of the most valuable parts of support coordination. A good coordinator starts building evidence at the beginning of the plan, not the end. In practice that means:

• Tracking progress against each goal across the whole plan.
• Briefing therapists early on what their reports need to cover for reassessment.
• Spotting gaps, such as a need nobody has formally assessed, and arranging the right assessment in time.
• Reading every report together, so the evidence tells one consistent story.
• Writing a clear summary that connects the evidence to the supports being requested.

What strong evidence can achieve

Through our mentoring program, we recently supported a practitioner preparing a participant's reassessment where there were real concerns the existing documentation would not reflect their needs. The work focused on identifying the gaps in the evidence, gathering information from several stakeholders, aligning reports with NDIS legislative requirements, and clearly showing the participant's functional impairments rather than relying on diagnosis alone.

The participant received a 91.5% increase in funding and was approved for a 12 month plan. Their needs had not changed. What changed was how clearly they were described. That is the difference evidence makes.