The new legislation allows the NDIA to change your plan management type easily

• you 
• your nominee  
• your plan manager  
• a child representative 

are unlikely to spend your NDIS funds properly relating to:  

1. NDIS supports and  
2. in line with your plan.

Note: The above rule is called Section 46 in the legislation.

What about Choice and Control?

Previoulsly the NDIA honoured a participant’s decision on how they want to manage their NDIS funding (most of the time).

However, the new legislation has increased the circumstances when the NDIA can REFUSE to allow a person to self-manage or use a plan manager, or simply change a Participant to agency managed.

A participant or plan nominee CAN'T self-manage if:

• The person managing the funding is insolvent or under administration.
   
• The person managing the funding has been convicted of an offence that carries a more than 2-year jail term or involves fraud or dishonesty.
   
• The NDIA believes self-management would pose an unreasonable risk to the participant. Unreasonable risk is not defined in the Act..
   
• Allowing a person to self-manage would break the NDIS Rules - there is no more information on what this might look like.
   
• The NDIA believes that the person managing the funding would be unlikely to comply with Section 46 of the Act. Meaning they are likely tro spend their fudning on supports that are not approved
  (Note: Section 46 says that participants must spend their funding on NDIS Supports and in accordance with their plans.)

Another new Rule was added to this legislation recently and it clarifies WHAT the NDIA must consider when WHEN deciding IF someone is likely to comply with Section 46 (only spending on NDIS Supports and in accordance with their plan).

The NDIA must take the following into consideration:

• The person’s history of complying with Section 46. Ie. Have they previously spent their funding on any non-NDIS supports? Or not followed the conditions outlined in their plan?
• Whether the person has complied with past requests for information from the NDIA. And if they didn’t provide the information, whether they made a reasonable effort or had a good reason.
• If the person has a history of fraud or mismanaging funds.
• The person’s capacity to manage their finances, taking into account any supports they might have.
• If the person has been subjected to exploitation or undue influence when managing legal or financial matters.
• Any matters raised by the plan nominee or participant that the NDIA considers relevant.
• Anything else the NDIA considers relevant.

The Department of Social Services (DSS) has also published a plain English summary of an amendment to the new Managing of Funding Rule.

You can read their proposed amendment here.

DSS’s proposed amendment would address what the NDIA must consider when deciding: 

1. if self management would pose an "unreasonable risk to the participant" and
2. whether a participant should be allowed to use a Plan Manager.

These amendments are still in the discussion stage so no decisions have been made.

How to prevent the NDIA from changing your plan manangement type (without your permission)

Make sure you know the rules so that you only spend on 'allowed' NDIS Supports. 

1. Get familiar with what's on the 'IN' list of NDIS supports (i.e. what you can spend your funding on)
2. Make sure you read the updates: 'What is and what is not and NDIS Support'. These updates have been added as questions arise about the support lists.