Section 33: NDIS Plan Funding Periods

Starting on Monday, May 19, a shift in NDIS Plan Structure will take effect for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), as amendments to Section 33 of the NDIS Act begin applying to all new participant plans issued through the PACE system. The NDIA communicated this about a months ago in the NDIS Provider Newsletter.

While the change may appear administrative, it signals a considerable reconfiguration in how plans are structured, how funding is released, and how service providers deliver support.

What Is Section 33?

Section 33 of the NDIS Act sets out the core requirements of a participant’s plan. Changes to the NDIS Act in 2024 introduced funding periods. The main concept of funding periods is a way for the NDIA to set how often participants can access part of their funding, across the length of their plan, in simple terms its to limit the ability for Participants and their service providers to draw down on big chunks of their funding in very quickly.

Section 33 of the NDIS States:

The amendments to the NDIS Act are designed to improve budgeting practices, enhance oversight, and provide clearer guidance for both participants and providers. DIA has also been told by the NDIA that they have consulted many stakeholders on this change, including with Independent Advisory Council, Disability Representatives and Carer Organisations, with codesign working groups and with participants. 

DIA notes that despite this engagement there is extremely limited public available information on this change for either Participants, Providers or Intermediaries. DIA will work constructively with the NDIA to support our sector and the participants they support to gain as much clarity as possible.

Updates to PACE this weekend

Whilst details on the implementation remain alarmingly thin, DIA understand the NDIA Pace System will be taken offline for the entire weekend and be updated to allow the NDIA to commence introducing specific funding periods within new plans from Monday.

Until the NDIS Pace System is update over the weekend, the NDIA have been unable to implement the changes in the legislation due to limitations of their system. In simple terms, the NDIS Act allows the NDIA to set funding periods, but the NDIA’s system (PACE) didn’t have the ability to do it. Over the weekend, system changes are being made that will enable us to apply funding periods going forward for new and reassessed plans.

This means participant’s funding will be made available in amounts and duration as set by the NDIA over the length of their plan instead of all at once. To be clear funding periods don’t change the total amount of funding in a participant’s plan, but rather how much and how often that funding is actually available to spend.

DIA understands that the PACE system will be offline all weekend to enable this new functionality. DIA understands that both Participants and where consent is provided Support Coordinators and Plan Managers will be able to see the funding Periods for their supports.

Screen Shot from PACE Test Environment below.

So what are the new terms we need to know

Funding Amounts – This is the total dollar value of a Participants NDIS plan.

Funding Components – These are the categories that make the Participants plan, like Core Supports, Capacity Building, and Capital (assistive technology, home modifications, etc.).

Funding periods – This is the new part. Funding periods control how much of a Participants plan budget you be accessed at a given time over the course of the plan. So if a participant is approved for a 2 year plan, they might only be able to use 3 months’ worth of that funding at a time. This restricts when a NDIS Participant can spend their NDIS Plan Funds.

You can read the NDIA’s official explanation of this new structure here. DIA notes this has not been updated since 10 October 2024.

How will this change be implemented.

All new plans, including new Participants to the NDIS and Participants going though a plan reassessment (Plan Review), will from 19th May 2025 have funding periods included in their plan.

Participants with existing plans will be impacted or effected by this change, until they have a plan reassessment (Plan Review).

Participants that have plans extended (rollover), i.e. their existing plan is extended, will also not be impacted or effected by this change, until they have a plan reassessment (Plan Review).

The NDIA will be running online session(s) regarding these changes which can be registered for here.

What do Support Coordinators need to do.

For all new plans from Monday 19 May, new NDIS Participants or Participants that have had a full plan reassessment and where funded (see RFS), Support Coordinators should:

• Try your best to explain what funding periods are and how they have been set within their plan.
• Note and keep track of which participants you are servicing with specified funding periods.
• Support participants to connect with support providers and establish supports inline with these funding periods.
• Support participants to understand that because they are some of the first NDIS Participants to be issued with funding periods there may be hiccups along the way. These will likely be as a result of the way the NDIA is implementing these changes. Be kind to Providers and Plan Managers whilst they try to navigate through these changes.
• Communicate with a participants support providers that if they deliver supports outside of these funding periods they may not be able to be paid for the services delivered, even if there is remaining total funding in the Participants Plan.
• Communicate with a participants support providers that they may need to change the way they invoice and the information contained on their invoices to align with these new funding periods.
• Support Participants to understand that if they engage services beyond what is specified in the funding periods they themselves may be liable to pay for those services out of their own pocket, even if there is remaining total funding in the Participants Plan.
• Be mindful that Plan Managers, Providers and Participants likely don’t know of understand the impacts of these changes and that there is significant contradictory information on the NDIA website.
• Increased support will need to be provided to participants to prepare for a plan review (plan reassessment). This includes support participants to understand their spending needs and when funding might need to be available over the course of a year. For example when are heavier support needs periods (like Christmas / New Year or maybe school holidays or during semester to access university etc) or what types of supports might need to be front loaded to ensure there is adequate supports at the start of a plan (like supports that might need establishment fees etc). There is a lot to think about here as we know plans are rigid once set and current NDIA variation / change process are clunky and experiencing delays or not overly responsive to immediate need.

Where Participants have questions about their funding periods that you are unable to answer, they should be directed to their my NDIS Contact, NDIA 1800 number or Webchat.

What do Plan Managers need to do.

For all new plans from Monday 19 May, new NDIS Participants or Participants that have had a full plan reassessment Plan Managers should:

• Try your best to explain what funding periods are and how they have been set within their plan.
• Note and keep track of which participants you are servicing with specified funding periods.
• Support participants to understand that because they are some of the first NDIS Participants to be issued with funding periods there may be hiccups along the way. These will likely be as a result of the way the NDIA is implementing these changes. Be kind to Providers and Support Coordinators whilst they try to navigate through these changes.
• Communicate with a participants support providers that if they deliver supports outside of these funding periods they may not be able to be paid for the services delivered, even if there is remaining total funding in the Participants Plan.
• Communicate with a participants support providers that they may need to change the way they invoice and the information contained on their invoices to align with these new funding periods.
• Support Participants to understand that if they engage services beyond what is specified in the funding periods they themselves may be liable to pay for those services out of their own pocket, even if there is remaining total funding in the Participants Plan.
• Be mindful that Support Coordinators, Providers and Participants likely don’t know of understand the impacts of these changes and that there is significant contradictory information on the NDIA website.

Where Participants have questions about their funding periods that you are unable to answer, they should be directed to their my NDIS Contact, NDIA 1800 number or Webchat.

FAQ’s

DIA has sent the NDIA a series of operational and system technical questions regarding this change. DIA will publish the responses to those questions as they are received.