Change of Details & SDA
Less complex than a full reassessment, a Change in Details (prompting a plan variation, rather than a plan reassessment) covered under Section 47 & 47a — is often about administrative updates, minor shifts in your plan and crisis funding. A Change of Details can be the first step to accessing SDA. They include:
- Switching from self-managed to plan-managed
- Updating plan management providers or how the funds in your plan are managed, like changing your SDA from plan managed to agency managed.
- Extending your reassessment date to gather more evidence
- If the planner has made a small or technical error on your plan, like not putting SDA in when you’ve already identified a SDA home you’re living in.
- When you need to update how a support is provided and change providers
- Significant changes to support needs or an exceptional circumstance which requires funding.
Tip: Plan variations can be a minor variation; this is covered in section 47a. A minor variation is a support that is a once off or for a limited time, it can’t be duplicated by existing supports.
A minor variation could cover:
- Replacing, maintaining or repairing assistive technology which are already in your plan.
- The support is needed urgently to help support the participant’s economic participation
- The support is needed urgently to help support capacity building or a life transition for a limited time. For example, you may need to access medium term accommodation in an SDA home because of delays in construction.
Tip: If you’re requiring urgent changes that may affect your whole plan due to a crisis or emergency, it’s best to notify the NDIS with a S47 first and gather specialist information for a S48 while this is ongoing.
Minor plan variations can also cover existing supports in your plan, for example home modifications that have risen in price since the plan was made or assistive technology that needs training, which wasn’t included in the plan.
Crisis or Emergency Funding – Change of Details S47a (COD – plan variation)
The final reason for a S47a (plan variation) is crisis or emergency funding. This could be because there is significant changes to a participants support needs or an exceptional circumstance which requires funding.
Crisis or emergency funding can be realised when there is a change to support needs which require an urgent change to the plan. Like above, the funding must be for a once off situation & can’t be covered by other commonwealth or state/territory services. If you require crisis or emergency funding for something that might be ongoing, you can submit a S47a while dealing with the emergency, then, collect more evidence and submit a S48 for a new plan, giving you some breathing room.
Tip: If you’ve already had SDA approved but it was accidentally left out of your plan, this could be corrected under a S47 plan variation. Don’t wait for a full reassessment.
Because of the nature of a S47a, the type of evidence you need is lower than traditional access to the NDIS (which might take months of appointments with specialists to build). You’ll still need evidence; things that could help support your application are:
- A letter from your treating professionals
- A letter from the hospital, detailing why your informal supports can’t help you anymore
Crisis or emergency funding can also cover exceptional circumstances. This is for when a participant has a lack of decision-making capability or support, when there’s an imminent threat to the participants life, health or safety and finally if the participant has experienced fraud or exploitation.
Tip: Always include evidence in an application to the NDIS, they use AI to scan applications and automatically deny ones without evidence. There is no human oversight in this process.
Exceptional circumstances could be:
- A participant with intellectual disability using their whole plan in a few months because they don’t have the capacity to budget due to their disability. This would come under participant has a lack of decision-making capability or support.
- A participant who’s SIL provider has used up their funding by over supporting when they didn’t need it and without the participant’s permission. This would come under the participant experiencing fraud or exploitation.
- A participant’s informal guardians are in hospital and they are at risk of being unable to escape if a fire starts in their house. This would come under an imminent threat to the participants life, health or safety.
Tip: A participant may need a S47a when informal supports are no longer available to help them in their home, requiring urgent accommodation or care which allows the participant to live independently.
Did you like our Change in Details blog and how it relates to SDA? A change in details after a crisis or emergency can be the first step to accessing SDA. If you’re interested in part one of this blog, you can click here!
You can also find out what the NDIS says about a change of details here.