An FCA may help with a plan reassessment when there is a specific question about current activities or support needs. A new full assessment is not automatically required whenever a plan is due to change.
Start by checking the process and the evidence being requested. A reassessment because circumstances changed is different from asking for a review of a decision you disagree with.
Identify the question
What has changed, and how does it affect the person's activities or assistance? The change may concern health, functioning, housing, available family help or another part of the support arrangement.
A useful account includes when the change occurred, what the previous arrangement was and what is happening now. It should also identify any current support that remains effective.
An FCA needs to address this question rather than repeat an earlier report with a new date.
Check the existing evidence
Previous assessments may provide history. Current treating information or records of assistance may help explain the change. Ask whether these already answer the NDIA's question or whether a further assessment is required.
Evidence requirements can vary by support and may specify how recent a report should be. Do not rely on a general statement that every FCA remains current for two or three years.
Where a new assessment is needed, agree on its scope and make the relevant earlier information available through the provider's secure process.
Explain the support being requested
The report should connect the findings to any recommendation. That includes what the support would do, why it is appropriate and how it relates to other assistance.
A request for more funding is not, by itself, a clinical reason for more support. Conversely, an existing allocation should not be treated as proof that every current need has been met.
The NDIA considers evidence and makes the decision. A report does not guarantee agreement with its recommendations. It should nonetheless present relevant findings in a form that can be understood and assessed.
Use the correct request process
Check the current NDIA form and who is authorised to submit it. A support coordinator or clinician may help prepare evidence, but a professional referral does not by itself authorise every formal plan request.
If you are challenging a decision rather than reporting changed circumstances, check the decision letter and obtain advice about the review process. There may be a deadline. Booking an FCA does not extend it.
Allow for changing rules
Official reforms include staged changes to plan reassessment, renewal and new framework planning. They do not all start on the same date or apply to every participant at once.
Before commissioning a report, confirm the current process for your plan and the question it needs to answer. This can prevent paying for a general report when a different or more focused piece of evidence is required.