This page was last updated 23 February 2021.

Who can attend a child or young person’s NDIS planning meeting

When a child or young person enters care and is identified as having significant developmental delay or disability, the Department for Child Protection (DCP) case worker is responsible for ensuring appropriate specialist disability supports are accessed for the child through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

The DCP case worker is the parental representative and is responsible for the NDIS access request, planning, plan implementation and review processes.

The DCP case manager will attend the planning meeting and will coordinate the attendance of other important people in the child or young person’s life. This may include, but is not limited to:

  • the child (where appropriate)
  • the child’s parent/s (where appropriate)
  • the child’s foster/kinship carer
  • DCP Residential care worker
  • DCP Disability Consultant

It is not appropriate for Service Providers to attend the child or young person’s NDIS planning meetings with or on behalf of the child or young person as this may create a perceived or actual conflict of interest.

It is therefore a requirement of DCP that funded Service Providers (by DCP or by a DCP client’s NDIS plan) do not attend NDIS planning appointments. DCP funded carer support agencies may request to attend if a carer would like support at an NDIS planning meeting.

The role of the Service Provider carer is to provide the DCP case worker with the information (and/or evidence) required to allow the case worker to appropriately talk to the child or young person’s functional capacity and disability support needs. Information provided to the case worker may include:

  • the supports and services the child already uses each week and the supports and services that are required in the future
  • the child’s goals and aspirations for the next 12 months
  • how the child’s disability or developmental delay affects their:
    • ability to undertake the tasks of daily living (e.g. showering, dressing, eating meals, getting ready to leave the house)
    • communication
    • relationships
    • accessing the community
    • behaviour
  • any disability specific supports that would help better understand the child’s needs and be able to better care for the child

Child protection and specialist disability funding arrangements in residential care

DCP ensures children and young people with disability are placed in residential care placements suitable for children with disability and that children with disability are provided with appropriate supports equivalent to that of a child of a similar age.

Funding for specialist disability supports is the responsibility of the NDIS.

When a child or young person with disability requires a residential care placement and is also a NDIS participant with provision for core support funding due to specialist disability support needs, DCP will look to place the child with a residential care Service Provider that is also a NDIS Registered Provider.

DCP will provide the Service Provider with notification that the department, as the guardian, has nominated the Service Provider to be the NDIS support provider under the child’s NDIS plan for specialist disability core supports.

The nomination to the Service Provider will be received in writing and will direct the Service Provider to create a service booking on the National Disability Insurance Agency Provider Portal for the delivery of the specialist disability core supports the Service Provider is being nominated as the NDIS support provider for.