The Australian National Audit Office yesterday released its report on 'Decision-making controls on NDIS Plans'.

In its review of the NDIA's decision-making controls, the ANAO noted that:

The report is interesting reading for those wanting to know more about how planning and funding decisions are made. It provides information on typical support packages, roles and responsibilities of various parties, review mechanisms and explains delegation arrangements.

The results of compliance testing are outlined, painting a picture of a system under stress. Disturbingly low compliance rates were reported on measures such as "have justifications been recorded that demonstrate why support is considered reasonable and necessary" and "where the plan exceeds the typical support package, is there sufficient justification/evidence to support this variation". Given these low compliance rates, it is probably not surprising that of the almost 290,000 one-year plans approved in 2019-20, 50 per cent had an approved budget that was more than 10 per cent above the typical support package.