If you are hearing more about New Framework Plans, you are not alone. The NDIS is moving toward a newer planning model that uses total funding amounts, funding component amounts and funding periods, rather than relying only on the older style of plan budgets. For participants and families across Brisbane, the big question is simple: how will the budget actually be worked out? Based on current NDIA guidance, the answer is that budgets will be built around your disability support needs, evidence about those needs, and a rules-based method that applies that information to determine a reasonable and necessary budget.
What changes under New Framework Plans?
Under the newer framework, plans are designed to be clearer about how much funding you have, what that funding is for, and how long it needs to last. The NDIA says newer plans will include a total funding amount, separate funding component amounts, and funding periods. It also says supports will be shown as either flexible or stated, which means some funding can be used more freely across eligible NDIS supports while other funding must be used for a specific support or purpose.
This matters because the budget is no longer just about broad buckets such as Core, Capacity Building and Capital in the way many participants are used to seeing. In the new approach, the NDIA explains that reasonable and necessary supports are included as individual funding components, and those components sit inside an overall total budget amount. In practical terms, that gives participants more clarity about what is flexible, what is fixed, and how funding is staged across the life of the plan.
How will the NDIS work out the budget?
The current official position is that a participant’s reasonable and necessary budget must be determined by applying information from a needs assessment report in line with a method set out in the rules. The NDIA has also said the new support needs assessment is being built using the I-CAN v6 as a base, alongside a personal and environmental circumstances questionnaire, with extra reports from treating professionals where support needs are more complex. That means the budget is not supposed to be a rough estimate or a one-size-fits-all figure. It is intended to be a structured decision based on assessed need.
The evidence used to shape that budget is broad. NDIA guidance says planners look at your goals and aspirations, where and how you live, how you move around your home and community, the supports already in place, reports from doctors or allied health professionals, and functional assessments such as PEDI-CAT or WHODAS where relevant. The same guidance says the NDIA uses participant information and NDIS funding criteria to develop the total plan funding amount. For each reasonable and necessary support, it looks at whether the support is shared, how much is needed, and how often it is needed.
What still counts when calculating funding?
Even with the new framework, the core legal idea has not changed: the NDIS funds supports that are reasonable and necessary and related to disability. The NDIA says funded supports must be connected to a participant’s disability, represent value for money, be likely to be effective, and take account of informal, community and mainstream supports. The legislation FAQs also state that funding depends on the impairments that meet the NDIS access requirements at the time of the planning decision, even though the needs assessment itself is designed to look at the whole person more holistically.
That is an important point for participants in Brisbane who are planning therapy, home and living, behaviour support or community access. The NDIA is trying to move away from highly prescriptive, line-by-line plans, but it is not moving away from the test of whether a support is properly funded by the NDIS. So the likely direction is more flexibility in how some funding is used, combined with tighter clarity about which disability-related needs the scheme is funding in the first place.
Do funding periods change the size of the budget?
Usually, no. Funding periods change when funding becomes available, not the total value of the plan. NDIA information says most funding periods will generally be three months, although some may be longer or shorter depending on risk, participant preference, previous spending patterns, and the kind of support being funded. Some regular supports, including SIL, SDA and funding for a registered plan manager, will generally have one-month funding periods, while lower-value plans under $15,000 a year will generally have six-month funding periods.
For Brisbane participants, that means the real budgeting change is not only how much funding is approved, but how that funding is released over time. A person may still have a substantial annual or multi-year plan, but access to that funding may be staged so it lasts across the plan period. The NDIA says funding is generally spread evenly across funding periods, although some supports may be front-loaded in the first period if setup costs are higher, such as behaviour supports or major assistive technology.
Conclusion
The clearest way to understand New Framework Plans is simple. The budgets are expected to be calculated through a needs-based assessment, tested against NDIS funding rules. It is then displayed as a total budget with separate funding components and staged funding periods. So while participants may see more flexibility in some areas, the system is also becoming more structured about evidence, eligible disability supports and when funds can be accessed. For many participants, that should mean a plan that is easier to read, easier to manage and better aligned to real support needs over time.
For participants and families in Brisbane who want help understanding how these changes may affect Support Coordination, Plan Management, Positive Behaviour Support, in-home supports, community participation, SIL or SDA, Hope & Care Community Services is an approved registered NDIS provider who can help with navigating NDIS!
Want to learn more? Read other articles :
- Redefine Independence your own way – with HCCS
- Who’s Who: The Key Terms of Your NDIS Plan
- Foundational Supports: Building Blocks of NDIS Success
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