Preparing for your first NDIS meeting

Getting ready for your first National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) planning meeting can be daunting and overwhelming. Our therapists can support you to make the most of your meetings and NDIS plan. Our advice, to people with disability and their families, is to prepare as much in advance as possible.

How to prepare for your first NDIS meeting

Start today!

It’s time to start thinking about how you want to live your life and what you need to achieve your own goals or the goals of the person you support.

Think big

What do you want to achieve in life and how do you want to live? NDIS wants to know this, and they want to help you get there.

Write a list or keep a diary

Think about a typical week or day and what was challenging. Ask yourself, what are the things that make it hard for you to achieve what you want to do in life? An excellent way to remember this is to write it down, use a diary or a list to keep examples.

Be specific

Try to be specific about what your goals are for the next 12 months and what you think you might need to achieve these. Think about both long term and short term goals. NDIS will help you with this, but it’s important to have examples ready.

Get your documents and information ready

Download the NDIS Planning booklet and fill it out before you meet with NDIS. It has important questions that you can expect to come up in your planning meeting.

Talk to the people who are supporting you already

This will help you talk through your goals and aspirations with people that know you well. This might include family or friends or current service providers.

Take someone with you to your meetings

You don’t have to do this alone! Take someone along with you, who knows you well. This might be family, friends, your therapist or advocates. They’ll help you to make sure you aren’t forgetting anything.

What will I be asked in an NDIS planning meeting?

The following are some examples of things you will be asked about in your first NDIS planning meeting:

Your personal details

You’ll be asked your name, age, where you live and about your primary disability. Have all your personal details and any reports or assessments in one place to help with this. Bringing them along to your meeting will streamline the process.

Your community and mainstream supports

You will be asked about what support you currently receive from the people in your life and in your local community. This can include things like health services or help at school or in sports groups, as well as friends and family who help you.

Write down if anyone is helping to support you at the moment. For example, friends or therapists.

How you manage everyday activities

You will be asked questions about how you manage your everyday activities. This helps NDIS understand what your abilities are, as well as what you might need, including equipment, housing or help to take care of yourself or your home.

Write down what a typical day or week looks like for you, and who is involved in helping you manage.

Your safety

NDIS will ask questions about if there are any areas in your life where you may feel unsafe or where you might need extra help.

Setting your goals

You will need to talk through goals for the next 12 months and what you (or the person you support) are hoping to achieve through your first plan. You will also talk about how you are going to explore and develop your longer-term goals over the next 12 months.

Starting and managing your plan

Think about if you would like to manage your own funds or support if you would like someone else to, or if you are happy for the NDIS to manage the funding and you choose the supports.

What happens next?

Once you have your plan, you can start contacting providers, including ones that you are already working with.

Therapy Focus is a registered NDIS provider in Western Australia. We can help you make the most of your funding and support you to achieve the goals in your plan. Learn more about our NDIS funded services.