This guide is for you if...
✅ Your child has an NDIS plan already
✅ Your child has just received an autism diagnosis
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If your child already has access to the NDIS, but has just received an autism diagnosis, you may want to apply for a ‘Change of Circumstance’.
This allows families who already have an NDIS Plan to make changes to their plan out of the normal plan review cycle.
A Change in Circumstances can help your child access increased funding, because a diagnosis helps to provide a more detailed picture of your child’s support needs.
There are three steps in the process:
This guide will take you through each step of the process to help you understand what you need to do, as well as offering helpful tips and resources so you are well prepared.
The first thing to do is check if you are eligible to apply for a Change in Circumstance.
To be eligible you will need to show three things:
✅ Your child’s circumstances have changed (for example, they’ve received a diagnosis)
✅ Based on this, their support needs have changed
✅ Their existing plan does not meet these support needs
If you have just received a diagnosis, this will typically be enough to request a Change of Circumstances.
If your child has just received a diagnosis and their Plan Review is more than 12 months away, you should usually consider applying for a Change of Circumstance.
This is because, generally, the NDIS will only consider evidence from the last 12 months in their Plan Reviews, and you don’t want to miss your chance to include it.
However, much like applying for the NDIS, a Change of Circumstances can be a lot of paperwork.
So, if your child’s Plan Review is less than 12 months away and you feel their plan amount is sufficient, you may want to consider waiting until their existing scheduled Plan Review.
The Change of Circumstance needs to be submitted via a form available here on the NDIS website.
The key parts of the form you will need to complete are:
You will need to include supporting evidence, which will include your child’s diagnosis report and any other relevant recent documentation, such as Functional Capacity Assessments, reports from school, and a Carer Impact Statement.
💡Tip: Be clear, succinct and objective
When filling out a Change of Circumstance form, it is important to be clear, succinct and objective.
Here are a two example answers that satisfy these best practices:
Q: Describe what has changed with your situation?
A: In July 2024, my child received a level 3 autism diagnosis. The attached diagnosis, which includes a Functional Capacity Assessment, outlines the increased support needs of my child.”
Q: What other funded supports are you asking to be included in your plan?
A: My child has been assessed as non-verbal. As such, we require additional capacity building funding for him to access speech pathology, and support to learn Assistive Communication tools. In addition, the Functional Capacity Assessment determined that my son has significant feeding risks, and recommends funding to access a dietician to ensure my son can safely eat.”
💡Tip: Deciding between a Plan Variation and a Plan Reassessment
When filling out a Change of Circumstances form, you can choose between either a plan variation or a plan reassessment.
A ’Plan Variation’ is appropriate when the changes requested to your child’s supports are minimal and you require relatively small increases in funding to cover them.
A ‘Plan Reassessment’ is appropriate if your child’s needs are significantly changed from your current plan and may require a large increase in funding.
Once you’ve submitted the Change of Circumstances form, it will be sent to the NDIA for review.
The NDIS will review your form and contact you to confirm that they have made the changes you asked for, or to discuss your options and next steps. You might be asked to attend a new planning meeting, which will be similar to the original that you attended.
🕒 Under the NDIA’s Service Level Agreements, this process should take 21 days. However, in our experience this process can take significantly longer — for example, as of July 2024, it is currently taking 6 to 9 months.
These are some great trusted resources you also might find helpful:
Podcast - Advocating for kids with autism and wrangling the NDIS, By NDIS Know-how
Podcast - How to craft kick-ass NDIS evidence (part one), By NDIS Know-how
Kite Therapy delivers neuro-affirming therapy online for children aged 1 to 7 with autism, ADHD, or developmental delay.
We empower parents and caregivers to embed evidence-based strategies into daily routines at home and school.
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