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We can review a range of decisions made by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA)

If you received a decision you don’t agree with, we might be able to help you with a review of your case. We can review most internal reviews decisions made by the NDIA under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (NDIS Act).

Apply now Manage your case

  • Application to access the NDIS

    Your application to access the NDIS was refused

  • Statement of supports in your plan

    The NDIA didn't agree with what you wrote in your statement of supports

  • Request to reassess or vary your plan

    The NDIA decided not to reassess or vary your plan

  • Making decisions about a child participant of the NDIS

    You don't agree with the decision made by the NDIA

  • Appointing a plan or correspondence nominee

    You believe the NDIA should have made a different decision

Application to access the NDIS

What we can review

We can review a decision made by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) not to approve your application to access the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

Usually, we can only review a decision if the NDIA has reviewed it first. 

However, if the NDIA has not completed its internal review within 90 days (or other specified period) of you asking for an internal review, the Tribunal may be able to review the decision without waiting for the NDIA.

Check the decision letter or email you received from the NDIA to find out if the decision can be reviewed by the Tribunal.  

There are some decisions made by the NDIA that we cannot review:

  • We cannot investigate a complaint about the NDIA.
  • We cannot change the law.

How to apply

The easiest and safest way to apply for a review is online. 

To create an account and lodge an application online, you will need a valid email address and information about the decision you want us to review. 

Find out more about using our online services.

You can download and fill in an application form and send it to us.

Alternatively, you can ask us for a review by:

If you want to lodge an application in person at one of our registries, or by post or email check our contact details.

When you apply for a review, we need:

  • your name, postal address, telephone number and email address
  • contact details for your representative if you decide to have one
  • the date you received the NDIA ’s decision
  • a copy of the NDIA’s decision
  • brief reasons why you think the decision is wrong
  • a copy of your internal review request to the NDIA, where you asked them to review their decision.
  • any new information that is relevant to your case, that you got after the NDIA made its decision. You can keep on giving us information that is relevant to your case throughout the review process.

If you cannot send us a copy of the decision, then include:

  • the name of the department that made the decision
  • a brief description of the decision
  • the date the decision was made.

You can fill out an application form on behalf of a child. You will need to tell us your full name, contact details and relationship to the child.

You will need to provide the child’s full name, date of birth and address if it is different from yours.

If the child's parents are separated, you may have to give us copies of any Family Court orders or Children's Court orders regarding the child.

You may also have to get the other parent’s permission to represent the child in the application.

If a plan nominee has been appointed to help you with your NDIS funding or make decisions on your behalf, you should tell them that you have applied for a review of a NDIS decision with the Tribunal.

When to apply

There is a time limit to apply for a review by the Tribunal.

You have 28 days from the time you received the decision from the NDIA to lodge your application for review with us.

If it has been 90 days since you asked the NDIA for an internal review and you have not received a decision, please send us a copy of your internal review request with your application.

Requesting an extension

You can apply to us to extend the time limit to lodge your application. You must apply in writing and include reasons why the application is late. You can do this:

If you apply for an extension of time

If you do ask us for more time, we will send a copy of your request to the NDIA. The NDIA has 14 days to tell us if they don’t want us to give you more time.

If the NDIA don’t get back to us or if they say you can have more time, we will generally decide without holding a hearing.

If the NDIA does not want to give you more time, we will usually organise a hearing. 

If you need an interpreter or have other accessibility needs, please tell us as soon as possible.

The Tribunal will decide about whether to extend your application time after hearing what you and the NDIA have to say.

We will only start the review if we decide to extend the time limit.
 

Fees

There is no application fee to apply for a review of a decision made by the NDIA.

Review process

After you submit an application, we will send you a letter explaining what will happen next.

We will check your application to make sure we have all the information we need. We may ask you to give us more information.

  • If you do not have a representative, we will contact you to tell you about our review process and talk about any help you might need to participate. 
  • We can’t give you legal advice, but you can contact us if you need help understanding the process. We may be able to give you some ideas about where you can get legal advice, a disability advocate and other help.

We will also send a copy of your application to the NDIA. The NDIA will send you and us the documents they have on your case file that are relevant to your case with us, usually within 28 days.

You can find out what usually happens next in the After applying section.

You can also look at the Common Procedures Practice Direction [PDF, 425 KB] for further detail.

Getting help for your review

It is important to us that you are able to fully participate in the review and present your case.

Our processes are informal and user-friendly. You can deal with us directly with little or no assistance if you wish. 

However, we understand that you may need or want legal or advocacy assistance with your review, or other kinds of support such as an interpreter, captioner or help with accessing our premises.

There are professional people such as lawyers and other organisations that can help you with your review. You can find a list of places where you may be able to get legal advice on our Help and resources page.  

Yes. 

You can deal directly with us (represent yourself) or you can ask someone to help and represent you.

If you have any questions about the review process, you can ask us. 

Yes.

You must tell us in writing if you want someone to represent you, such as:

  • a lawyer, advocate or other professional person
  • your spouse or partner
  • a friend or relative.

You must tell us immediately if there are any changes to your representative’s details.

Legal representative

You can choose to be represented by a lawyer, who will act on your behalf. If you decide to engage a lawyer you may be able to apply to Legal Aid to pay for a lawyer to represent you. Otherwise you will have to find and pay for a lawyer yourself.

A lawyer can provide you with confidential legal advice about your case and they can represent you. 

You do not need to tell anyone about the legal advice you receive from your lawyer.

Support person

You can ask a trusted family member or friend to be your support person. A support person is different from an advocate or representative. Their job is not to represent you but to support you through the review process by:

  • helping you understand the review process 
  • attending case events and hearings with you 
  • helping you find a legal representative or disability advocate.
Expert witness

It can be helpful to ask your treating doctors, therapists, support workers, support co-ordinator or other service providers to provide information to support your case. This information will be known as evidence.

An expert witness is someone who has special knowledge or experience about something. Expert witnesses must be independent. An expert witness cannot act as an advocate for you or the NDIA.

There are Aboriginal Legal Services in each state and territory that may be able to help you find suitable assistance:

Yes. 

If you need an interpreter, please let us know. We will arrange for a qualified interpreter to assist, free of charge. Find out how.

For immediate assistance in your language, please contact Translating and Interpreter Services on 131 450.

If you have a preferred Auslan interpreter or caption service or need your interpreter to communicate with you in a specific way, please give us those details as well as any relevant contact details in writing as soon as you can. 

It is not always possible for us to book your preferred interpreter.

You cannot have a relative or a friend act as your interpreter during case events.

Yes. 

If you need assistance because of a disability, please contact us as soon as possible. We will try and make arrangements to help.

If you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment, contact us through the National Relay Service.

The Attorney-General's Department might be able to help with some of the costs of preparing for the review.

Find more information about receiving financial assistance by checking the Attorney-General's Department fact sheet.

You can ask us to help you organise a free appointment with a Legal Aid lawyer in your state. Legal Aid may not be able to represent you, but they can give you advice about how to proceed with your application.

You can appoint an advocate registered with the Department of Social Services (DSS), someone with experience in the NDIS, or a trusted friend or family member.

A disability advocate or another representative who is not a lawyer can:

  • receive correspondence on your behalf
  • represent you at case events and hearings
  • help you to gather evidence to support your case
  • attend case events on your behalf. 

If you cannot attend a case event yourself, you should discuss your matter with your advocate or representative and give them clear instructions about what you want them to say and do.

A disability advocate or non-legal representative may not give you legal advice or do anything that a lawyer would normally do.

You should find an advocate or representative who is independent, does not have a financial interest in the outcome of your review and will act in your best interests.

If a service provider or other person with a financial interest in the outcome of your review wants to support you in your application, they can provide a report as an expert witness.

Visit out Help and resources page.

You can also get support from:

  • Lifeline – provides 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention services. Phone: 131 114
  • 1800 RESPECT – provides 24-hour support to people impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence and abuse. Phone: 1800 737 732
  • Other mental health services that might be useful.

Statement of supports in your plan

What we can review

We can review a decision made by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) about your statement of supports.

Usually, we can only review a decision if the NDIA has reviewed it first. 

However, if the NDIA has not completed its internal review within 90 days (or other specified period) of you asking for an internal review, the Tribunal may be able to review the decision without waiting for the NDIA.

Check the decision letter or email you received from the NDIA to find out if the decision can be reviewed by the Tribunal.  

There are some decisions made by the NDIA that we cannot review:

  • We cannot investigate a complaint about the NDIA.
  • We cannot change the law.

How to apply

The easiest and safest way to apply for a review is online. 

To create an account and lodge an application online, you will need a valid email address and information about the decision you want us to review. 

Find out more about using our online services.

You can download and fill in an application form and send it to us.

Alternatively, you can ask us for a review by:

If you want to lodge an application in person at one of our registries, or by post or email check our contact details.

When you apply for a review, we need:

  • your name, postal address, telephone number and email address
  • contact details for your representative if you decide to have one
  • the date you received the NDIA ’s decision
  • a copy of the NDIA’s decision
  • brief reasons why you think the decision is wrong
  • a copy of your internal review request to the NDIA, where you asked them to review their decision.
  • any new information that is relevant to your case, that you got after the NDIA made its decision. You can keep on giving us information that is relevant to your case throughout the review process.

If you cannot send us a copy of the decision, then include:

  • the name of the department that made the decision
  • a brief description of the decision
  • the date the decision was made.

You can fill out an application form on behalf of a child. You will need to tell us your full name, contact details and relationship to the child.

You will need to provide the child’s full name, date of birth and address if it is different from yours.

If the child's parents are separated, you may have to give us copies of any Family Court orders or Children's Court orders regarding the child.

You may also have to get the other parent’s permission to represent the child in the application.

If a plan nominee has been appointed to help you with your NDIS funding or make decisions on your behalf, you should tell them that you have applied for a review of a NDIS decision with the Tribunal.

When to apply

There is a time limit to apply for a review by the Tribunal.

You have 28 days from the time you received the decision from the NDIA to lodge your application for review with us.

If it has been 90 days since you asked the NDIA for an internal review and you have not received a decision, please send us a copy of your internal review request with your application.

Requesting an extension

You can apply to us to extend the time limit to lodge your application. You must apply in writing and include reasons why the application is late. You can do this:

If you apply for an extension of time

If you do ask us for more time, we will send a copy of your request to the NDIA. The NDIA has 14 days to tell us if they don’t want us to give you more time.

If the NDIA don’t get back to us or if they say you can have more time, we will generally decide without holding a hearing.

If the NDIA does not want to give you more time, we will usually organise a hearing. 

If you need an interpreter or have other accessibility needs, please tell us as soon as possible.

The Tribunal will decide about whether to extend your application time after hearing what you and the NDIA have to say.

We will only start the review if we decide to extend the time limit.
 

Fees

There is no application fee to apply for a review of a decision made by the NDIA.

Review process

After you submit an application, we will send you a letter explaining what will happen next.

We will check your application to make sure we have all the information we need. We may ask you to give us more information.

  • If you do not have a representative, we will contact you to tell you about our review process and talk about any help you might need to participate. 
  • We can’t give you legal advice, but you can contact us if you need help understanding the process. We may be able to give you some ideas about where you can get legal advice, a disability advocate and other help.

We will also send a copy of your application to the NDIA. The NDIA will send you and us the documents they have on your case file that are relevant to your case with us, usually within 28 days.

You can find out what usually happens next in the After applying section.

You can also look at the Common Procedures Practice Direction [PDF, 425 KB] for further detail.

Getting help for your review

It is important to us that you are able to fully participate in the review and present your case.

Our processes are informal and user-friendly. You can deal with us directly with little or no assistance if you wish. 

However, we understand that you may need or want legal or advocacy assistance with your review, or other kinds of support such as an interpreter, captioner or help with accessing our premises.

There are professional people such as lawyers and other organisations that can help you with your review. You can find a list of places where you may be able to get legal advice on our Help and resources page.  

Yes. 

You can deal directly with us (represent yourself) or you can ask someone to help and represent you.

If you have any questions about the review process, you can ask us. 

Yes.

You must tell us in writing if you want someone to represent you, such as:

  • a lawyer, advocate or other professional person
  • your spouse or partner
  • a friend or relative.

You must tell us immediately if there are any changes to your representative’s details.

Legal representative

You can choose to be represented by a lawyer, who will act on your behalf. If you decide to engage a lawyer you may be able to apply to Legal Aid to pay for a lawyer to represent you. Otherwise you will have to find and pay for a lawyer yourself.

A lawyer can provide you with confidential legal advice about your case and they can represent you. 

You do not need to tell anyone about the legal advice you receive from your lawyer.

Support person

You can ask a trusted family member or friend to be your support person. A support person is different from an advocate or representative. Their job is not to represent you but to support you through the review process by:

  • helping you understand the review process 
  • attending case events and hearings with you 
  • helping you find a legal representative or disability advocate.
Expert witness

It can be helpful to ask your treating doctors, therapists, support workers, support co-ordinator or other service providers to provide information to support your case. This information will be known as evidence.

An expert witness is someone who has special knowledge or experience about something. Expert witnesses must be independent. An expert witness cannot act as an advocate for you or the NDIA.

There are Aboriginal Legal Services in each state and territory that may be able to help you find suitable assistance:

Yes. 

If you need an interpreter, please let us know. We will arrange for a qualified interpreter to assist, free of charge. Find out how.

For immediate assistance in your language, please contact Translating and Interpreter Services on 131 450.

If you have a preferred Auslan interpreter or caption service or need your interpreter to communicate with you in a specific way, please give us those details as well as any relevant contact details in writing as soon as you can. 

It is not always possible for us to book your preferred interpreter.

You cannot have a relative or a friend act as your interpreter during case events.

Yes. 

If you need assistance because of a disability, please contact us as soon as possible. We will try and make arrangements to help.

If you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment, contact us through the National Relay Service.

The Attorney-General's Department might be able to help with some of the costs of preparing for the review.

Find more information about receiving financial assistance by checking the Attorney-General's Department fact sheet.

You can ask us to help you organise a free appointment with a Legal Aid lawyer in your state. Legal Aid may not be able to represent you, but they can give you advice about how to proceed with your application.

You can appoint an advocate registered with the Department of Social Services (DSS), someone with experience in the NDIS, or a trusted friend or family member.

A disability advocate or another representative who is not a lawyer can:

  • receive correspondence on your behalf
  • represent you at case events and hearings
  • help you to gather evidence to support your case
  • attend case events on your behalf. 

If you cannot attend a case event yourself, you should discuss your matter with your advocate or representative and give them clear instructions about what you want them to say and do.

A disability advocate or non-legal representative may not give you legal advice or do anything that a lawyer would normally do.

You should find an advocate or representative who is independent, does not have a financial interest in the outcome of your review and will act in your best interests.

If a service provider or other person with a financial interest in the outcome of your review wants to support you in your application, they can provide a report as an expert witness.

Visit out Help and resources page.

You can also get support from:

  • Lifeline – provides 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention services. Phone: 131 114
  • 1800 RESPECT – provides 24-hour support to people impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence and abuse. Phone: 1800 737 732
  • Other mental health services that might be useful.

Request to reassess or vary your plan

What we can review

We can review a decision made by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) not to reassess or vary your plan.

Usually, we can only review a decision if the NDIA has reviewed it first. 

However, if the NDIA has not completed its internal review within 90 days (or other specified period) of you asking for an internal review, the Tribunal may be able to review the decision without waiting for the NDIA.

Check the decision letter or email you received from the NDIA to find out if the decision can be reviewed by the Tribunal.  

There are some decisions made by the NDIA that we cannot review:

  • We cannot investigate a complaint about the NDIA.
  • We cannot change the law.

How to apply

The easiest and safest way to apply for a review is online. 

To create an account and lodge an application online, you will need a valid email address and information about the decision you want us to review. 

Find out more about using our online services.

You can download and fill in an application form and send it to us.

Alternatively, you can ask us for a review by:

If you want to lodge an application in person at one of our registries, or by post or email check our contact details.

When you apply for a review, we need:

  • your name, postal address, telephone number and email address
  • contact details for your representative if you decide to have one
  • the date you received the NDIA ’s decision
  • a copy of the NDIA’s decision
  • brief reasons why you think the decision is wrong
  • a copy of your internal review request to the NDIA, where you asked them to review their decision.
  • any new information that is relevant to your case, that you got after the NDIA made its decision. You can keep on giving us information that is relevant to your case throughout the review process.

If you cannot send us a copy of the decision, then include:

  • the name of the department that made the decision
  • a brief description of the decision
  • the date the decision was made.

You can fill out an application form on behalf of a child. You will need to tell us your full name, contact details and relationship to the child.

You will need to provide the child’s full name, date of birth and address if it is different from yours.

If the child's parents are separated, you may have to give us copies of any Family Court orders or Children's Court orders regarding the child.

You may also have to get the other parent’s permission to represent the child in the application.

If a plan nominee has been appointed to help you with your NDIS funding or make decisions on your behalf, you should tell them that you have applied for a review of a NDIS decision with the Tribunal.

When to apply

There is a time limit to apply for a review by the Tribunal.

You have 28 days from the time you received the decision from the NDIA to lodge your application for review with us.

If it has been 90 days since you asked the NDIA for an internal review and you have not received a decision, please send us a copy of your internal review request with your application.

Requesting an extension

You can apply to us to extend the time limit to lodge your application. You must apply in writing and include reasons why the application is late. You can do this:

If you apply for an extension of time

If you do ask us for more time, we will send a copy of your request to the NDIA. The NDIA has 14 days to tell us if they don’t want us to give you more time.

If the NDIA don’t get back to us or if they say you can have more time, we will generally decide without holding a hearing.

If the NDIA does not want to give you more time, we will usually organise a hearing. 

If you need an interpreter or have other accessibility needs, please tell us as soon as possible.

The Tribunal will decide about whether to extend your application time after hearing what you and the NDIA have to say.

We will only start the review if we decide to extend the time limit.
 

Fees

There is no application fee to apply for a review of a decision made by the NDIA.

Review process

After you submit an application, we will send you a letter explaining what will happen next.

We will check your application to make sure we have all the information we need. We may ask you to give us more information.

  • If you do not have a representative, we will contact you to tell you about our review process and talk about any help you might need to participate. 
  • We can’t give you legal advice, but you can contact us if you need help understanding the process. We may be able to give you some ideas about where you can get legal advice, a disability advocate and other help.

We will also send a copy of your application to the NDIA. The NDIA will send you and us the documents they have on your case file that are relevant to your case with us, usually within 28 days.

You can find out what usually happens next in the After applying section.

You can also look at the Common Procedures Practice Direction [PDF, 425 KB] for further detail.

Getting help for your review

It is important to us that you are able to fully participate in the review and present your case.

Our processes are informal and user-friendly. You can deal with us directly with little or no assistance if you wish. 

However, we understand that you may need or want legal or advocacy assistance with your review, or other kinds of support such as an interpreter, captioner or help with accessing our premises.

There are professional people such as lawyers and other organisations that can help you with your review. You can find a list of places where you may be able to get legal advice on our Help and resources page.  

Yes. 

You can deal directly with us (represent yourself) or you can ask someone to help and represent you.

If you have any questions about the review process, you can ask us. 

Yes.

You must tell us in writing if you want someone to represent you, such as:

  • a lawyer, advocate or other professional person
  • your spouse or partner
  • a friend or relative.

You must tell us immediately if there are any changes to your representative’s details.

Legal representative

You can choose to be represented by a lawyer, who will act on your behalf. If you decide to engage a lawyer you may be able to apply to Legal Aid to pay for a lawyer to represent you. Otherwise you will have to find and pay for a lawyer yourself.

A lawyer can provide you with confidential legal advice about your case and they can represent you. 

You do not need to tell anyone about the legal advice you receive from your lawyer.

Support person

You can ask a trusted family member or friend to be your support person. A support person is different from an advocate or representative. Their job is not to represent you but to support you through the review process by:

  • helping you understand the review process 
  • attending case events and hearings with you 
  • helping you find a legal representative or disability advocate.
Expert witness

It can be helpful to ask your treating doctors, therapists, support workers, support co-ordinator or other service providers to provide information to support your case. This information will be known as evidence.

An expert witness is someone who has special knowledge or experience about something. Expert witnesses must be independent. An expert witness cannot act as an advocate for you or the NDIA.

There are Aboriginal Legal Services in each state and territory that may be able to help you find suitable assistance:

Yes. 

If you need an interpreter, please let us know. We will arrange for a qualified interpreter to assist, free of charge. Find out how.

For immediate assistance in your language, please contact Translating and Interpreter Services on 131 450.

If you have a preferred Auslan interpreter or caption service or need your interpreter to communicate with you in a specific way, please give us those details as well as any relevant contact details in writing as soon as you can. 

It is not always possible for us to book your preferred interpreter.

You cannot have a relative or a friend act as your interpreter during case events.

Yes. 

If you need assistance because of a disability, please contact us as soon as possible. We will try and make arrangements to help.

If you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment, contact us through the National Relay Service.

The Attorney-General's Department might be able to help with some of the costs of preparing for the review.

Find more information about receiving financial assistance by checking the Attorney-General's Department fact sheet.

You can ask us to help you organise a free appointment with a Legal Aid lawyer in your state. Legal Aid may not be able to represent you, but they can give you advice about how to proceed with your application.

You can appoint an advocate registered with the Department of Social Services (DSS), someone with experience in the NDIS, or a trusted friend or family member.

A disability advocate or another representative who is not a lawyer can:

  • receive correspondence on your behalf
  • represent you at case events and hearings
  • help you to gather evidence to support your case
  • attend case events on your behalf. 

If you cannot attend a case event yourself, you should discuss your matter with your advocate or representative and give them clear instructions about what you want them to say and do.

A disability advocate or non-legal representative may not give you legal advice or do anything that a lawyer would normally do.

You should find an advocate or representative who is independent, does not have a financial interest in the outcome of your review and will act in your best interests.

If a service provider or other person with a financial interest in the outcome of your review wants to support you in your application, they can provide a report as an expert witness.

Visit out Help and resources page.

You can also get support from:

  • Lifeline – provides 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention services. Phone: 131 114
  • 1800 RESPECT – provides 24-hour support to people impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence and abuse. Phone: 1800 737 732
  • Other mental health services that might be useful.

Making decisions about a child participant of the NDIS

What we can review

We can review a decision made by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) to make, or not to make, a determination about who may do things on behalf of a child who is a participant of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

Usually, we can only review a decision if the NDIA has reviewed it first. 

However, if the NDIA has not completed its internal review within 90 days (or other specified period) of you asking for an internal review, the Tribunal may be able to review the decision without waiting for the NDIA.

Check the decision letter or email you received from the NDIA to find out if the decision can be reviewed by the Tribunal.  

There are some decisions made by the NDIA that we cannot review:

  • We cannot investigate a complaint about the NDIA.
  • We cannot change the law.

How to apply

The easiest and safest way to apply for a review is online. 

To create an account and lodge an application online, you will need a valid email address and information about the decision you want us to review. 

Find out more about using our online services.

You can download and fill in an application form and send it to us.

Alternatively, you can ask us for a review by:

If you want to lodge an application in person at one of our registries, or by post or email check our contact details.

When you apply for a review, we need:

  • your name, postal address, telephone number and email address
  • contact details for your representative if you decide to have one
  • the date you received the NDIA ’s decision
  • a copy of the NDIA’s decision
  • brief reasons why you think the decision is wrong
  • a copy of your internal review request to the NDIA, where you asked them to review their decision.
  • any new information that is relevant to your case, that you got after the NDIA made its decision. You can keep on giving us information that is relevant to your case throughout the review process.

If you cannot send us a copy of the decision, then include:

  • the name of the department that made the decision
  • a brief description of the decision
  • the date the decision was made.

You can fill out an application form on behalf of a child. You will need to tell us your full name, contact details and relationship to the child.

You will need to provide the child’s full name, date of birth and address if it is different from yours.

If the child's parents are separated, you may have to give us copies of any Family Court orders or Children's Court orders regarding the child.

You may also have to get the other parent’s permission to represent the child in the application.

If a plan nominee has been appointed to help you with your NDIS funding or make decisions on your behalf, you should tell them that you have applied for a review of a NDIS decision with the Tribunal.

When to apply

There is a time limit to apply for a review by the Tribunal.

You have 28 days from the time you received the decision from the NDIA to lodge your application for review with us.

If it has been 90 days since you asked the NDIA for an internal review and you have not received a decision, please send us a copy of your internal review request with your application.

Requesting an extension

You can apply to us to extend the time limit to lodge your application. You must apply in writing and include reasons why the application is late. You can do this:

If you apply for an extension of time

If you do ask us for more time, we will send a copy of your request to the NDIA. The NDIA has 14 days to tell us if they don’t want us to give you more time.

If the NDIA don’t get back to us or if they say you can have more time, we will generally decide without holding a hearing.

If the NDIA does not want to give you more time, we will usually organise a hearing. 

If you need an interpreter or have other accessibility needs, please tell us as soon as possible.

The Tribunal will decide about whether to extend your application time after hearing what you and the NDIA have to say.

We will only start the review if we decide to extend the time limit.
 

Fees

There is no application fee to apply for a review of a decision made by the NDIA.

Review process

After you submit an application, we will send you a letter explaining what will happen next.

We will check your application to make sure we have all the information we need. We may ask you to give us more information.

  • If you do not have a representative, we will contact you to tell you about our review process and talk about any help you might need to participate. 
  • We can’t give you legal advice, but you can contact us if you need help understanding the process. We may be able to give you some ideas about where you can get legal advice, a disability advocate and other help.

We will also send a copy of your application to the NDIA. The NDIA will send you and us the documents they have on your case file that are relevant to your case with us, usually within 28 days.

You can find out what usually happens next in the After applying section.

You can also look at the Common Procedures Practice Direction [PDF, 425 KB] for further detail.

Getting help for your review

It is important to us that you are able to fully participate in the review and present your case.

Our processes are informal and user-friendly. You can deal with us directly with little or no assistance if you wish. 

However, we understand that you may need or want legal or advocacy assistance with your review, or other kinds of support such as an interpreter, captioner or help with accessing our premises.

There are professional people such as lawyers and other organisations that can help you with your review. You can find a list of places where you may be able to get legal advice on our Help and resources page.  

Yes. 

You can deal directly with us (represent yourself) or you can ask someone to help and represent you.

If you have any questions about the review process, you can ask us. 

Yes.

You must tell us in writing if you want someone to represent you, such as:

  • a lawyer, advocate or other professional person
  • your spouse or partner
  • a friend or relative.

You must tell us immediately if there are any changes to your representative’s details.

Legal representative

You can choose to be represented by a lawyer, who will act on your behalf. If you decide to engage a lawyer you may be able to apply to Legal Aid to pay for a lawyer to represent you. Otherwise you will have to find and pay for a lawyer yourself.

A lawyer can provide you with confidential legal advice about your case and they can represent you. 

You do not need to tell anyone about the legal advice you receive from your lawyer.

Support person

You can ask a trusted family member or friend to be your support person. A support person is different from an advocate or representative. Their job is not to represent you but to support you through the review process by:

  • helping you understand the review process 
  • attending case events and hearings with you 
  • helping you find a legal representative or disability advocate.
Expert witness

It can be helpful to ask your treating doctors, therapists, support workers, support co-ordinator or other service providers to provide information to support your case. This information will be known as evidence.

An expert witness is someone who has special knowledge or experience about something. Expert witnesses must be independent. An expert witness cannot act as an advocate for you or the NDIA.

There are Aboriginal Legal Services in each state and territory that may be able to help you find suitable assistance:

Yes. 

If you need an interpreter, please let us know. We will arrange for a qualified interpreter to assist, free of charge. Find out how.

For immediate assistance in your language, please contact Translating and Interpreter Services on 131 450.

If you have a preferred Auslan interpreter or caption service or need your interpreter to communicate with you in a specific way, please give us those details as well as any relevant contact details in writing as soon as you can. 

It is not always possible for us to book your preferred interpreter.

You cannot have a relative or a friend act as your interpreter during case events.

Yes. 

If you need assistance because of a disability, please contact us as soon as possible. We will try and make arrangements to help.

If you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment, contact us through the National Relay Service.

The Attorney-General's Department might be able to help with some of the costs of preparing for the review.

Find more information about receiving financial assistance by checking the Attorney-General's Department fact sheet.

You can ask us to help you organise a free appointment with a Legal Aid lawyer in your state. Legal Aid may not be able to represent you, but they can give you advice about how to proceed with your application.

You can appoint an advocate registered with the Department of Social Services (DSS), someone with experience in the NDIS, or a trusted friend or family member.

A disability advocate or another representative who is not a lawyer can:

  • receive correspondence on your behalf
  • represent you at case events and hearings
  • help you to gather evidence to support your case
  • attend case events on your behalf. 

If you cannot attend a case event yourself, you should discuss your matter with your advocate or representative and give them clear instructions about what you want them to say and do.

A disability advocate or non-legal representative may not give you legal advice or do anything that a lawyer would normally do.

You should find an advocate or representative who is independent, does not have a financial interest in the outcome of your review and will act in your best interests.

If a service provider or other person with a financial interest in the outcome of your review wants to support you in your application, they can provide a report as an expert witness.

Visit out Help and resources page.

You can also get support from:

  • Lifeline – provides 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention services. Phone: 131 114
  • 1800 RESPECT – provides 24-hour support to people impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence and abuse. Phone: 1800 737 732
  • Other mental health services that might be useful.

Appointing a plan or correspondence nominee

What we can review

We can review a decision made by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) about appointing a plan nominee or a correspondence nominee.

Usually, we can only review a decision if the NDIA has reviewed it first. 

However, if the NDIA has not completed its internal review within 90 days (or other specified period) of you asking for an internal review, the Tribunal may be able to review the decision without waiting for the NDIA.

Check the decision letter or email you received from the NDIA to find out if the decision can be reviewed by the Tribunal.  

There are some decisions made by the NDIA that we cannot review:

  • We cannot investigate a complaint about the NDIA.
  • We cannot change the law.

How to apply

The easiest and safest way to apply for a review is online. 

To create an account and lodge an application online, you will need a valid email address and information about the decision you want us to review. 

Find out more about using our online services.

You can download and fill in an application form and send it to us.

Alternatively, you can ask us for a review by:

If you want to lodge an application in person at one of our registries, or by post or email check our contact details.

When you apply for a review, we need:

  • your name, postal address, telephone number and email address
  • contact details for your representative if you decide to have one
  • the date you received the NDIA ’s decision
  • a copy of the NDIA’s decision
  • brief reasons why you think the decision is wrong
  • a copy of your internal review request to the NDIA, where you asked them to review their decision.
  • any new information that is relevant to your case, that you got after the NDIA made its decision. You can keep on giving us information that is relevant to your case throughout the review process.

If you cannot send us a copy of the decision, then include:

  • the name of the department that made the decision
  • a brief description of the decision
  • the date the decision was made.

You can fill out an application form on behalf of a child. You will need to tell us your full name, contact details and relationship to the child.

You will need to provide the child’s full name, date of birth and address if it is different from yours.

If the child's parents are separated, you may have to give us copies of any Family Court orders or Children's Court orders regarding the child.

You may also have to get the other parent’s permission to represent the child in the application.

If a plan nominee has been appointed to help you with your NDIS funding or make decisions on your behalf, you should tell them that you have applied for a review of a NDIS decision with the Tribunal.

When to apply

There is a time limit to apply for a review by the Tribunal.

You have 28 days from the time you received the decision from the NDIA to lodge your application for review with us.

If it has been 90 days since you asked the NDIA for an internal review and you have not received a decision, please send us a copy of your internal review request with your application.

Requesting an extension

You can apply to us to extend the time limit to lodge your application. You must apply in writing and include reasons why the application is late. You can do this:

If you apply for an extension of time

If you do ask us for more time, we will send a copy of your request to the NDIA. The NDIA has 14 days to tell us if they don’t want us to give you more time.

If the NDIA don’t get back to us or if they say you can have more time, we will generally decide without holding a hearing.

If the NDIA does not want to give you more time, we will usually organise a hearing. 

If you need an interpreter or have other accessibility needs, please tell us as soon as possible.

The Tribunal will decide about whether to extend your application time after hearing what you and the NDIA have to say.

We will only start the review if we decide to extend the time limit.
 

Fees

There is no application fee to apply for a review of a decision made by the NDIA.

Review process

After you submit an application, we will send you a letter explaining what will happen next.

We will check your application to make sure we have all the information we need. We may ask you to give us more information.

  • If you do not have a representative, we will contact you to tell you about our review process and talk about any help you might need to participate. 
  • We can’t give you legal advice, but you can contact us if you need help understanding the process. We may be able to give you some ideas about where you can get legal advice, a disability advocate and other help.

We will also send a copy of your application to the NDIA. The NDIA will send you and us the documents they have on your case file that are relevant to your case with us, usually within 28 days.

You can find out what usually happens next in the After applying section.

You can also look at the Common Procedures Practice Direction [PDF, 425 KB] for further detail.

Getting help for your review

It is important to us that you are able to fully participate in the review and present your case.

Our processes are informal and user-friendly. You can deal with us directly with little or no assistance if you wish. 

However, we understand that you may need or want legal or advocacy assistance with your review, or other kinds of support such as an interpreter, captioner or help with accessing our premises.

There are professional people such as lawyers and other organisations that can help you with your review. You can find a list of places where you may be able to get legal advice on our Help and resources page.  

Yes. 

You can deal directly with us (represent yourself) or you can ask someone to help and represent you.

If you have any questions about the review process, you can ask us. 

Yes.

You must tell us in writing if you want someone to represent you, such as:

  • a lawyer, advocate or other professional person
  • your spouse or partner
  • a friend or relative.

You must tell us immediately if there are any changes to your representative’s details.

Legal representative

You can choose to be represented by a lawyer, who will act on your behalf. If you decide to engage a lawyer you may be able to apply to Legal Aid to pay for a lawyer to represent you. Otherwise you will have to find and pay for a lawyer yourself.

A lawyer can provide you with confidential legal advice about your case and they can represent you. 

You do not need to tell anyone about the legal advice you receive from your lawyer.

Support person

You can ask a trusted family member or friend to be your support person. A support person is different from an advocate or representative. Their job is not to represent you but to support you through the review process by:

  • helping you understand the review process 
  • attending case events and hearings with you 
  • helping you find a legal representative or disability advocate.
Expert witness

It can be helpful to ask your treating doctors, therapists, support workers, support co-ordinator or other service providers to provide information to support your case. This information will be known as evidence.

An expert witness is someone who has special knowledge or experience about something. Expert witnesses must be independent. An expert witness cannot act as an advocate for you or the NDIA.

There are Aboriginal Legal Services in each state and territory that may be able to help you find suitable assistance:

Yes. 

If you need an interpreter, please let us know. We will arrange for a qualified interpreter to assist, free of charge. Find out how.

For immediate assistance in your language, please contact Translating and Interpreter Services on 131 450.

If you have a preferred Auslan interpreter or caption service or need your interpreter to communicate with you in a specific way, please give us those details as well as any relevant contact details in writing as soon as you can. 

It is not always possible for us to book your preferred interpreter.

You cannot have a relative or a friend act as your interpreter during case events.

Yes. 

If you need assistance because of a disability, please contact us as soon as possible. We will try and make arrangements to help.

If you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment, contact us through the National Relay Service.

The Attorney-General's Department might be able to help with some of the costs of preparing for the review.

Find more information about receiving financial assistance by checking the Attorney-General's Department fact sheet.

You can ask us to help you organise a free appointment with a Legal Aid lawyer in your state. Legal Aid may not be able to represent you, but they can give you advice about how to proceed with your application.

You can appoint an advocate registered with the Department of Social Services (DSS), someone with experience in the NDIS, or a trusted friend or family member.

A disability advocate or another representative who is not a lawyer can:

  • receive correspondence on your behalf
  • represent you at case events and hearings
  • help you to gather evidence to support your case
  • attend case events on your behalf. 

If you cannot attend a case event yourself, you should discuss your matter with your advocate or representative and give them clear instructions about what you want them to say and do.

A disability advocate or non-legal representative may not give you legal advice or do anything that a lawyer would normally do.

You should find an advocate or representative who is independent, does not have a financial interest in the outcome of your review and will act in your best interests.

If a service provider or other person with a financial interest in the outcome of your review wants to support you in your application, they can provide a report as an expert witness.

Visit out Help and resources page.

You can also get support from:

  • Lifeline – provides 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention services. Phone: 131 114
  • 1800 RESPECT – provides 24-hour support to people impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence and abuse. Phone: 1800 737 732
  • Other mental health services that might be useful.

Fair, accessible and independent

We are completely separate from the National Disability Insurance Agency and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. We are here to make sure their decisions are legally correct and fair.

About us