The NDIA pays participants and plan nominees $200 for each session they complete in return for their time and feedback. Taking part is voluntary.
It’s important to know that taking part won’t affect current or future NDIS plans, funding, supports or eligibility. Taking part in testing doesn’t trigger a plan review, plan reassessment or compliance action.
By taking part, participants can experience what the new way of planning may be like. They can share their feedback to help improve it.
Feedback helps the NDIA:
To find out more and express your interest, visit NDIS Engage.
If you need help signing up, you can call the NDIA on 1300 790 467. This is a phone line just for enquiries about testing.
No. Participating in testing won’t affect your current or future NDIS plan, funding, supports or eligibility.
Taking part in testing doesn’t trigger a plan review, plan reassessment or compliance action.
No. The NDIA won’t invite everyone who registers their interest to take part.
The NDIA welcomes applications from people with different disability types, support needs and life experiences. However, they will invite participants based on what needs to be tested at the time.
This means some participants may be invited to take part sooner than others, and some people may not be selected.
If future testing opportunities become available, the NDIA may contact people who have already registered their interest.
Testing activities take place online using Microsoft Teams and usually take around 2 hours.
You may be asked to:
You can take breaks whenever you need, choose not to answer questions you’re uncomfortable with and withdraw at any time.
You can also bring a family member, carer, advocate or other support person with you.
Yes. The NDIA is running 2 different testing activities:
Participants can choose to take part in one or both activities or not take part at all.
The NDIA may ask you to bring information about things like equipment or assistive technology, or support related to your home.
If you already have reports or information about your supports, you can bring them with you.
Examples of information you can bring include:
You will only need to bring information you already have and that is easy to find. You don’t need to find or collect anything new.
No. Testing will improve the NDIS new way of planning and support assessor accreditation.
You won’t receive a report, assessment outcome, new plan or budget because of participating.
The NDIA is using testing to improve processes, systems and participant experiences.
The NDIA won’t use information collected to make decisions about your NDIS plan, funding or eligibility. Taking part in testing doesn’t trigger a plan review, plan reassessment or compliance action.
The NDIA will select participants to take part in different stages, based on what the NDIA is testing at the time.
This makes sure the Agency includes a diverse range of experiences in the testing process.
This means the NDIA may invite some participants to take part sooner than others, and some participants may not take part.
The NDIA works with research partners to help design research and analyse information collected through testing. Current research partners include the University of Melbourne, University of Sydney and the Centre for Disability Studies.
These research partners help the NDIA to analyse testing activities and identify opportunities for improvement. Research partners make sure evidence informs NDIA decisions.
Research partners may access de-identified information collected during testing. This means your name, address and any other information that could identify you is removed before information is shared.
Information gathered during testing will improve processes, systems and participant experiences.
It’s not used to decide on a participant’s NDIS plan, funding, eligibility or supports. Taking part in testing doesn’t trigger a plan review, plan reassessment or compliance action.
The NDIA will use information for the testing activities the participant has agreed to take part in.
Information may be shared with approved staff and research partners. However, the NDIA won’t share information that could identify participants.
Yes. You can bring a family member, carer, advocate or other support person with you.
Yes. The NDIA will pay NDIS participants and plan nominees for each session they complete. It‘s a set amount for taking part in a session. It’s not an hourly rate.
A session may include one testing activity, or both testing activities. The NDIA will pay participants $200 for each session, even if they complete both activities in the same session.
The NDIA will not pay participants if they are taking part in a paid role. This includes taking part through a peak body, sector organisation or advocacy organisation.
No. The NDIA will make only one $200 payment per session. Separate payments won’t be made to each person.
Yes. If the participant requires a paid support worker to assist them to take part in testing, the NDIA may cover this cost.
No. Family members, carers, advocates or other support people attending to support the participant are not automatically paid.
They can only be paid if they are participating as the participant’s nominee or approved support worker.
The NDIA understands that taking part and sharing your experiences may raise difficult feelings or emotions.
If this happens during a session, you can ask to take a break or stop participating at any time.
You don’t have to answer questions if you feel uncomfortable.
Before your session, someone from the NDIA will contact you to explain what to expect. They’ll also discuss any supports you may need.
If you need emotional support during or after the testing, you can contact the Participant Engagement team for support and guidance.
The team is trained to support participants. They’ll help you connect with appropriate supports and services.
The NDIA can also provide information about other support services including:
The NDIA may contact you after the session to check on your wellbeing if the assessor mentions any concerns.
The NDIA will make sure you have the support you need.
Yes. Participant feedback is used by the NDIA to shape practical improvements.
When participants share their feedback, it helps the NDIA improve:
No. This testing builds on work that has already taken place.
The NDIA has already completed thousands of desktop assessments and hundreds of simulated support needs assessments with participants.
The NDIA is expanding testing to make sure processes and systems work well on a larger scale.
