Skip to main content
Back to guides

Records and reviews

Evidence that helps at NDIS reassessment

A calmer guide to choosing current reports, spotting what makes evidence strong, adding practical notes, and organising a pack the NDIA can actually use.

Best used for

  • Participants and families trying to turn a messy document pile into a clearer evidence pack
  • Support coordinators checking which reports are actually worth leading with
  • People preparing for reassessment who want better evidence rather than just more paperwork

Goal of this page

The aim is to make the evidence pack easier to shape and easier to use, not just bigger.

Quick jumps

Use the page in the order that helps you most.

The guided module is the best place to start, but these shortcuts make it easier to move directly to the practical section you need.

At a glance

The shortest version before you begin.

If the evidence side already feels overwhelming, start with these three orientation points first.

Better evidence beats more evidence

A smaller set of current, relevant documents is often more useful than a large pile of older material.

Function matters more than diagnosis alone

The strongest reports usually explain current daily impact, outcomes, and why the recommended support helps now.

Practical notes still count

Short dated notes from family, carers, support workers, or coordinators can help show the daily-life reality between formal appointments.

Before you start

A few things that make reassessment evidence easier to manage.

These are the ideas that usually reduce confusion before you start sorting reports and notes.

Start with the support ask

It is easier to judge whether a report is helpful once you know what support change it is meant to support.

Recent reports usually carry more weight

Current therapy reports, specialist letters, discharge summaries, and functional assessments usually help most because they describe the present support picture.

Strong reports show outcomes and progress

Current provider guidance points to therapy approach, goals, progress, and previous therapies trialled as useful parts of reassessment reports.

Organisation affects usability

Even good evidence is harder to use when it is buried in duplicate, outdated, or poorly ordered paperwork.

Guided path

Build the evidence pack in a calmer order.

This step-by-step path helps you shape a tighter, more useful reassessment evidence pack.

Guided path

Step 1 of 6

Start with the ask

Know what the evidence needs to prove

Step 01

Start with the ask

The evidence pack is easier to build once the ask is clear.

Know what the evidence needs to prove

Evidence works best when it is attached to a clear request. If the support ask is vague, it becomes much harder to tell which reports matter most.

This step helps you

Match the evidence pack to the actual support request instead of collecting documents without a clear purpose.

You can move on when

You know what support change is being asked for and what the evidence needs to show about current need.

Start with these questions

  • What support should stay, increase, change, or be added
  • What changed in daily life or support need that makes the request necessary now
  • Which evidence would best show that current gap clearly

Best next move

Write a one-paragraph summary of the support request first, then gather evidence that matches it.

More detail for this step

Why this step matters

The NDIA is trying to understand current support need, what changed, and whether the recommended support fits the funding criteria. The evidence should help answer those questions directly.

Common mistake

Collecting a large stack of reports before being clear about what support change the evidence is meant to support.

Related help

Next: Choose the strongest current reports
5 steps left

What the NDIA needs

These are the things the evidence usually needs to make clear.

The aim is to help the decision-maker understand current support need, not just background diagnosis history.

Current function

The NDIA is usually trying to understand what daily life looks like now and how disability affects current support need.

What changed

The evidence is stronger when it shows what is different now, what supports have been tried, and what gap still remains.

Why the support is needed

Recommendations help most when they explain why the requested support is likely to help and how it connects to goals or outcomes.

Strong reports

A strong report usually includes these elements.

This is the quickest way to sense whether a report is likely to carry real weight in the pack.

  • A summary of the supports or therapy approach already provided
  • Evidence of progress toward goals or, where relevant, what has not improved as hoped
  • Current functional impact in areas like self-care, mobility, communication, safety, learning, or participation
  • Recommendations linked to practical outcomes rather than diagnosis alone

What to avoid

These are the evidence habits most likely to weaken the pack.

The goal is to keep the strongest material visible and easy to use.

  • Very old reports that no longer describe the current situation well
  • Generic letters that only confirm diagnosis without enough functional detail
  • Duplicate or near-duplicate reports that do not add anything new
  • Large packs with no clear order, making the strongest evidence harder to find

Pack order

A simple order usually makes the evidence easier to use.

This does not need to be fancy. It just needs to be easy to follow.

1. Short summary of the support ask

Start with a short note explaining what support change is being requested and what changed.

2. Current plan

Include the current plan so the evidence can be read against what is already funded now.

3. Strongest recent reports

Put the most relevant current reports first so the present support picture is immediately clear.

4. Practical notes and supporting records

Add short daily-life notes, provider summaries, quotes, or related records that help explain the current gap.

Next reads

Keep going with the guide that matches the real next task.

Once the evidence pack is clearer, these are usually the most useful follow-on guides.

Keep your place

You do not need to sort the full evidence pack in one go. It often helps to first pick the strongest recent reports, then add the clearest practical notes, and only then trim and reorder the rest.

Keep it organised

Store reports, letters, and support records in one place.

Sign up free and keep your plan documents, provider notes, and evidence records together so reassessment preparation is easier to revisit.