Skip to main content

šŸ“¢ Important Update: NDIS Funding Periods

A new change has been introduced that affects how budgets are released to NDIS Participants: Funding Periods.

Updated over 8 months ago

šŸ”„ Whatā€™s Changing?

Until now, Participants have had access to the full balance of their NDIS plan from the outset. While this approach has allowed flexibility, itā€™s also made longer-term budgeting a challenge ā€” with some Participants exhausting funds earlier than expected.

The NDIS is now introducing Funding Periods, which limit when portions of a Participantā€™s budget become available. These fixed intervals are being positioned as a way to encourage more consistent spending, but they also bring new limitations and complexity to the way funding is accessed and managed.

šŸ§® How Funding Periods Work

Here's what we know:

  • Staggered Release: New PACE budgets are no longer available in full. Instead, funds are released incrementally throughout the planā€™s duration.

  • Preset Intervals: Most supports will default to a 3-month cycle. Home and Living items will follow a 1-month schedule. Other timeframes (1, 6, or 12 months) may apply based on circumstances, though how these are determined isnā€™t always clear.

  • Mixed Schedules: Different parts of a Participantā€™s plan may be tied to different Funding Periods, adding further complexity.

  • Expiry Rules: Unused funds within a plan stay accessible until the plan ends ā€” but they wonā€™t carry over to a new plan.

  • No Early Access: Future funds are locked and canā€™t be drawn on ahead of time, even in cases of urgent need.

  • Rolling Totals: Participants can use the cumulative total of all released funding to date, but not beyond.

šŸ—“ When Is This Happening?

  • Legislative Basis: Funding Periods were written into law from 3 October 2024, with a 12-month cap on the length of any release interval.

  • System-Level Rollout: From 19 May 2025, the PACE system will begin displaying budget data structured around Funding Periods, even if a plan hasnā€™t been formally transitioned.

  • Who It Affects: This only applies to Participants on PACE.

šŸ§‘ā€šŸ’¼ Impacts for Plan Managers

This shift introduces a number of operational changes you will need to work around:

  1. Budget Visibility

    • Budgets will now show amounts available for the current period and total funds released to date. This requires closer tracking to ensure accurate spending and advice.

  2. Claim Rejections

    • The NDIA has stated that if a claim exceeds the available balance for that period, it will be declined in full ā€” no partial payments.

  3. Splitting Claims

    • Claims that span more than one Funding Period must be split accordingly, which adds administrative overhead.

  4. Participant Communication

    • Participants may need support to understand the staged nature of their budget and the consequences of not using funds within each period. Some may assume their full budget is available when it isnā€™t.

  5. System Adjustments

    • Caresquare has made significant updates over the weekend to support the new structure, but a transition period is expected while these changes are implemented and tested.

āš™ļø Changes in Caresquare

We have modified Caresquare to work with the new budget structure being sent via the NDIA API's as of Sunday evening.

  1. Non-PACE plans should be completely unaffected, but we are monitoring to make sure the APIs are consistent with how they were previously.

  2. PACE plans commencing prior to 19th May have a new structure in the API, but do not seem to be materially different.

  3. PACE plans commencing on or after 19th May will have the new funding period structure. As these roll out, we will monitor closely to ensure the system is handling them appropriately.

We have provisioned for all of the above scenarios according to the limited information provided by the NDIA. However, from experience, it is highly likely there will be cases where the APIs responses differ from the documentation provided by the NDIA.

We are monitoring closely to respond changes in real-time, but please let us know via the chat if budget information is not showing how you would expect it to.

šŸ§  Staying Across the Changes

  1. We will publish further advice and knowledge articles as better information becomes available.

  2. We would encourage you to join the NDIAā€™s webinar ā€œIntroducing Section 33 Budget Changes for Providersā€ to get direct clarification.

    1. If you can't make it, we will be attending and will publish any useful notes to all customers.

Did this answer your question?