We will notify you in writing when we make a decision about a child representative. We may make a decision to change a child representative, or we may decide not to change a child representative. The child representative will then be able to do things and make decisions about the NDIS on the child’s behalf. This includes helping to create a child’s plan. The exception would be if we decide the child is able to represent themselves.
How does a child representative help us to create a child’s plan?
As a child representative, you can do anything a participant can do under the NDIS Act. This includes working with us to create the child participant’s NDIS plan. Everyone has different goals, living situations and circumstances. Where possible, you will include the child participant in planning discussions or talk to them about their plan and supports to find out what they would like.
You will be responsible for working with us to create the child participant’s plan. This includes:
- Answering, or helping the child participant to answer, questions about the child’s life, care arrangements, people who are important to them, and their disability.
- Preparing a statement of goals and aspirations on the child participant’s behalf or helping them to prepare one. This means working out what goals the child would like to pursue and what they would like to be able to do.
- Talking to us about what supports the child participant might need to help them to pursue their goals.
- Talking to us about how the NDIS funded supports are managed.
Learn more about your plan and creating your plan.
The different ways the supports can be managed are:
- Self-managed, where the NDIS funds are paid directly to you and you make sure providers are paid. You will be responsible for keeping all the records and managing the child participant’s plan budget.
- Plan-managed, where the plan is managed by a plan manager who will pay providers on your behalf.
- Agency-managed, where the NDIA will pay registered providers of services on your behalf.
A child representative can request how they would like the supports in a child participant’s plan to be managed.
For example, the child representative can make a request to self-manage some or all of the funding for supports under the child participant’s plan. In most cases, the Agency will approve this request.
However, we will not approve the request if the child representative is currently bankrupt. Or, if their management of the funding will present an unreasonable risk to the child participant. When making this decision we must consider:
When making this decision we must consider:
- whether the child representative is able to manage finances
- whether there is reason to believe that the child participant’s representative might not spend funding according to the child’s plan
- whether, and to what extent, any risks are reduced by any safeguards or strategies we could put in place through the child’s plan.
Learn more about how we decide how funding in a plan is managed.
If a child representative is managing the funding for supports, they will need to nominate one bank account into which all self-managed NDIS funding is paid.
You may combine different types of plan management. For example, some supports can be self-managed, and others managed by a plan manager or agency-managed.
You can discuss with us which ones apply to the child participant you are representing.
You are also responsible for requesting a plan change. This could be if there are changes in the child participant’s life or their supports need to change before it’s time to reassess their plan. We may also need to check with you on how the plan is working for the child participant and make sure the supports are still the right ones.
Learn more about plan changes.