KB Type: Research Theme
Domain Area: Legislative
Confidence: Researched (Andrew)
Depth Hint: Standard
Version: 1.0 — 2026-05-11
Status: Active

New Framework Plans are a new type of NDIS plan introduced by the NDIS Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Act 2024. They replace the goals-led planning architecture of Old Framework Plans with a needs-assessment-led model in which a formal Needs Assessor produces a Needs Assessment Report as the primary evidentiary document for plan decisions. Under Old Framework Plans, a participant's "Participant Statement of Goals and Aspirations" was a formally required plan component (s33(1)(a) of the original NDIS Act 2013) and functioned as the starting point that generated the statement of participant supports. Under New Framework Plans, goals and aspirations remain relevant (s32D(1) of the amended Act still requires a statement) but shift from being the formal driver of funding to a contextual input that informs the Needs Assessor's determination. The plan is now structured around a whole-of-plan budget, stated supports, and flexible funding — with goals shaping how needs are interpreted, rather than independently compelling support entitlements. Implementation of New Framework Plans has been delayed to April 2027.

Old Framework Plans (Legacy and Pace plans under the original 2013 Act):

Section 33(1)(a) of the NDIS Act 2013 (pre-amendment) required that every plan include a "statement of participant goals and aspirations" prepared by the participant. This statement was a formally named plan component — not merely an input to the process, but a document that lived inside the plan itself. The planning logic followed a direct chain:

Participant articulates goals → NDIA determines what supports are reasonable and necessary to pursue those goals → supports are funded.

Goals were the formal origin point. A well-articulated goals statement could independently generate a strong argument that specific supports were reasonable and necessary to pursue the stated goal. Advocacy organisations trained participants to craft detailed goals statements before planning meetings for exactly this reason.

New Framework Plans (2024 Amendment Act):

The 2024 amendments (NDIS Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Act 2024) restructure this architecture. Section 32D(1) of the amended Act still requires that a new framework plan include a statement from the participant specifying their goals, objectives, aspirations, and environmental and personal context. The statement is not eliminated. But its functional role changes fundamentally.

The new logic:

NDIA conducts a formal needs assessment (via a Needs Assessor, producing a Needs Assessment Report) → assessed disability-related functional needs determine the whole-of-plan budget → goals and aspirations inform how needs are interpreted and what responses are appropriate → supports are funded based on the needs assessment, with goals providing context.

Goals become a contextual input to the needs assessment rather than the formal starting point. A well-articulated goals statement alone can no longer compel specific funding — the determination must now pass through the needs assessment filter, which applies additional criteria: value for money, likely effectiveness, what is reasonably available from other service systems.

The NDIS currently operates under three plan types simultaneously:

All three plan types may exist simultaneously in a provider's participant cohort, requiring practitioners to maintain awareness of which planning framework applies to each participant.

The shift from Old to New Framework Plans has direct implications for participant-facing tools designed to help participants articulate their needs and goals:

Under Old Framework Plans, a participant statement was a formal plan driver — it initiated the planning logic. Under New Framework Plans, a participant statement functions as a "functional translation layer" — it must capture not only the participant's goals but the functional impairment that disability creates in relation to those goals, in language that Needs Assessors can use to inform their assessment.

A well-designed participant statement in the New Framework Plan world translates the participant's lived experience (what they want to do, what prevents them) into the functional impairment categories that the needs assessment uses. This is a more complex task than stating goals alone, but the underlying information — what the participant wants to achieve, what barriers disability creates — is the same. The difference is in the framing: "I want to live independently" becomes an articulation of the functional impairments that prevent independent living and the supports that address those impairments.

Providers whose service delivery spans both Old and New Framework participants must maintain dual competency:

Confidence: Researched (Andrew) — derived from Product Brief 02, legislative analysis pending verification

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