Part 2 Preparation of plans for residents of Tasmania

2.1 Once a person becomes a participant, the CEO can commence facilitating the preparation of a plan for the person. The process for commencing the facilitation of the preparation of plans for participants in Tasmania is detailed below.

2.2 The table in paragraph 2.6 sets out seven classes of Tasmanian participants and sets out the circumstances in which the CEO is to commence the facilitation of those participants’ plans. The CEO will deal with each class sequentially; facilitation for a class will be commenced once the CEO has decided that the Agency has the capacity to do so, in light of the number of participants in previous classes whose plans have been dealt with, and the number yet to be dealt with.

2.3 The CEO cannot make a decision to commence facilitating the preparation of plans for a class before the date specified in the table for that class. Otherwise, the sequence of classes is not inflexible. The CEO need not be satisfied that all participants in a particular class have had their plans facilitated before moving on to the next class; the Agency might have the capacity to commence the facilitation of plans in Class 2 before having fully completed that task for Class 1. Further, the classes do not close at any point in time. For example, a person in Class 1 who becomes a participant after the Agency has started to facilitate plans for Class 2 participants can still have their plan facilitated while participants in Class 2 are having their plans facilitated.

2.4 If a participant who is a resident of an NDIS area in Tasmania does not fall within one of the classes in the table, the CEO is to commence facilitating the preparation of the participant’s plan as soon as reasonably practicable having regard to the CEO’s obligations to commence facilitating the preparation of other participants’ plans. Such participants are not part of the phasing sequence set out in the table; their plans will be facilitated as soon as reasonably practicable after they become participants. This ensures equity of access to the NDIS for such participants, including where there is an unmet need for the participant.

Paragraph 2.4 summarises the effect of subsection 32(3) of the Act.

2.5 In urgent circumstances, the CEO can commence the facilitation of the preparation of a participant’s plan at a particular time, despite the sequence set out in the table in paragraph 2.6. If the CEO does so, the CEO is able to delay the commencement of the facilitation of the preparation of other participants’ plans, so far as is reasonably necessary, even if that delay would be contrary to that sequence.

Paragraph 2.5 summarises the effect of subsection 32A(3) of the Act.

2.6 The seven classes of participants, and the time at which the CEO is to commence the facilitation of the preparation of plans for participants in those classes, are as follows:

Class	Participants in the class	Period or circumstances in which the CEO is to commence the facilitation of the preparation of the participants’ plans
Class 1	Participants who: a) are aged at least 15, and under 25; and b) were aged under 25 on 1 July 2013.	From the day on which these Rules commence.
Class 2	Participants aged at least 12, and under 25.	The CEO decides (on or after 1 July 2016) that the Agency has the capacity to commence the facilitation of the preparation of the participants’ plans, in light of the number of participants in the above classes whose plans have been dealt with and the number yet to be dealt with
Class 3	Participants aged at least 25, and under 29.	The CEO decides (on or after 1 January 2017) that the Agency has the capacity to commence the facilitation of the preparation of the participants’ plans, in light of the number of participants in the above classes whose plans have been dealt with and the number yet to be dealt with
Class 4	Participants aged at least 4, and under 12.	The CEO decides (on or after 1 July 2017) that the Agency has the capacity to commence the facilitation of the preparation of the participants’ plans, in light of the number of participants in the above classes whose plans have been dealt with and the number yet to be dealt with
Class 5	Participants aged at least 29, and under 35.	The CEO decides (on or after 1 January 2018) that the Agency has the capacity to commence the facilitation of the preparation of the participants’ plans, in light of the number of participants in the above classes whose plans have been dealt with and the number yet to be dealt with
Class 6	a) Participants aged under 4; or b) Participants aged at least 35, and under 50.	The CEO decides (on or after 1 July 2018) that the Agency has the capacity to commence the facilitation of the preparation of the participants’ plans, in light of the number of participants in the above classes whose plans have been dealt with and the number yet to be dealt with.
Class 7	Participants aged at least 50, and under 65.	The CEO decides (on or after 1 January 2019) that the Agency has the capacity to commence the facilitation of the preparation of the participants’ plans, in light of the number of participants in the above classes whose plans have been dealt with and the number yet to be dealt with.

2.7 Participants who are co-residents in Tasmanian‑funded shared Supported Accommodation will have their plans facilitated at the same time. As such, a participant who:

(a) lives in Tasmanian‑funded shared Supported Accommodation;

(b) lives with one or more participants who belong to one of the above classes; and

will be considered to be within the earliest of the classes to which a participant with whom they live belongs.

2.8 To avoid doubt, a person may be in more than one class. In practice, this means that they will be treated as being in the first of those classes. For example, a participant who is a member of Class 1 and Class 2 will be phased in as a member of Class 1.

2.9 If the CEO is considering making a decision referred to in the third column of the table in paragraph 2.6 after the date mentioned in that column, the CEO must, as early as possible:

(a) seek the views of the Government of Tasmania and of the Commonwealth Department that administers the Act about the proposed decision (including their views about the effect that making the decision would have on arrangements agreed between the Commonwealth and Tasmania for the funding of the NDIS); and

(b) use his or her best endeavours to reach an agreement with those entities about the proposed decision.

Subclasses

2.10 Among the participants in Classes 1 to 7 (a main class), the CEO may decide that there are one or more classes (subclasses) of participants, constituted by reference to:

(a) whether the participants have previously accessed supports; or

(b) the identity of the provider of services to the participants; or

(d) for supported accommodation residents—the home or facility in which they reside; or

(e) the participant’s age.

2.11 For each subclass, the CEO is to commence facilitating the preparation of plans for participants in the subclass when the CEO decides that it is appropriate to do so, having regard to the progress of the preparation of plans for participants in the relevant main class.

2.12 In making a decision under paragraph 2.10 or 2.11, or considering whether to make such a decision, the CEO must have regard to the following principles:

(a) that the commencement of the facilitation of the preparation of plans for persons who have individual funding arrangements for disability services with the State of Tasmania should be prioritised;

(b) that the facilitation of the preparation of plans for shared supported accommodation residents should be done in a way that:

(i) takes into account the intensive planning and support required for that facilitation; and

(ii) enables, where practicable, participants who reside in the same home or facility to have their plans facilitated contemporaneously;

(c) that where practicable, participants receiving services from the same provider should have their plans facilitated contemporaneously;

(d) that the Agency should retain the capacity to facilitate the preparation of plans of participants who do not receive Commonwealth disability services or Tasmania disability services.

2.13 Paragraph 2.12 does not limit the matters that the CEO may take into account in making a decision.

Consultation

2.14 In making a decision under paragraph 2.10 or 2.11, or considering whether to make such a decision, the CEO must also, where practicable, seek the views of the Government of Tasmania and have regard to those views (if any).