{"id":"F2016L00794","name":"National Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants' Plans—Victoria) Rules 2016","slug":"f2016l00794","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":438728,"registerId":"F2016L00794-fast-fetch-1775955033309","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"National Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants' Plans—Victoria) Rules 2016","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n\n\nNational Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants’ Plans—Victoria) Rules 2016\n\n \n\nNational Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (the Act)\n\nThe Act establishes the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).\n\nPeople who are participants in the NDIS will be assisted to develop a personal, goal‑based plan about how they will be provided with general supports and reasonable and necessary supports.\n\nThe NDIS will respect the interests of people with disability in exercising choice and control about matters that affect them.\n\nNational Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants’ Plans—Victoria) Rules 2016\n\nThese Rules are made for the purposes of sections 32 and 32A (other than subsection 32A(4)) of the Act.\n\nThese Rules are about the circumstances in which the facilitation of the preparation of participants’ plans will commence in the State of Victoria.\n\nThese Rules revoke the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants’ Plans—Victoria) Rules 2013.\n\nThese Rules commence the day after this instrument is registered.\n\n \n\n\nThe Hon. Christian Porter MP Minister for Social Services\n\nDated: 5 May 2016\n\nContents\n\n \n\n[National Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants’ Plans—Victoria) Rules 2016](#_Toc437945857)\n\n[Part 1 What these Rules are about](#_Toc437945858)\n\n[Part 2 Preparation of plans for residents of Victoria](#_Toc437945859)\n\n[Part 3 Other matters](#_Toc437945860)\n\n[Citation](#_Toc437945861)\n\n[Interpretation](#_Toc437945862)\n\n[Schedule A](#_Toc437945863)\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nPart 1 What these Rules are about\n\n1.1 Each participant in the NDIS will have a plan, prepared by and with the participant and approved by the CEO of the Agency. Among other things, a participant’s plan sets out the supports that will be funded for the participant.\n\n1.2 To enable an orderly transition, participants will be phased into the NDIS. There are two steps involved in accessing supports under the NDIS. The first is to become a participant: the prospective participant makes an access request and the CEO decides whether they meet the access criteria. The second is for the participant to have a plan approved by the CEO of the Agency. These Rules relate to the second step, and the order in which the CEO will commence the facilitation of the preparation of plans for different groups, or “classes”, of participants.\n\n1.3 These Rules explain how participants in Victoria will be phased into the NDIS. The Rules set out the process for working out when the CEO must commence facilitating the preparation of the plan of a participant in Victoria.\n\n1.4 The phasing schedule is intended to give effect to agreements that have been reached between the Government of the Commonwealth and the Government of Victoria.\n\n1.5 The Act sets out a number of objects and principles for the NDIS, to which these Rules give effect. In giving effect to the objects, regard is to be had to the progressive implementation of the NDIS and the need to ensure the financial sustainability of the NDIS.\n\n \n\n \n\nPart 2 Preparation of plans for residents of Victoria\n\n2.1 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 Victoria is detailed below.\n\n2.2 The table in paragraph 2.6 sets out eleven classes of Victoria participants and sets out the circumstances in which the CEO is to commence the facilitation of the preparation 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.\n\n2.3 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.\n\n2.4 If a participant who is a resident of an NDIS area in Victoria 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.\n\n Paragraph 2.4 summarises the effect of subsection 32(3) of the Act.\n\n2.5 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.\n\nParagraph 2.5 summarises the effect of subsection 32A(3) of the Act.\n\n2.6 The eleven classes of participants, and the circumstances in which the CEO is to commence the facilitation of the preparation of plans for participants in those classes, are as follows:\n\n| Class | Participants in the class | Circumstances in which the CEO is to commence the facilitation of the preparation of the participants’ plans |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Class 1 | Participants who the CEO determines:
to have the most urgent need for supports and who are on the Victorian Disability Support Register administered under the Disability Act (Vic) 2006, or are on the Early Childhood Intervention Services waitlist. | Between 1 July 2016 and 30 June 2018. |\n| Class 2 | Participants who reside in the North Eastern Melbourne and Barwon districts of Victoria, as those areas are defined in Schedule A to this Instrument. | 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. |\n| Class 3 | Participants who reside in the Central Highlands district of Victoria, as that area is defined in Schedule A to this Instrument. | 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. |\n| Class 4 | Participants who reside in the Loddon district of Victoria, as that area is defined in Schedule A to this Instrument. | The CEO decides (on or after 1 May 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. |\n| Class 5 | Participants who reside in the Inner Gippsland, Ovens Murray and Western District districts of Victoria, as those areas are defined in Schedule A to this Instrument. | The CEO decides (on or after 1 October 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. |\n| Class 6 | Participants who reside in the Inner Eastern Melbourne and Outer Eastern Melbourne districts of Victoria, as those areas are defined in Schedule A to this Instrument. | The CEO decides (on or after 1 November 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. |\n| Class 7 | Participants who reside in the Hume Moreland district of Victoria, as that area is defined in Schedule A to this Instrument. | The CEO decides (on or after 1 March 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. |\n| Class 8 | Participants who reside in the Bayside Peninsula district of Victoria, as that area is defined in Schedule A to this Instrument. | The CEO decides (on or after 1 April 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. |\n| Class 9 | Participants who reside in the Southern Melbourne district of Victoria, as that area is defined in Schedule A to this Instrument. | The CEO decides (on or after 1 September 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. |\n| Class 10 | Participants who reside in the Brimbank Melton and Western Melbourne districts of Victoria, as those areas are defined in Schedule A to this Instrument.
| The CEO decides (on or after 1 October 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. |\n| Class 11 | Participants who reside in the Goulburn, Mallee and Outer Gippsland districts of Victoria, as those areas are defined in Schedule A to this Instrument. | 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. |\n\n\n \n\n2.7 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.\n\nSubclasses\n\n2.8 Classes 2 to 11 are further divided into three subclasses as set out below.\n\n| Subclass | Participants in the class | Circumstances in which the CEO is to commence the facilitation of the preparation of the participants’ plans |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Subclass A | Participants who are receiving disability services funded or administered by Victoria on the date the CEO commences facilitating the preparation of plans for the relevant class of participants, and who:
receive supported accommodation services under the Disability Act 2006 (Vic); receive individual Support Packages under the Disability Act 2006 (Victoria) with the exception of those who both receive an Individual Support Package and are also on the Disability Support Register with non-priority status; or are residents of residential institutions funded or administered under the Disability Act 2006 (Vic) by Victoria. | Within 12 months from the date the CEO commences facilitating the preparation of plans for the relevant class of participants in accordance with paragraph 2.7. |\n| Subclass B | Remaining eligible participants receiving services funded or administered by Victoria on the date the CEO commences facilitating the preparation of plans for the relevant class of participants, and who:
are currently accessing Early Childhood Intervention Services, School Attendant Care and Disability Student Transport; or have accessed other disability services in the previous 12 months; or have accessed Mental Health Community Support or Home and Community Care (HACC) services in the previous 12 months;
This also includes participants receiving an Individual Support Package under the Disability Act 2006 (Vic) and who are also on the Disability Support Register with non-priority status. | Within 12 months from the date the CEO commences facilitating the preparation of plans for the relevant class of participants in accordance with paragraph 2.7. |\n| Subclass C | All other persons within the main class.
| The CEO decides 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 Subclasses A and B whose plans have been dealt with and the number yet to be dealt with. |\n\n\n \n\n2.9 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.\n\n2.10 In making a decision under paragraph 2.9, or considering whether to make such a decision, the CEO must have regard to the following principles:\n\n(a) that the commencement of the facilitation of the preparation of plans for persons on the Victorian Disability Support Register or the Early Childhood Intervention Service waitlist, who have not yet had plans approved, should be prioritised;\n\n(b) 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 Victoria should be prioritised;\n\n(c) that the facilitation of the preparation of plans for supported accommodation residents should be done in a way that:\n\n(i) takes into account the intensive planning and support required for that facilitation; and\n\n(ii) enables, where practicable, participants who reside in the same home or facility to have their plans facilitated contemporaneously;\n\n(c) that where practicable, participants receiving services from the same provider should have their plans facilitated contemporaneously;\n\n(d) that the Agency should retain the capacity to facilitate the preparation of plans of participants who do not receive Commonwealth disability services or Victoria disability services.\n\n2.11 Paragraph 2.10 does not limit the matters that the CEO may take into account in making a decision.\n\nConsultation\n\n2.12 In making a decision under paragraph 2.9, or considering whether to make such a decision, the CEO must also, where practicable, seek the views of the Government of Victoria and have regard to those views (if any).\n\nPart 3 Other matters\n\nCitation\n\n3.1 These Rules may be cited as the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants’ Plans—Victoria) Rules 2016.\n\nInterpretation\n\n3.2 These Rules include text that summarises provisions of the Act. The boxed notes identify such text, which does not form an operative part of these Rules.\n\n3.3 Terms and expressions that are used in the Act have the same meaning in these Rules unless these Rules display a contrary intention—see the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 and the Legislative Instruments Act 2003, which include definitions and rules of interpretation that apply to all Commonwealth legislation. For convenience, the more important definitions from the Act are identified or reproduced in paragraph 3.4.\n\n3.4 In these Rules:\n\nAct means the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013.\n\nAgencysee section 9 of the Act.\n\nCEOsee section 9 of the Act.\n\nchildsee section 9 of the Act.\n\nNDIS area has the same meaning as in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Becoming a Participant) Rules 2016.\n\n \n\nparticipantsee section 9 of the Act.\n\n \n\n \n\nSchedule A\n\n \n\n| District | Districts are comprised of the following municipal districts of Victoria as at 1 January 2016 |\n| --- | --- |\n| Barwon | Colac-Otway Shire
City of Greater Geelong
Surf Coast Shire
Borough of Queenscliffe |\n| North Eastern Melbourne | City of Banyule
City of Darebin
Nillumbik Shire
City of Whittlesea
City of Yarra |\n| Central Highlands | Rural City of Ararat
City of Ballarat
Golden Plains Shire
Hepburn Shire
Moorabool Shire
Pyrenees Shire |\n| Loddon | Campaspe Shire
Central Goldfields Shire
City of Greater Bendigo
Loddon Shire
Macedon Ranges Shire
Mount Alexander Shire |\n| Inner Gippsland | Bass Coast Shire
Baw Baw Shire
City of Latrobe
South Gippsland Shire |\n| Ovens Murray | Alpine Shire
Rural City of Benalla
Indigo Shire
Mansfield Shire
Towong Shire
Rural City of Wangaratta
City of Wodonga |\n| Western District | Corangamite Shire
Glenelg Shire
Hindmarsh Shire
Rural City of Horsham
Moyne Shire
Northern Grampians Shire
Southern Grampians Shire
City of Warrnambool
West Wimmera Shire
Yarriambiack Shire |\n| Inner Eastern Melbourne | City of Boroondara
City of Manningham
City of Monash
City of Whitehorse |\n| Outer Eastern Melbourne | City of Knox
City of Maroondah
Yarra Ranges Shire |\n| Hume Moreland | City of Hume
City of Moreland |\n| Bayside Peninsula | City of Bayside
City of Frankston
City of Glen Eira
City of Kingston
Mornington Peninsula Shire
City of Port Phillip
City of Stonnington |\n| Southern Melbourne | Cardinia Shire
City of Casey
City of Greater Dandenong |\n| Brimbank Melton | City of Brimbank
City of Melton |\n| Western Melbourne | City of Hobsons Bay
City of Maribyrnong
City of Melbourne
City of Moonee Valley
City of Wyndham
|\n| Goulburn | City of Greater Shepparton
Mitchell Shire
Moira Shire
Murrindindi Shire
Strathbogie Shire |\n| Mallee | Buloke Shire
Gannawarra Shire
Rural City of Mildura
Rural City of Swan Hill |\n| Outer Gippsland | East Gippsland Shire
Wellington Shire |\n\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: establishing the phasing schedule for NDIS plan preparation in Victoria. The 2016 version replaces the 2013 Rules but maintains the same essential function of sequencing the rollout by geography and priority status. No significant scope creep is evident; the instrument does exactly what its title suggests."},"complexity_factors":["11 distinct geographic classes plus 3 subclasses creating a matrix of 33 potential sequencing combinations","Dual triggering mechanism: fixed calendar dates AND discretionary CEO capacity assessments","Cross-referencing to external instruments: Disability Act 2006 (Vic), National Disability Insurance Scheme (Becoming a Participant) Rules 2016, and Schedule A defining 16 districts by municipal boundaries","Nested conditional logic: subclass eligibility depends on current service receipt status, which itself references multiple Victorian programs (Individual Support Packages, supported accommodation, Early Childhood Intervention Services, etc.)","Exception handling: urgent circumstances override, non-classified participants handled separately, and dual-class participants default to earlier class","Mandatory consultation requirement with Victorian Government for subclass decisions","Principles-based decision making in paragraph 2.10 with 5 specific prioritisation criteria that must be considered but do not limit other considerations"],"plain_english_summary":"The Rules set a phased timetable for rolling the NDIS into Victoria (2016–2019), grouping participants by geography and service status so the NDIS Agency can stagger plan preparation. It prioritises people with urgent needs and those already receiving state-funded supports, letting the Agency pace starts based on capacity while ensuring urgent cases move ahead.\n\nThis matters because it manages the transition from Victoria’s old system to the NDIS, protecting vulnerable people and preventing the Agency from being overwhelmed."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":7,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The instrument expressly revokes the 2013 Rules (preamble) and establishes a detailed phasing schedule for Victoria (Part 2, para 2.6 and Schedule A). The text itself does not describe an expansion or narrowing of participant categories beyond the phased classes and subclasses it sets out, nor does it identify substantive new eligibility criteria. Therefore, based on this instrument alone, no clear change of scope from the prior instrument is evident; it continues to implement commencement sequencing under sections 32 and 32A of the Act and to give effect to Commonwealth–Victoria agreements (paras 1.2–1.5)."},"complexity_factors":["Phased sequencing into 11 primary classes with class-specific earliest start dates (para 2.6).","Each of Classes 2–11 split into three subclasses (A/B/C) with different timing rules and a 12‑month requirement for Subclasses A and B (paras 2.8–2.9).","CEO discretion to commence by capacity rather than strictly by date, producing dynamic triggers tied to workload and previous-class progress (paras 2.2–2.3).","Urgent‑circumstances exception allowing the CEO to depart from sequence and delay other commencements as necessary (para 2.5).","Priority principles require the CEO to favour persons on Victoria’s Disability Support Register, those with State individual funding and supported‑accommodation residents, and give guidance on contemporaneous facilitation (para 2.10).","Overlap and tie‑breaking: persons can belong to multiple classes and are treated as in the earliest relevant class (para 2.7).","Required consultation with the Government of Victoria where practicable, adding an intergovernmental input point to decision‑making (para 2.12).","Operational mapping to specific municipal districts listed in Schedule A, increasing administrative complexity for geographic classification (Schedule A).","Interplay with the Act (sections 32 and 32A) and revocation of the 2013 Rules (preamble; paras 1.4, intro), creating legislative layering to be navigated by the Agency (intro, 3.2–3.4).","Discretionary and non‑exhaustive decision factors: para 2.11 preserves additional matters the CEO may consider, widening scope of administrative judgment."],"plain_english_summary":"These Rules set when the NDIS Agency (the CEO) must begin preparing and approving participants’ plans for residents of Victoria by phasing people into eleven geographic and need‑based classes and three subclasses. They apply to NDIS participants in Victoria and the Agency that funds and administers plans.\n\nMechanically, the CEO uses date floors and capacity tests to sequence commencements, may prioritise urgent cases and certain State‑funded clients, can delay or accelerate classes, and must consult Victoria where practicable (paras 2.2–2.12)."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/f2016l00794","history":"/api/acts/f2016l00794/history","analysis":"/api/acts/f2016l00794/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/f2016l00794/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/f2016l00794/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/f2016l00794/documents"}}