Transitioning to the New Approach for Community and Centre Based Group NDIS Supports

• Charging the relevant apportioned price for the services delivered e.g. 3 hrs x $19.60 ($58.80 / 3)
• Individually charging for Non-Face-To-Face Support Provision separately (where applicable)
• Charging a separate Centre Capital Cost (where relevant)
• The option to utilise 'Programs of Support'

Prior to this recent update, the NDIA had always stated that -  A provider must use the same approach (transitional or new) for all the group and centre based supports that they deliver. Once a provider commences to use the new pricing arrangements they may no longer use the transitional pricing arrangements.

The release of SupportAbility v7.3 (December, 2020) introduced a setting in System Preferences to assist providers transition to the New Approach for Community and Centre Based Group Supports. Additional tools were also developed to assist in managing this transition to help identify NDIS Direct Client Funding records with Transitional Support Item Budgets and identify NDIS Support Allocations in future-dated Activities for Transitional Supports.

The upgrade to SupportAbility v7.8 (April, 2021) allowed both Transitional and New Approach Group Supports to be Allocated in Activities, in the 'Preparation Phase’ to assist providers with this transition. This change was made to give providers a greater timeframe to transition the Supports Allocated in Activities from Transitional to 'New Approach' Group Supports. 

Now that Transitional and New Approach Supports can be Allocated in Activities in the Preparation Phase, it is important to clarify that they can be included in BPRs and Invoices in this phase. Therefore, it is recommended that finance teams utilise the exclusionary filters to ensure only supports associated with the relevant approach are included when generating batches as needed. This allows your organisation to control when to start claiming/invoicing for New Approach Supports (once Transitional Approach Supports have been claimed/invoiced).

This detailed article discusses the considerations and tasks involved in each phase of this transition project. 

Audience: Authorised Representatives, Executive Management, Operations Management, Team Leaders

Summary

The following list summarises the content within this article. Click on the links below to take you to the relevant sections:

• What is involved in the New Approach?
• Project phases
• NDIS Group Supports (FY2020/21) transition setting
• Phase 1: Transitional Approach
  
  • Identifying Transitional Approach Support Item Budgets
  • Identifying Transitional Approach NDIS Support Allocations in future Activities
  • Important transition project considerations
• Phase 2: Preparation
  
  • Updating NDIS Direct Client Funding records with Transitional Approach Support Item Budgets
  • Keeping track of NDIS Support Item Budgets requiring updating
  • Updating Transitional Approach NDIS Support Allocations in Activities to the New Approach Equivalents
• Phase 3: New Approach
  
  • Transitional Approach NDIS Support Item Budgets are automatically made unavailable
  • Transitional Approach NDIS Support Allocations in Activities that are not Signed Off are deemed invalid
• • Exclusionary filters for financial processing (applicable in Phase 2 and 3)Generating Direct BPRs and excluding the relevant approach
  • Generating Direct Invoice Batches and excluding the relevant approach
• Full list of Transitional and New Approach Support Items

What is involved in the New Approach?

• Charging the relevant apportioned price for the services delivered e.g. 3 hrs x $19.60 ($58.80 / 3)
• Individually charging for Non-Face-To-Face Support Provision separately (where applicable)
• Charging a separate Centre Capital Cost (where relevant)
• The option to utilise 'Programs of Support'

More detailed information regarding these changes can be found in the following articles, linked below for reference: 

• Apportioning the Price of the required Group Supports
• Non-Face-To-Face Support Provision
• Programs of Support

Return to Summary

Project phases

Transitioning to the New Approach for Community and Centre Based Group Supports is a project comprised of multiple phases, each of which has been outlined further in the following diagram:

This transition project planning guide can also be viewed and downloaded here. 

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NDIS Group Supports (FY2020/21) transition setting

Navigate to the 'NDIS Group Supports (FY2020/21)' transition setting in the Funding tab of System Preferences: 

Noting that 'Transitional Approach' is displayed. A ‘Change Log’ is available to view when each transition phase was activated and by who, for reference. When your organisation is ready to move onto the next phases of this project i.e. the 'Preparation Phase', and when ready to transition to the 'New Approach', select the Change button to do so: 

When the required transition phase is selected, the word ‘confirm’ must be entered to confirm your wish to transition to the selected phase: 

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Phase 1: Transitional Approach 

As outlined in the above project planning guide, it is recommended to identify everything that will need updating in this phase to assist you to determine the scope of this project. There are some things that need to be completed outside of SupportAbility, such as reviewing the Service Agreements in place with Clients and any Service Bookings in the portal as required to work out what needs updating, as well as how, when and by whom this will be actioned. 

Additional tools have been developed to assist providers in identifying what needs to be updated in SupportAbility i.e. how many NDIS Direct Client Funding records will need updating in the next phase, as well as how many future-dated Activities contain Transitional Support Allocations. NDIS Support Allocations in Activities may be updated once your organisation has transitioned to the Preparation Phase. In addition to the above, having visibility of this data in SupportAbility ahead of the transition will assist in determining the scope of work required in this project. 

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Identifying Transitional Approach Support Item Budgets

If your organisation creates NDIS Direct Client Funding records with NDIS Support Item Budgets and delivers Community and Centre Based Group Supports, the NDIS Budget Utilisation Report can be used to identify Transitional Approach Support Item Budgets as follows. 

Navigate to the 'NDIS Budget Utilisation Report' from the Funding Reports section of the Reports menu: 

Select 'All "Transitional Approach Group Supports (FY2020/21)" Items':

Once this is set, note that all 180 Support Item Budgets associated with the Transitional Approach are selected with one click: 

Select 'Search' and a list of all NDIS Support Item Budgets associated with the Transitional Approach is returned: 

These NDIS Support Budgets will no longer be available once we've transitioned to the New Approach. Therefore, the Preparation Phase was added, so that providers can update the required NDIS Direct Client Funding records ahead of transitioning to the New Approach. We will step through updating this in the 'Phase 1: Preparation' section of this article below, but for now, we're using these tools to identify how many records will need updating. 

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Identifying Transitional Approach NDIS Support Allocations in future Activities

Similarly, the Allocations Report can be used to identify Transitional Approach NDIS Support Allocations as follows.  

Navigate to the 'Allocations Report' from the NDIS Direct Supports section of the Finance menu: 

Select 'All "Transitional Approach Group Supports (FY2020/21)" Items':

Once this is set, note that all 180 Support Items associated with the Transitional Approach are selected with one click: 

N.B. It is recommended that the Activity Start Date reflects the point in time your organisation intends to transition to the New Approach to limit the search results to only those that will require updating.

Select 'Search' and a list of all NDIS Support Allocations associated with the Transitional Approach is returned: 

These NDIS Support Allocations will become invalid once we've transitioned to the New Approach. However, they will continue to be displayed so that the New Approach equivalents can be added. We will step through updating this in the 'Phase 2: Preparation Phase' section of this article below, but similar to the above, we're using these tools in this phase to identify how many records will need updating. 

Whilst a large number of NDIS Support Allocation results are returned, many of these are included in Activities that are part of a replicated set. Therefore, once the first Activity following the transition is updated, the Replication Management Settings can be used to replicate the updated NDIS Support Allocations to future Activities in the set for efficiency. 

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Important transition project considerations

It is important to determine how the supports your organisation delivers will translate to the New Approach. The Staff Members tasked with updating these NDIS Support Allocations must understand how they are required to update these Allocations. It is also important to inform and educate Clients on the changes to billing for the New Approach which may be noticed in Client Funding Statements and Invoices. If Service Agreements require updating, this may be the opportunity to do so. 

As a result of this, if any Service Bookings require updating, this will also need to be coordinated with the relevant individuals. It is critical that the finance team are aware that once Supports associated with the New Approach are claimed, even manually, then Transitional Supports can no longer be used. It is also important that Transitional Support Allocations for all Self Managed and Plan Managed Clients are invoiced ahead of commencing to invoice for the New Approach. With this in mind, a strategy to ensure all Transitional Supports are invoiced and claimed ahead of commencing to use the New Approach is recommended. 

Once your organisation has transitioned to the New Approach by configuring this in System Preferences, the Supports associated with the Transitional Approach will no longer be valid in Activities that are not Signed Off, regardless of the date. 

Therefore, it is imperative that your organisation has completed all of the NDIS Support Allocations and the Activity Sign Off for any Activities where Transitional Approach Supports are required before switching to the New Approach. 

Finally, based on all of the above, it is important to determine when your organisation will transition to the New Approach and devise a project plan including the allocation of adequate resources to facilitate this transition project.

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Phase 2: Preparation

In this phase of the transition project, it is important that any Service Agreements that require updating are updated, along with any Service Bookings that include Transitional Support Items in the myplace provider portal as required to the New Approach Support equivalents in readiness for transition to the New Approach in the next phase. 

If any NDIS Support Item Budgets associated with the Transitional Approach have been identified in the previous phase, these will need to be updated to ensure the New Approach equivalents are available. To complete this, the 'NDIS Group Supports (FY2020/21)' transition setting in the Funding tab of System Preferences must be updated to the  'Preparation Phase' first: 

When you are ready, type 'confirm' in order to save this change. 

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Updating NDIS Direct Client Funding records with Transitional Approach Support Item Budgets

If your organisation uses Flexible Category Budgets, then the following will not need to be completed. Supports associated with the New Approach will be automatically available to Allocate in Activities in the next phase. 

Use the NDIS Budget Utilisation Report as outlined above in Phase 1 to locate Transitional Approach Support Item Budgets that require updating in NDIS Direct Client Funding records: 

The link to the NDIS Direct Client Funding record can be selected to navigate here and update this e.g. Ted, who has one NDIS Support Item Budget associated with the Transitional Approach, 04_160_0136_6_1, the Budget for this Support has been updated making note of this for reference: 

Ted's Funding has been updated to include two new NDIS Support Item Budgets for the New Approach equivalents i.e. 04_102_0136_6_1 and 04_599_0136_6_1: 

It is important to note that once your organisation transitions to the New Approach in the next phase, Transitional Approach Support Item Budgets will be made unavailable automatically in NDIS Direct Client Funding records and this will not need updating in the Funding record at all. 

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Keeping track of NDIS Support Item Budgets requiring updating

The NDIS Budget Utilisation Report can be used to keep track of which NDIS Support Budgets have been updated by searching for those that also include the "New Approach Group Supports (FY2020/21)" Support Item Budgets: 

By reviewing the search results, we can see the Clients that have both Transitional Approach and New Approach NDIS Support Item Budgets, such as Ted: 

This is also the case for Jordan, however, Malcolm, Bilbo, Andrea and Bradley's Budgets are yet to be updated. 

Alternatively, you could search for Transitional Approach and New Approach NDIS Support Item Budgets separately and compare the two lists. Each of these reports has a detailed export which may come in handy.  

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Updating Transitional Approach NDIS Support Allocations in Activities to the New Approach Equivalents

It is important to ensure all Staff Members who are involved in adding or updating NDIS Support Allocations understand what New Approach Support equivalents will need to be updated and Allocated in the required Activities in this phase. 

Similar to the recommended steps outlined in Phase 1, it is recommended that future-dated Activities (from the date your organisation intends to transition) that include Transitional NDIS Support Allocations are reviewed, to determine who will be responsible for updating the NDIS Support Allocations from Transitional Items to the New Approach equivalents if this has not yet been completed.

Use the Allocations Report as outlined above in Phase 1 to locate Transitional Approach NDIS Support Allocations in Activities that have not been Signed Off that require updating in Activities: 

As mentioned previously, whilst a large number of NDIS Support Allocation results are returned, many of these are included in Activities that are part of a replicated set. Therefore, once the first Activity is updated, the Replication Management Settings can be used to replicate the updated NDIS Support Allocations to future Activities in the set for efficiency. 

Navigate to the Activity and open the NDIS Support Allocations:

Transitional Supports have a blue notification explaining they are valid to June 30th. 

New Approach equivalent NDIS Support Allocations can be added: 

Before the Transitional Approach Supports are removed: 

Once each of the Client's Transitional Approach NDIS Support Allocations has been updated, if you wish to replicate the changes made to the future Activities in the set, check the 'Clients' Replication Management Setting before saving: 

It is recommended to turn this off and select 'Save Activity' again once the replication changes have been applied. 

IMPORTANT 

It is important to ensure that all Activities including Transitional Approach Supports are Signed Off ahead of the transition. 

Both Transitional and New Approach Supports can be Allocated in Activities and subsequently included in BPRs and Invoices in this phase. It is critical that Finance Teams utilise the exclusionary filters to ensure only Supports associated with the relevant approach are included and to control when New Approach Supports are processed.

Please see the Generating Direct BPRs and excluding the relevant approach section and the Generating Direct Invoice Batches and excluding the relevant approach section outlined further below for more information regarding this. 

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Phase 3: New Approach

When your organisation is ready to transition to the New Approach and only use Supports associated with the New Approach in Activities that are not Signed Off, update the 'NDIS Group Supports (FY2020/21)' transition setting in the Funding tab of System Preferences to 'New Approach': 

When you are ready, type 'confirm' in order to save this change. 

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Transitional Approach NDIS Support Item Budgets are automatically made unavailable

Once an organisation has transitioned to the New Approach, any Transitional Approach NDIS Support Item Budgets are automatically made unavailable: 

Transitional Approach NDIS Support Allocations in Activities that are not Signed Off are deemed invalid

And all Transitional Approach NDIS Support Allocations in Activities that are not Signed Off are deemed invalid: 

These Allocations remain in place so that this can be reviewed where needed and the New Approach Support equivalents can be added as outlined above. 

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Exclusionary filters for financial processing (applicable in Phase 2 and 3)

It is recommended that the finance team uses the 'Group Supports' filter to exclude New Approach Supports when Generating Direct BPRs and Direct Invoices Batches until such time as all Transitional Support Allocations have been claimed & invoiced, and your organisation is ready to commence claiming & invoicing for the New Approach. 

Generating Direct BPRs and excluding the relevant approach 

As mentioned earlier, it is critical that the finance team are aware that once Supports associated with the New Approach are claimed, then Transitional Supports can no longer be used. It is therefore recommended to ensure all Transitional Supports are claimed ahead of commencing to claim for the New Approach.

When Generating Direct BPRs, a search criterion is available to assist by allowing providers to limit the search results by Group Support Approach:

The blue notification appears once Allocations associated with the New Approach have been Signed Off in Activities advising that this filter can be used to limit the search results by Group Support Approach as required e.g. Exclude New Approach: 

When the search results are returned, a blue notification message appears advising of how many Transitional Approach Allocations are included, as well as how many New Approach Allocations are included: 

This information is also displayed against the relevant Allocations in the list results. The 'Filter Allocations' search bar can be used to limit the results by Approach as required e.g. 'New Approach' and can be cleared by selecting the cross icon. For example, if you have not used the Group Supports search criterion, you may wish to select all Allocations, and then narrow this down to any New Approach Supports and then deselect these so they are not included in the BPR when you are still in the process of claiming for Transitional Allocations. However, using the Group Supports search criterion will exclude these from appearing in the search results and therefore may be preferred. 

It is important to note that SupportAbility will allow a combination of Transitional and New Approach Allocations to be included in a BPR, however, we provide the tools for you to identify what is being included. It is up to your organisation to ensure that only the required Allocations are selected and included when choosing to Create a Direct BPR. 

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Generating Direct Invoice Batches and excluding the relevant approach 

When Generating Direct Invoice Batches, a search criterion is available from the upgrade to SupportAbility v7.6 (24th of March, 2021) to assist by allowing providers to limit the search results by Group Support Approach:

The blue notification appears once Allocations associated with the New Approach have been Signed Off in Activities advising that this filter can be used to limit the search results by Group Support Approach as required e.g. Exclude New Approach: 

When the search results are returned, a blue notification message appears advising of how many Transitional Approach Allocations are included, as well as how many New Approach Allocations are included: 

This information is also displayed against the relevant Invoices in the list results. It is important to note that SupportAbility will allow a combination of Transitional and New Approach Allocations to be included in an Invoice Batch, however, we provide the tools for you to identify what is being included. It is up to an organisation to ensure that only the required Allocations are selected and included when choosing to Create a Direct Invoice Batch.

In the case of results returned as above i.e. Invoices including a combination of New and Transitional Approach Support Allocations, a new Search could be completed, this time excluding the relevant approach e.g. New Approach: 

This will ensure that the Invoices generated only include Support Allocations associated with the required Group Approach e.g. Transitional: 

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Full list of Transitional and New Approach Support Items

A full list of Support Items from the 2020/21 NDIS Price Guide that are associated with each approach can be found here.