What happens after I lodge my application?
We will send you a letter to confirm that we have received the application. We will also call you within 3 days of receiving the application to talk about what will happen next.
We will also notify the National Disability Insurance Agency (the Agency) that we have received the application. You and the Agency are parties to the review.
You can look at the Review of National Disability Insurance Scheme Decisions Practice Direction for more information about what happens after you lodge the application. You can also watch our video guide.
Review of AAT’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Practice Direction
The AAT has commenced a review of the Review of National Disability Insurance Scheme Decisions Practice Direction and the AAT’s internal procedures for managing NDIS cases.
The AAT will be undertaking external consultation later this year. Further details will be announced in due course.
For the period of the review, the current NDIS Practice Direction will continue to apply.
If you have any questions about a current or future application to the AAT for review of a decision of the National Disability Insurance Agency, please contact your local registry.
What if we cannot review the decision?
We will write to you and give you an opportunity to tell us why you think we can review the decision. If you do not respond or cannot show us that we can review the decision, we might dismiss the application. Sometimes a hearing is held to decide if we can review the decision.
Documents relevant to the review
T documents
The Agency will send us the decision and all relevant review documents within 28 days after being told the application has been received. These are called ‘T documents’.
T documents will also be sent to you. If you have a representative, we will usually send the T documents to that person.
T documents are provided under section 37 of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975.
Confidential T Documents
The Agency can ask the AAT for a direction that certain content within the T documents is not to be disclosed to you. We will consider any application and tell you our decision.
Request the T documents earlier
You can ask for the T documents to be provided earlier if a delay would cause you hardship. You must complete the Request for order to shorten time for lodging documents form. We will consider any request and tell you our decision.
Giving us new information
You can give us new information that you think supports your case.
Confidentiality orders
In limited circumstances, we can order that:
- the hearing is held in private
- the name or address of a party or witness, or other information that we hold, be kept confidential
- a written decision is not made public.
You or the Agency can ask for a confidentiality order at any stage of the review by telling us in writing what it is that you want to be kept confidential and why.
We will only make a confidentiality order if we are satisfied there is a good reason for doing so.
Alternative dispute resolution
We use alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to:
- talk with the parties to the review about the decision and the issues in dispute
- if possible help parties reach an agreement before a hearing
- if an agreed outcome cannot be reached, prepare for a hearing.
We will usually hold a case conference, and many cases are resolved at this stage.
If an agreement cannot be reached at a case conference, we will prepare a case plan about how the review will proceed. The case plan might also include conciliation.
You can look at the Review of National Disability Insurance Scheme Decisions Practice Direction for more information.
Hearing
If the review is not resolved at an earlier stage, we will usually hold a hearing.
The hearing is an opportunity for you to present information and talk about why you disagree with the decision under review.