By Tristram Peters · Originally published 22 June 2020
Original article
Tristram Peters is a writer, editor, and disability advocate who’s part of the Clicka family. LanternPay is transforming the claiming experience for providers, programs and their clients. Together, they took a peek at the future of plan management.
The NDIA recently put out an ‘Approach to Market’ (ATM), asking for information about NDIS payments and claims. It sparked a flurry of conversation around the future of NDIS plan management.
You see, the ATM was asking the industry about how a ‘real-time claims’ program could work. But plan managers already claim and pay providers on behalf of their participants, so questions arose around what such a program would mean for them.
We reckon a real-time claims program would innovate the NDIS and solve several existing problems (more on that below), and it will also complement the work plan managers already do. How? Read on.
What did the ATM aim to do?
The ATM asked for information about the NDIS payments process. The NDIA’s goal is to find ways to reduce the amount of work providers and participants have to do, and speed up how quickly providers could get paid. Neat, huh?
One of the proposed features was to allow providers to make a real-time claim or lodge an upcoming one. Put simply, the NDIA was on a fact-finding mission to work out how a provider could deliver a support to a participant, claim it instantly, and get paid there and then.
Does this impact plan management?
To answer this, we need to go right back to the NDIS Act (2013).
The whole NDIS is underpinned by the notion of ‘choice and control’, a term we’ve all heard. This ensures a participant is in the driver’s seat, controlling their own NDIS journey.
Part of the NDIS Act (43) applies the idea of ‘choice and control’ to how a participant manages their NDIS funds, legislating that a participant has the right to choose plan management to manage their funds.
Because it’s in the NDIS Act, a participant can’t simply have the plan management option taken away from them. This means the ATM won’t suddenly make plan management redundant.
Not only that, the ATM might have the potential to complement it. Read on to find out how…
What is plan management?
Plan management is designed to do three things:
implement a participant’s plan
claim funds on behalf of a provider when a service is completed
acquire these funds from the NDIA to pay the provider.
Yes, the last two are about the tools needed to manage funds.
But the first is solely customer-facing—working with a participant to ensure they can get the very most out of their plan funds.
Plan management, by virtue of ensuring a participant’s plan is implemented, is about budgeting, managing funds, and facilitating compliance with the NDIS rules. Many people who choose plan management do so because they want help to do these complex activities, and it’s a unique task undertaken by plan managers.
By having quick and efficient systems, plan managers can spend more on this type of customer-facing activity.
The ‘real-time claims’ program will be an innovative tool, certainly. It will work to standardise the time it takes for providers to get paid, and improve that aspect of the relationship between plan managers, providers and participants.
But it will never replace the customer-facing work that plan managers do and will continue to do. The ‘real-time claims’ program will help their providers claim, but participants will always want support in implementing and managing their plan.
(In fact, check out this blog that shares what our team finds is important to customers plan managers – only one of the factors is about administration!)
What’s next?
The window to contribute to the ATM has now closed, so the NDIA will spend the next month or so combing through the responses before deciding its course of action. When and whether we will see a real-time claims program is yet to be determined.
But importantly, many plan managers already have the tools at their disposal to quickly pay providers, ensuring that participants can get the services they need, and freeing up more time for plan managers to support their participants. And for us at Clickability, and participants, that’s the real benchmark.
Clickability editorial update: October 2026
Ask how a payment is checked and when you will hear about a problem
Find out how your plan manager receives invoices, confirms arrangements and lets you see spending. Ask what happens when a charge is unclear or outside your available funding. Fast processing does not establish that a purchase is eligible or that you have agreed to it.
Agree invoice and follow-up arrangements without promising instant payment
Confirm the service, price, participant authorisation and required invoice information. Keep delivery records and explain a disputed charge. Do not infer a guaranteed payment time from an old technology proposal. Check current payment requirements and the actual plan manager’s process.
Questions readers ask
Does the article prove an instant-payment scheme is operating?
No. It discusses a historical consultation.
Find a plan manager with a clear payment process
Compare providers through Clickability and ask about statements, invoice questions and communication. Confirm the present service terms and responsibilities.
