PACE

To keep you informed about the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Agency’s (NDIA) new PACE computer system and how it will impact you, we’ve developed Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

We’ll continue to update these FAQs as we learn more from the NDIA.

General Questions

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) is currently rolling out a new computer system known as PACE.

This system will eventually replace the current computer system used by the NDIA and replace the myplace portal

The NDIA is introducing PACE as a more user-friendly platform to better support participants and providers.

The intention is to provide an improved experience for participants, make systems and processes more consistent across the country, and provide clearer information for decision-making.

There will be some key changes participants will notice within the PACE system.

Some of the core changes include:

  • There’s a new portal, website, and app. The portal allows participants to see their personal information, make claims, view their budgets, and see messages from the NDIA. This is designed to be a more user-friendly experience than the previous platform.
  • Funding rollover changes: now if there are funds left unspent in a plan, the funds will be rolled to the next plan. This will also occur if there is overspend in the plan: funds will be reduced in the following plan.
  • Service bookings: within PACE there’s no need for service bookings. Instead, endorsed providers will be linked to the participant’s account.
  • New reporting templates: templates for reporting are being introduced for standardisation and consistency.
  • No single claims: all claims will be made via bulk uploads to reduce the burden on providers.
  • Plan view for providers: PACE will make it simpler for support coordinators (if they have permission) to view the participant’s entire plan.
  • Participant check-ins: check-ins will occur during the participant’s plan to see how they are progressing with the plan and whether it is meeting their needs.

There are some changes to NDIS support types. The current categories Core, Capital, and Capacity Building support types will still be used alongside a new category “Recurring”.

There are also changes to NDIS support categories with five new support categories being added.

These are:

  • Home & Living
  • Assistive Technology, Maintenance, Repair & Rental
  • Specialised Disability Accommodation
  • Behaviour Supports
  • Recurring Transport

Some categories have also been renamed:

  • Support coordination has been renamed to Support Coordination and Psychosocial Recovery Coach
  • Improved relationships has been renamed to Relationships
  • Improved learning has been renamed to Lifelong learning
  • Improved life choices has been renamed to Choice and Control

Some things aren’t changing in the new system. These include:

  • Pricing Arrangements and Pricing Limits
  • Any obligations of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
  • The fundamentals of the NDIS

For participants who have support coordinators or psychosocial recovery coaching in the plan, there will be a request for service by the NDIA.

This involves the NDIA helping a participant see if those providers are available. The NDIA will send a request for service to providers requested by a participant within PACE.

The provider will then have four days to accept the request or reject it. If the request isn’t approved, then a request will be sent to the next provider on the participant’s nomination list.

Keep in mind: support coordinators and psychosocial recovery coaches will need to accept these requests for service to have their invoices paid.

For support coordinators and psychosocial recovery coaches new provider reports have been introduced. The aim is to standardise the information that’s gathered about participants and help check-ins run more smoothly.

The new templates will take roughly the same amount of time as current reporting.

The new templates will include gathering information about the participant’s current support needs, the supports that the participant has in their plan, and their progress towards their goals.

Support coordinators and psychosocial recovery coaches will need to submit these reports at specific periods throughout the plan. The templates will be logged in the ‘my NDIS’ provider portal.

Up-to-date information for both participants and providers can be found on the NDIS website.

Questions for participants

As of October 2023, the NDIA is gradually rolling out PACE to participants who need new plans. If a participant’s plan is still in progress, then chances are, they won’t have been onboarded to PACE yet.

When a new plan is needed, they’ll be added to the PACE system.

The changeover from the old system to PACE is expected to take roughly 18 months.

If a participant is being added to PACE with their new plan, they will be told at their next planning meeting.

With PACE, there will be planning meetings, participant check-ins, and optional implementation meetings.

  • Planning meetings: a planning meeting will involve discussing the plan, budget and other information necessary for the plan. You can find out more about planning meetings here.
  • Implementation meetings: when the plan is approved, participants will be invited to an optional implementation meeting. This will go ahead if the participant feels it is necessary.
  • Check-in meetings: check-ins will then occur yearly to see how the plan is working for the participant and whether changes are necessary.

The goal of check-ins is to see how participants are tracking with their NDIS plan. These will occur annually to see if a plan is working out well for the participant and to see whether adjustments are necessary.

A check-in will occur either with a Local Area Coordinator, NDIA planner, or Early Childhood Partner.

This will involve discussing:

  • Progress towards goals
  • Questions about the plan
  • Desired changes to the plan
  • If the supports are meeting the participant’s needs
  • Changes to a participant’s situation
While NDIS plans will typically run as usual, it’s important to note that with PACE, participant plans will operate in three-year blocks with funds assigned equally across each year.

Yes, funds will be released to participants in stages. In most cases, this will be annually in equal amounts.

Within the new PACE system, there is a ‘My Providers’ section. This section is for a list of the providers that participants typically work with. Participants can endorse (or record) providers by manually adding them to the list. This enables providers to get paid faster and it allows providers to view parts of the participant’s plan if they have been given consent. Keep in mind: that while two terms are being used, both recording and endorsing mean the same thing.

Questions for providers

Providers will know if a participant has been changed over to PACE because error messages will occur if any claims are made. The error message will show that the participant has been switched over to a new system.

All current service bookings will also have end dates for the previous plan and providers won’t be able to make new service bookings for participants in the myplace portal.

Single line items for claims in the myplace portal will be replaced with bulk claims. This is designed to reduce the administrative burden on providers. Providers will still be able to upload a single claim with a bulk upload as required, but to reduce the time it takes to make claims, it’s recommended to make claims in chunks. You can find more information on the NDIS website.

PACE does allow provider access to view participant plans if the participant approves it.

This will enable support coordinators to view the whole plan, registered providers to see their goals and nominee information, and plan managers to access the aspects of the plans they are managing.

A new provider portal, ‘my NDIS’ has been created for providers working with participants in PACE.

If participants have consented, then providers will be able to view:

  • Relevant budget information
  • Information about claims and payments
  • Support coordinators, plan managers and psychosocial recovery coaches will also be able to see participant goals and overall budgets.

Within PACE, providers will also be able to view participant (and nominee) contact information. Those who are endorsed under ‘my providers’ will see the participant’s supports and funds available.

Notifications from ‘my NDIS’ help keep providers informed. These notifications include the following:

  • Outstanding tasks
  • Being added to a participant’s ‘my provider’ list
  • Requests for service
  • Budget changes
  • Service length updates
  • Plan approvals

Providers will see various views depending on whether their participants have moved onto the PACE system or not. This will mean needing to use both PACE and the myplace portal for the time being.

Eventually, all participants will be within the PACE system, making the process simpler for providers.

Usually, when a participant switches plan manager, both the existing and new plan managers have a thirty-day period whereby both can make claims.

PACE changes this process. Claims will only be valid if they are submitted by the participant’s current plan manager.

Up-to-date information for both participants and providers can be found on the NDIS website.

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