ART Appeals

Taking your NDIS decision to the Administrative Review Tribunal

The below information outlines the steps we advise to undertake for an ART appeals process.
  • Apply for external review

We suggest that you apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) for a review of the decision.  This application needs to be made to the ART within 28 days of receiving the internal review letter.  You can make the application online here: NDIS | ART

We suggest that when you complete the application that you say you disagree with the decisions and wish to appeal on this basis, rather than provide specifics as to why you wish to appeal the decision.  

At the end of the internal review letter they will have listed the documents they considered.  If you believe there are other documents that have been provided to the NDIA, you should make a Participant Information Access Request to check what documents they have on their records.  You can do that here: Participant Information Access Request | NDIS

You should select “medical and other documents” to get a full set of these.  The process will be quicker if you limit the documents requested, so it may be helpful to limit your request to say the past 12 months.

Documents
Appeal
  • What Happens Next

The ART will respond to your application with two documents:

– A letter confirming they have received the application and some general information

– A notice of the first case conference (please note if the decision relates to NDIS Access e.g. becoming a participant, this may be called a case management directions hearing. This information should be relevant even if a directions hearing is listed)

Recently, the Tribunal has also been giving both parties orders directing them to provide information to each other and the Tribunal prior to the first case conference. These orders will direct you to:

– Confirm the NDIS supports you are seeking or else the impairments for which you are seeking access to the NDIS (depending on what kind of NDIS decision you are appealing). You must provide this information to the Tribunal and NDIA by the deadline specified in the order but you can change this later if necessary

– Provide any further evidence which you have not already submitted. If you don’t have any further evidence at this stage, there is no need to provide anything further and there will opportunity to provide further evidence later in the process.

– The orders will also direct that you may provide a Statement of Lived Experience or a Carer’s Statement. You are not required to do this and it is not generally necessary at this stage.

The NDIA will also be in touch to let you know who will be your contact for the ART appeal. You should keep these contact details so you can ask them for things between conferences.

Four to six weeks later they will send you the “T documents” (also called T-docs).  These are all the documents that the NDIA have on file that they used to make a decision, and they can be hundreds of pages long.

It is important to remember that the NDIA contact handling your ART Appeal do not have any information about you except what is in the T-docs.  They can’t access your file, and they can’t go looking up extra information.  Have a read of the T-docs and see whether they include everything you have provided to support your case.

What if there are documents missing from the T-docs?
If you check the T docs and they don’t include all the relevant assessments and reports, you can email the NDIA contact and ask them to issue “Supplementary T docs” with the missing documents.  You should be as specific as you can about which documents they are, so that they have the best chance of locating them.

  • Preparing for case conference (or case management directions hearing if appeal relates to access)

Before the case conference the NDIA contact will often send a “Statement of Issues”.  This explains their position about the appeal, and will be discussed during the conference, so reading through this will help you understand what they are likely to say.  If the conference is less than a week away and you don’t have this, you can email the NDIA contact and ask them for it, to make sure you have time to read through it.

Should I get more reports?
Generally no.  Even if the Statement of Issues says there is not enough evidence, that doesn’t mean you should race out and spend more funding on more assessments and reports.  The case conference is an opportunity for the NDIA to explain what sort of evidence they are looking for.  Getting more reports before having this information can turn out to be a waste of time and money.

Is there anything else I can do to prepare for the conference?
You can ask the NDIA contact for a copy of the NDIS plan breakdown.  This gives information about the specific items that were used to calculate the plan.

Things to remember about the case conference:

– The conference registrar does not decide whether you are successful or not, they try to help you and the NDIA work out how to resolve the appeal so it doesn’t have to go to a final hearing at the ART

– There will probably be a number of them. It is very unlikely the appeal will resolve at the first conference.  It is more likely that the NDIA will ask for more information from you, and a date will be agreed for you to provide it.  Then another conference will be booked in for after that date.

– You don’t have to agree to anything. If you are being asked to do something and are not comfortable with it, you can say you need to think about it.  Normally the ART will give you a few days, and you can contact us to discuss your concerns before you decide what to do next.

You can read more about the steps at the ART here: NDIS Appeals at the AAT

  • Who else to contact

We strongly recommend that you also contact:

Victoria Legal Aid – the application process can take some time, so it is better to apply as soon as you can. You can ask for an appointment with a Victoria Legal Aid lawyer to talk about eligibility for legal representation. The lawyer can also provide advice about your case. Advice appointments are offered after the first case conference.

Other Disability Advocacy Services who also provide DDIS appeals assistance.

Still Need Assistance?

If you have questions or concerns that weren’t covered in the information above, please complete an enquiry form and we will be in touch to let you know if we can offer a 30 minute advice appointment with one of our lawyers.

Enquire Here