Reasonable and Necessary Support Needs Calculator

ANA›Life Services Authority›National Calculator Authority›Reasonable and Necessary Support Needs Calculator

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Reasonable and Necessary Support Needs Calculator

This tool helps estimate whether a support need is likely to meet the NDIS reasonable and necessary criteria under Section 34 of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013, and provides an indicative weekly funding allocation based on functional capacity, support frequency, and intensity.

Is the support directly related to the participant's disability?

-- Select -- Yes No

Is there evidence the support is effective and beneficial?

-- Select -- Yes No

Does the support represent value for money?

-- Select -- Yes No

Is informal support (family/carer) available and willing to provide this?

-- Select -- No – formal support required Yes – informal support available

Is this support the responsibility of another system (e.g. health, education)?

-- Select -- No Yes

Functional Capacity Level (1 = minimal support needed, 5 = very high support needed)

-- Select -- 1 – Minimal 2 – Low 3 – Moderate 4 – High 5 – Very High

Hours of support required per session

Number of sessions per week

Support Type

-- Select -- Daily Activities (Assistance with Daily Life) Community Participation Capacity Building / Therapy Support Coordination

Number of weeks per year this support is needed

Calculate

function reaCalc() { var errors = [];

var disabilityRelated = document.getElementById("rea-disability-related").value; var effectiveness = document.getElementById("rea-effectiveness").value; var valueForMoney = document.getElementById("rea-value-for-money").value; var informalAvailable = document.getElementById("rea-informal-available").value; var otherSystem = document.getElementById("rea-other-system").value; var functionalLevel = document.getElementById("rea-functional-level").value; var hoursPerSession = parseFloat(document.getElementById("rea-hours-per-session").value); var sessionsPerWeek = parseInt(document.getElementById("rea-sessions-per-week").value); var supportType = document.getElementById("rea-support-type").value; var weeksPerYear = parseInt(document.getElementById("rea-weeks-per-year").value);

if (disabilityRelated === "") errors.push("Please indicate whether the support is disability-related."); if (effectiveness === "") errors.push("Please indicate whether there is evidence of effectiveness."); if (valueForMoney === "") errors.push("Please indicate whether the support represents value for money."); if (informalAvailable === "") errors.push("Please indicate informal support availability."); if (otherSystem === "") errors.push("Please indicate whether another system is responsible."); if (functionalLevel === "") errors.push("Please select a functional capacity level."); if (isNaN(hoursPerSession) || hoursPerSession 24) errors.push("Hours per session must be between 0.25 and 24."); if (isNaN(sessionsPerWeek) || sessionsPerWeek 21) errors.push("Sessions per week must be between 1 and 21."); if (supportType === "") errors.push("Please select a support type."); if (isNaN(weeksPerYear) || weeksPerYear 52) errors.push("Weeks per year must be between 1 and 52.");

if (errors.length > 0) { document.getElementById("rea-result").innerHTML = "Please fix the following:" + errors.map(function(e){ return ""; }).join("") + ""; return; }

/ ── Step 1: Reasonable & Necessary Criteria Score ───────────────────── Each of the 5 NDIS s.34 criteria is assessed as a binary pass/fail. A support must pass ALL mandatory criteria to be considered R&N. Criteria: C1 – Disability-related (mandatory) C2 – Effective and beneficial (mandatory) C3 – Value for money (mandatory) C4 – Informal support NOT available (mandatory) C5 – NOT another system's responsibility (mandatory) ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── / var c1 = parseInt(disabilityRelated); // 1 = pass var c2 = parseInt(effectiveness); var c3 = parseInt(valueForMoney); var c4 = 1 - parseInt(informalAvailable); // pass if informal NOT available var c5 = 1 - parseInt(otherSystem); // pass if NOT another system

var criteriaScore = c1 + c2 + c3 + c4 + c5; // max 5 var allMandatoryMet = (c1 === 1 && c2 === 1 && c3 === 1 && c4 === 1 && c5 === 1);

/ ── Step 2: Hourly Rate Lookup (NDIS Price Guide 2024–25 indicative) ── Support Worker – Weekday Daytime rates ($/hr): Daily Activities : $67.56 (01_011_0107_1_1) Community Participation : $67.56 (04_104_0125_6_1) Capacity Building/Therapy: $193.99 (Allied Health, 15_037_0128_1_3) Support Coordination : $100.14 (07_002_0106_8_3) ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── / var rateMap = { "daily-activities": 67.56, "community-participation": 67.56, "capacity-building": 193.99, "support-coordination": 100.14 }; var hourlyRate = rateMap[supportType];

/ ── Step 3: Intensity Multiplier based on Functional Level ──────────── Reflects that higher functional impairment typically requires more complex (and costlier) support delivery: Level 1: ×1.00 Level 2: ×1.10 Level 3: ×1.20 Level 4: ×1.35 Level 5: ×1.50 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── / var intensityMap = { "1": 1.00, "2": 1.10, "3": 1.20, "4": 1.35, "5": 1.50 }; var intensityMultiplier = intensityMap[functionalLevel];

/ ── Step 4: Weekly Cost ─────────────────────────────────────────────── Weekly Cost = hoursPerSession × sessionsPerWeek × hourlyRate × intensityMultiplier ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── / var weeklyCost = hoursPerSession * sessionsPerWeek * hourlyRate * intensityMultiplier;

/ ── Step 5: Annual Cost ─────────────────────────────────────────────── Annual Cost = weeklyCost × weeksPerYear ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── / var annualCost = weeklyCost * weeksPerYear;

/ ── Step 6: Total Weekly Hours ──────────────────────────────────────── Total Weekly Hours = hoursPerSession × sessionsPerWeek ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── / var weeklyHours = hoursPerSession * sessionsPerWeek;

/ ── Step 7: Criteria Detail ───────────────────────────────────────────/ var criteriaLabels = [ ["C1 – Disability-related", c1], ["C2 – Effective and beneficial", c2], ["C3 – Value for money", c3], ["C4 – Informal support not available", c4], ["C5 – Not another system's responsibility",c5] ];

var criteriaRows = criteriaLabels.map(function(row) { var icon = row[1] === 1 ? "✅" : "❌"; var label = row[1] === 1 ? "Pass" : "Fail"; return "" + row[0] + "" + icon + " " + label + ""; }).join("");

var supportTypeLabel = { "daily-activities": "Daily Activities", "community-participation": "Community Participation", "capacity-building": "Capacity Building / Therapy", "support-coordination": "Support Coordination" }[supportType];

var verdict, verdictClass; if (allMandatoryMet) { verdict = "✅ This support is likely to meet the Reasonable and Necessary criteria."; verdictClass = "calc-success"; } else { verdict = "❌ This support does NOT appear to meet all Reasonable and Necessary criteria. NDIS funding is unlikely to be approved without addressing the failed criteria."; verdictClass = "calc-error"; }

var html = "" + verdict + ""; html += ""; html += "CriterionResult"; html += criteriaRows; html += "";

if (allMandatoryMet) { html += ""; html += "ParameterValue"; html += "Support Type" + supportTypeLabel + ""; html += "Functional Level" + functionalLevel + " (×" + intensityMultiplier.toFixed(2) + " intensity)"; html += "Indicative Hourly Rate$" + hourlyRate.toFixed(2) + ""; html += "Hours per Session" + hoursPerSession.toFixed(2) + " hrs"; html += "Sessions per Week" + sessionsPerWeek + ""; html += "Total Weekly Hours" + weeklyHours.toFixed(2) + " hrs"; html += "Weeks per Year" + weeksPerYear + ""; html += "Indicative Weekly Cost$" + weeklyCost.toFixed(2) + ""; html += "Indicative Annual Cost$" + annualCost.toFixed(2) + ""; html += ""; html += "⚠️ Indicative estimates only. Actual NDIS plan funding is determined by a planner or LAC following a formal needs assessment. Rates are based on the NDIS Price Guide 2024–25 weekday daytime rates.

"; }

document.getElementById("rea-result").innerHTML = html; }

#### Formulas Used

Reasonable & Necessary Assessment (s.34 NDIS Act 2013): All five criteria must be satisfied (binary AND logic): R&N = C1 ∧ C2 ∧ C3 ∧ C4 ∧ C5 where C1 = disability-related, C2 = effective & beneficial, C3 = value for money, C4 = informal support not available, C5 = not another system's responsibility.

Weekly Cost: Weekly Cost = Hours per Session × Sessions per Week × Hourly Rate × Intensity Multiplier

Annual Cost: Annual Cost = Weekly Cost × Weeks per Year

Intensity Multipliers: Level 1 = 1.00, Level 2 = 1.10, Level 3 = 1.20, Level 4 = 1.35, Level 5 = 1.50

Indicative Hourly Rates (NDIS Price Guide 2024–25, weekday daytime): Daily Activities: $67.56/hr | Community Participation: $67.56/hr | Capacity Building/Therapy: $193.99/hr | Support Coordination: $100.14/hr

#### Assumptions & References

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