The Supported Decision Making Advisory Group (SDMAG) met on Friday, 13 February 2026. The meeting was held online.
Focus of the meeting
The focus of the February meeting was:
- A review of the 2026 Workplan
- An update on the Supported Decision Making pathway
2026 Workplan review
The 2026 Workplan will help members of the Supported Decision Making Advisory Group see what work they will focus on for the year.
Member feedback included:
- The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) needs to explain how it will check if supported decision making is working well.
- The NDIA needs to provide better information so everyone understands what supported decision making is, and how to use it.
The need for an update on how the NDIA will work with advocacy programs so people without trusted supporters can still get help
Supported decision making pathway
Support Needs Assessments will be part of the National Disability Scheme’s (NDIS) new way of planning.
Support Needs Assessments will be introduced from the middle of 2026.
The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) will use the Instrument for the Classification and Assessment of Support Needs (I-CAN v6) as a base for developing the new Support Needs Assessment.
The I-CAN v6 is developed by the Centre for Disability Studies.
A Support Needs Assessments will:
- Help the NDIA understand what supports a person with disability aged 16 and over needs.
- Involve a conversation about 12 key areas of a person’s life. Some of the questions ask about how someone moves, communicates, learns, and takes part in the community.
- Use a simple rating scale to show how often a person needs support and how much help they need.
Member feedback included:
- The NDIA should check if supported decision making is working well.
- The NDIA should give better information to help make supported decision making easier to understand.
- Assessors need to help people communicate in a way that works best for them.
If a participant is not understood, they might not get the level of support they need
Supported Decision Making Advisory Group next meeting
The next Supported Decision Making Advisory Group meeting is Wednesday, 6 May 2026.