GMXV and National Disability Insurance Agency

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the dispute between GMXV, an applicant with autism spectrum disorder and a severe intellectual disability, and the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) concerning the approval of GMXV's statement of participant supports. The applicant lived with his father and had frequent outings with his mother, and the core of the dispute involved transport supports and the management of funding within GMXV's NDIS plan.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the proposed transport supports would constitute a duplication of existing supports, and critically, whether the funding within GMXV's NDIS plan should be Agency-managed or participant-managed, despite a request for plan management made on behalf of GMXV.

The Tribunal reasoned that, notwithstanding the applicant's request for plan management, section 44(3) of the *National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013* (Cth) applied. Specifically, the Tribunal found that subsection (c) of section 44(3) mandated that the funding in GMXV's plan be wholly Agency-managed. Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the NDIA's previous decision and remitted the matter back to the NDIA with directions to approve a new statement of participant supports. This new statement was to replicate existing supports on a pro rata basis, add funding for 12,480 kilometres of annual mileage for transport by support workers, and specify that all funding under the plan be Agency-managed.