PMCP and National Disability Insurance Agency

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the dispute between PMCP (the Applicant) and the National Disability Insurance Agency (the Respondent) concerning the Applicant's approved statement of participant supports under the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The Applicant sought review of a decision made by the Respondent regarding the provision of reasonable and necessary supports.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine the correct and preferable decision regarding the Applicant's statement of participant supports, specifically whether certain supports, including percussion lessons, were reasonable and necessary. This involved assessing the evidence presented in relation to the Applicant's needs and the NDIS funding principles.

Senior Member Buxton reasoned that the Applicant's statement of participant supports should be varied to include funding for support coordination, feeding therapy and dietetic support, and a gap in funding for percussion classes. The Tribunal found that the annualised cost of private percussion lessons, as opposed to shared lessons, was a reasonable and necessary support for the Applicant. The Tribunal set aside the decision under review and substituted it with an order approving a statement of participant supports that included these varied elements, while otherwise maintaining the supports outlined in the original decision as varied on 7 February 2022.