What are case conferences for?

Case conferences are used to move your case forward. They may involve:

• Discussions between you and the NDIA about the issues in your case.
• Setting times for important things to happen, like filing evidence.
• The AAT asking you or the NDIA to do things like provide documents.

A case conference is not usually used to make detailed legal arguments to convince the AAT about your case, although you or the NDIA might be asked to explain what you think about certain issues.

When will case conferences be held?

Your first case conference should ideally happen within 2-4 weeks of filing your AAT case, but can be delayed until up to a couple of months after filing.

These things should happen before your first case conference:

• You have filed your application (see our fact sheet 'How To: Apply to the AAT for an external review'), and the AAT has confirmed that they have received the application;
• The NDIA has provided you with the ‘T-documents’ (see your fact sheet 'How to: Understand the T-Documents the NDIA files in my AAT case');
• The NDIA has provided you with a ‘Statement of Issues’ (see our factsheet 'How To: Read a Statement of Issues from the NDIA'). 

At each case conference, it is a good idea to ask the AAT to set a date for the next case conference.

How and where do case conferences happen?

The AAT normally holds case conferences over the phone. If you want, you can ask the AAT to hold your case conference using Microsoft Teams video call instead (see details below in “What should I do before a case conference?”). 

A case conference usually includes a number of people:

Registrar

A Registrar will be at every case conference. 

The Registrar oversees the case conference, asks questions to you and the NDIA, and makes sure your case is moving forward. The Registrar can make Directions about your case, but can not make a final decision on your AAT case. A Registrar cannot make the NDIA give you funding or give you a new plan. Only a Tribunal Member can make those decisions and orders. 

Lawyer for the NDIA

A lawyer for the NDIA will be at every case conference. The lawyer is there to represent the NDIA and advise on how the case could reach a settlement or proceed to a hearing.

NDIA case manager

A case manager from the NDIA will be at many case conferences, to talk to you and the AAT about the NDIA’s perspective. They might also give the NDIA’s lawyer instructions or guidance about what the NDIA wants to do in your case.

Advocate or lawyer for the Applicant (you)

If you have an advocate or a lawyer, they can attend case conferences for you. Your lawyer or advocate can explain what their job is at a case conference.

If you don’t have a lawyer or an advocate and you would like one, you can consider getting legal advice from one of the organisations listed below at ‘Where can I get advice if I need help understanding my options?’.

You – the Applicant

You will be asked to attend every case conference in your case and it is important you do attend every one, unless you have arranged for your advocate or lawyer to attend instead of you.  See below for what you can do to get ready for a case conference, as well as what you can do at a case conference. 

Support person

You can ask for a support person to come to a case conference with you. Your support person can be a friend, family member, counsellor and other person you know and trust. A support person’s job is not to speak at a case conference, but to help to support you if you find the case conference upsetting or difficult. You can ask the AAT to include them on the case conference call, or you can have the support person with you in the same room.

Your support coordinator should not attend

Your support coordinator should not attend AAT case conferences as your advocate or support person. If they do, it could be seen as a ‘conflict of interest’, where the NDIA thinks the support co-ordinator is trying to get you more funding so they can get paid more. This could cause problems for your case, and your support coordinator could even get in trouble.

What should I do before a case conference?

It helps to be prepared for each case conference.

If you have a lawyer or an advocate, speak to them beforehand about how the case conference will run, and what you should do to get ready.

You will be given a Listing Notice for each case conference, with the time and date the case conference will be on. The Listing Notice will also say if the case conference will be held by phone or by videoconference.

You can view a sample Listing Notice below:

Before each case conference, send an email to the email address on the Listing Notice to say who from your team will be at the case conference, and how each of these people can be contacted – usually you, your lawyer/advocate, and a support person if you would like one. An example of an email you could send to the Tribunal might look like this.

You should also let the AAT know if you have any accessibility needs. This could include if you would prefer the case conference to happen over a video call instead of phone, or if you think you will need extra thinking time or a break during the case conference.

Before a case conference, carefully read over any documents the NDIA or AAT have sent you. This will often include a Statement of Issues (see our fact sheet 'How To: Read a Statement of Issues from the NDIA'), and might also include letters, evidence or requests that the NDIA and AAT will want to discuss at the case conference.

For the first case conference

Before the first case conference, carefully read the T-documents and note any documents that are missing or incomplete, (see our fact sheet 'How To: Understand the T-Documents the NDIA files in my case').

At the first case conference, the Registrar will ask you what result you want from your NDIS appeal. You should think about this before the case conference, so you can clearly explain what you want. You could make a list of all of the supports you want from the NDIS to refer to at the case conference. Before the case conference, you can discuss this list with your support coordinator and/or any therapists you are working with, to make sure you have included all the supports you need.

At the first case conference, the Registrar will probably ask what evidence you have or are planning to get to support your case. Before the case conference, you should think about all the types of evidence you will want to support your case at a final hearing, including any statements, expert reports, or other information.  The Registrar will probably also ask you how long you need to gather the evidence you want to provide. They may want to set a date for you to give your evidence to the AAT in a ‘direction’. You should be ready to suggest a date that is okay for you and your team.

For information about the types of evidence you might want to provide, how to get it, and how long it might take, see our upcoming fact sheet 'How To: Decide what evidence I need for my AAT appeal'.

For later case conferences

Preparation for later case conferences will depend on what has happened in your case so far. Usually it is a good idea to:

• Make sure you have done what you have been asked to do in any directions the AAT has made in your case. If you haven’t been able to do something, you should be ready to explain why to the Registrar.
• Think about what you want from the case conference. Think about whether you want the Registrar to make any directions to make the NDIA do things or move your case forward.
• If you think that the NDIA hasn’t done something it was supposed to do, you could tell the Registrar and ask them to have the NDIA explain this.
• Think about what you want to happen after this case conference. You could consider if you want to negotiate with the NDIA about settling your case, or if you want to have your case set down for a hearing so the AAT can decide it.

If you’re not sure what to do for an upcoming case conference, you can think about getting legal advice from one of the organisations listed below at ‘Where can I get advice if I need help understanding my options?’.

What should I do at a case conference?

Case conferences are usually a relatively informal discussion between the Registrar, the NDIA and its representatives, and you and your representatives. But there are a few key rules to know:

The Registrar will oversee the case conference. You can call them ’Registrar’ (a Registrar is not referred to as ‘your Honour’). If you are addressing or talking about the NDIA’s representatives, you can call them ’Mr/Ms’ and their surname.

The Registrar will usually ask you (or your representative) and the NDIA’s representatives to talk, one at a time. When the Registrar asks you to talk, you should answer any questions they have asked. You should try and be as clear as possible. If you are not sure what you have been asked, or if the question did not make sense to you, you can ask for the question to be repeated or explained.

If anything happens at a case conference that you don’t understand, it is OK to ask questions. The Registrar and the NDIA’s representatives can’t give you any legal advice about your case, but they can explain what is happening if you are confused.

The Registrar will generally give you an opportunity to explain what you want to happen next, and why you want it. You should explain what you would like them to do (including making any directions), and why. 

Sometimes, people feel that lawyers for the NDIA have not treated them properly at a case conference. If you think the NDIA’s lawyers have not behaved as they should, you can read our fact sheet 'How to: Complain if I think the NDIA is treating me unfairly' for more information about your options.

Where can I get advice if I need help understanding my options?

You may be able to get advice about your options for requesting a review and help with other questions about the NDIS from a legal service. It will depend on the type of problem you have, and where you are located.

If you need help from a lawyer, National Legal Aid has the contact details for your local Legal Aid office.

If you need help from an advocate, the AskIzzy Disability Advocacy Finder is an online tool to help you find to search for advocacy providers using your suburb or postcode.

Learn more

UpSkill has a recorded webinar about the NDIS appeal process and the role of the AAT. Visit the website here to enrol and learn more.

People with disability and their families can email UpSkill at upskill@summerfoundation.org.au for free access to this webinar.

Who made this factsheet?

The Housing Hub and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) made this together. Since 2021, PIAC and the Housing Hub have worked together to provide advice and assistance to participants seeking SDA funding. This factsheet is part of a series about challenging NDIS decisions.