How to: Read a Statement of Issues from the NDIA

This series of fact sheets was published on 08/10/2023. In October 2024, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was replaced by a new body called the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART). If you asked the AAT to review your NDIS decision before this, your case will have been automatically transferred to the ART.

While some of the ART’s processes are similar to the AAT, both the laws about how the Tribunal works, and the laws governing the NDIS, have now changed significantly. This means a lot of the information in these fact sheets may no longer be up to date or relevant to your circumstances.

These fact sheets provide general information and suggestions only. These fact sheets do not provide legal advice, and might not apply to your circumstances. If you need legal advice, you can find an advocate or a lawyer to help you using the links below at ‘Where can I get advice if I need help understanding my options?'.

This information in this factsheet was last updated by the Housing Hub on 08/10/2023.

A ‘Statement of Issues’ is an important document you will receive during a review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) of your NDIS decision. This fact sheet explains what a Statement of Issues is and how to understand it.

What is a Statement of Issues?

A Statement of Issues is a document the NDIA files with the AAT. It explains what the case is about, the areas where you and the NDIA disagree, and the NDIA’s position on each of those areas.

You can view a sample Statement of Issues below:

View Sample Resource

It will usually contain:

  • A summary of the background of the case
  • A timeline of your previous plans and NDIA internal reviews
  • An outline of the legal and factual issues that you and the NDIA disagree about
  • A summary of the NDIA’s reasons for their position
  • Any suggestions the NDIA has for next steps in the case

A Statement of Issues is meant to be a practical document – to help you, the NDIA, and the AAT plan how the case will go forward. It is not supposed to be used for the NDIA to set out their detailed legal arguments to the AAT or to convince the AAT to decide the case in their favour.

When are Statements of Issues usually provided?

The first Statement of Issues should be provided before your first case conference at the AAT, to help guide discussion at that case conference. The AAT’s rules say it should be provided at least one working day before that case conference.

(For more details about case conferences, please see our fact sheet 'How to: Get ready for and attend a case conference')

But sometimes the Statement of Issues is provided late, or not provided at all before the first case conference. This can be frustrating, since you have less time to read and think about the Statement of Issues before the case conference.

If you do not get a Statement of Issues from the NDIA, you should raise this at the case conference, or email the NDIA’s lawyers and the AAT registry. The AAT can ask the NDIA to explain why the Statement of Issues is late, and can make orders for the NDIA to provide one. As your case progresses, the AAT might ask the NDIA to provide further Statements of Issues, to explain where the case is up to and what disagreements (if any) have been resolved. The AAT decides whether and when to order the NDIA to produce a new Statement of Issues, but it will normally do that before a case conference.

If you would like the NDIA to provide another Statement of Issues, you can ask the AAT to make an order. However, you should only do so if you think it will help you and the AAT to progress your case.

How should I read and consider a Statement of Issues?

A Statement of Issues is a practical document. It is useful as a summary of the case to date, and for understanding what the NDIA is thinking.

When you read the ‘background/timeline’ sections of the Statement of Issues, you should look for any serious mistakes about facts. This could include, for example, if the NDIA has incorrectly represented your disability, or if they have left out an important meeting you had with the NDIA. These sorts of mistakes might show the NDIA has not properly understood your circumstances.

If you find important mistakes in this section, you can raise them with the NDIA and the AAT by email or at a case conference.

When you read the sections about the legal issues in the case, make sure you understand them. Note the specific words the Statement of Issues uses, and how each idea that is listed fits together with the next idea. If you need support to understand the language used in the Statement of Issues, or the legal issues in your case, contact one of the organisations listed at the bottom of this factsheet.

It might help you to have copies of important documents and reference materials handy. In particular, you should have the T-Documents as you read the Statement of Issues, so you can look at the law, policy, and evidence that the Statement of Issues refers to.

(For more information about the T-Documents, see our fact sheet 'How to: Understand the T-Documents that the NDIA files in my AAT case').

Once you understand the issues, think about how you can provide evidence or arguments to address them.

For each issue, think about:

  • What the NDIA is saying
  • How their perspective fits with the law
  • What evidence (if any) they might have to support their perspective
  • What you think about the issue
  • What evidence (if any) you have already provided to support what you think
  • What new evidence (if any) you could get to support what you think

You might feel you have already provided evidence that addresses some or all of the issues the NDIA raises. Even if this is the case, you should still try to think carefully about what the NDIA is saying, and whether there are any reasons why the AAT Tribunal Member might disregard your evidence or be convinced by the NDIA’s point of view. (For more info on considering the evidence you could provide, please look out for our upcoming fact sheet 'What kinds of evidence are important for a review? How should I get this evidence?')

The NDIA might list things in a Statement of Issues that are different to the reasons they gave for their internal review decision, or in previous Statements of Issues. This can be frustrating, but the NDIA is allowed to do this.

When you read the ’Next Steps’ section, you should consider if you think the proposed next steps sound reasonable to you.

The NDIA could make suggestions like:

  • Asking you to provide further specific kinds of evidence
  • Asking the AAT to make orders to get documents from third parties, like your treating doctors
  • Setting dates for discussions with you to try and negotiate an outcome to the case.

Sometimes, these suggested ’Next Steps’ are useful, since they can show what might convince the NDIA to settle your case. However, you don’t need to agree to all the NDIA’s suggestions if you think they are unreasonable or will not help to resolve the case.

Some questions you could ask yourself when you’re considering the suggested ’Next Steps’ include:

  • Will the NDIA’s suggestions help to move my case closer to a resolution?
  • Is it likely the NDIA’s suggestions will help to develop evidence that supports my case?
  • Is there a risk the NDIA’s suggestions will result in evidence that could be used against me?
  • Do I have any personal concerns with the suggestions (such as privacy)?
  • Do I have a better alternative suggestion?

Decisions about what to do next in your case can be complicated. If you’re not sure what to do, you can think about getting legal advice from one of the organisations listed below.

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.

You can also look at our other fact sheets about this, including:

Who made this factsheet?

Housing Hub and the Justice and Equity Centre (JEC) made this together in October 2023. From 2021 to 2024, JEC and Housing Hub worked together to provide advice and assistance to participants seeking SDA funding.

This factsheet was updated by the Housing Hub on 08/10/2023.

This factsheet is part of a series about challenging NDIS decisions.

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