Full Story Why NDIS plans will soon be computer-generated
Dec 3, 2025
Kate Lyons, a senior reporter at The Guardian known for her investigative work on policy, discusses crucial changes to the NDIS. She explains how future funding plans will be automatically generated by a computer using the ICANN tool, dramatically reducing human involvement. This shift raises alarms for over 750,000 Australians reliant on the NDIS, with staff expressing concerns about limited appeal options and gaps in assessments. Advocates fear 'robo-planning' could compromise essential support, underscoring the need for careful consideration of participant needs.
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Computer-Generated Plans Replace Human Discretion
- The NDIA will use the ICANN tool to generate plans and remove human discretion after assessors input data.
- Kate Lyons warns that taking humans out of the loop risks producing plans that don't match lived needs.
Keep Humans In The Loop With Automation
- Use computer tools to standardise and benchmark plans while retaining a human to sense-check outputs.
- Experts emphasise that automation must keep a human in the loop to catch nuance and emotional context.
Appeals Feed Back Into The Same Algorithm
- Appeals will loop back into the ICANN tool rather than allow external amendments or tribunal variation.
- Lyons highlights this creates a closed loop where tribunal power to vary plans is removed.