Stage 1 — Referral & scoping (Day 1)
The first conversation is always the most important. Within one business hour of a referral, our intake team confirms the clinical question (a brand-new NDIS application reads very differently from a SIL pathway review), reviews any existing documents, agrees on the participant's preferred contact method, allocates the right AHPRA-registered Occupational Therapist, and books an assessment slot. Most participants are assessed within 5 business days of initial referral.
Stage 2 — Document review (Days 2–3)
Before the participant interview, the clinician reviews every available document: prior NDIS plans, medical reports, specialist letters, behaviour support plans, school or workplace reports, hospital discharge summaries, current support schedules, and any prior allied health assessments. This pre-work allows the interview itself to focus on functional gaps rather than re-collecting information already on file.
Stage 3 — Functional interview (90–120 minutes)
The core assessment is conducted via secure telehealth (Zoom or Teams) with the participant and a chosen support person (family member, Support Coordinator, support worker or partner). The interview follows a structured protocol across the six NDIS functional capacity domains and broader functional areas, with semi-structured probes for severity, frequency, support intensity and environmental modifiers. Where appropriate, the clinician supplements the interview with home walk-throughs, support worker observation, and photographic or video collateral.
Stage 4 — Scoring & analysis
Each domain is rated against published functional descriptors (we incorporate the Care and Needs Scale, WHODAS-2.0 framework, FIM/FAM where appropriate, and the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scale-3 for paediatric and intellectual disability presentations). Scoring is documented with supporting evidence sentences — never asserted in isolation. Recommendations are then mapped to NDIS support categories, intensity levels and indicative cost bands.
Stage 5 — Drafting & peer review
The draft report is tailored to the participant's complexity and evidence requirements, and is built section-by-section: clinical context, methodology, domain analyses, integrated functional summary, formal recommendations, and an executive summary. Before issue, every report receives an internal peer review from a second senior clinician — checking for internal consistency, evidence-to-recommendation alignment, and language that holds up under NDIA or Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) scrutiny.
Stage 6 — Issue & follow-up (Day 7)
Reports are issued by Day 7 (business days) as a PDF to the participant, the nominated Support Coordinator and (with consent) the plan manager. We include a one-page executive summary, a domain-rating snapshot for use in plan-build conversations, and a clinical contact line — if a planner has a question about a specific recommendation, they can call the clinician who wrote it. We do not subcontract or use AI to draft FCA reports.
- FCAs follow a 6-stage methodology — referral, document review, interview, scoring, drafting, issue.
- Total turnaround: 5 business days for standard FCAs.
- Every report receives peer review before issue.
- Scoring uses recognised frameworks (CANS, WHODAS, FIM/FAM, Vineland-3).
- Reports are issued direct to the participant, Coordinator and plan manager — clinician contactable for queries.
We deliver defensible NDIS FCA reports nationwide in 5 business days.
$2,910 inc. GST per FCA, SIL, SDA or ILO report — peer-reviewed, AHPRA-registered clinicians, telehealth Australia-wide.