An FCA is a comprehensive assessment completed by an approved professional / specialist / Allied Health clinician which provides robust information about the support needs and subsequent funding requirements that a participant has. The purpose of this report is to provide the NDIS with robust, evidenced based information which has been acquired subsequent to the use of numerous assessment tools which target the lifestyle domains including:

• Communication
• Mobility
• Social Participation
• Social Interaction
• Self-Care
• Learning
• Self-Management
• Economic Participation

These domains are assessed in consideration of the person’s impairment and any intersectional issues related to co-morbidities (additional disabling factors). As well as the impact of the person’s physical environment, access and participation in community, and capacity to functionally complete their lifestyle requirements with, or without assistance from others. The assessment is designed to highlight factors which relate to recognised disabilities and reduce functional capacity.

The figure below is taken from an NDIS produced document regarding assessments of functional capacity and shows the domains that need to be assessed and reported on.

NDIS ‘Selection of Assessment Tools – NDIS’

An FCA is a comprehensive report which is completed after a trained clinician has received robust information and completed robust assessment regarding a participant. This might include assessments related to mobility, communication, behaviour and presentation, mental health, socialisation, self-management, participation in society, sensory support needs, skill development and learning and intersectionality of the characteristics of their disability.

DivergAntz Collective will commence the process with either an introductory Zoom (tele-health) to discuss the assessment and/or may send you a series of questionnaires to complete to help us better understand the impact of disability on you, or your child’s overall functional capacity.

Issues and situations regarding toileting, mental health, eating, mobilising, accessing public transport, working, studying, managing your anger and frustration, communicating your needs and understanding the communication of others, will all likely come into the conversation and subsequent report. Further to this, we will need to understand what type of informal support network you have in your life and how much you rely on these informal supports to meet your needs.

We will require access to any previous or current assessments/reports completed, as well as evidence of your impairments and evidence of how these impairments disable your capacity. We may acquire this evidence by observation, by discussion, through use of evidenced based assessment tools or other ways, as deemed suitable by the clinician.

FCA’s can be completed by recognised and approved professionals of the NDIA. Professionals who are approved to complete Functional Capacity Assessments include, but may not be limited to:

• Developmental Educators
• Social Workers
• Occupational Therapists
• Psychologists

DivergAntz Collective has both Developmental Educators and Social Workers who are trained and experienced in conducting Functional Capacity Assessments and using the myriad of assessment tools to assess capacity. Our completed assessments have led to excellent outcomes with many Participants who benefitted from NDIS plans which more accurately provided for their needs, thanks to the robust assessment we were able to complete.

From the point of receiving a completed and signed Service Agreement, an FCA can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months to complete. The timing is dependent on:

• You, or the Participant’s availability
• The time of year (there are longer wait times around Christmas/New Years)
• You, or the Participant’s capacity to complete and return assessments to us
• Communication methods and organising interpreters and/or communication partners if necessary
• You, or the Participant’s resilience to go through extensive questions and discussion, to enable the clinician to be informed enough to build a comprehensive report.

If there is urgency regarding this report, please ensure you advise us when you make the first referral. We will only take on Participants who have timeframe requirements that we can commit to working with. We don’t want to let anyone down.

*Please note NON NDIS client services attract GST

We charge 15 hours at the rate of $193.99 per hour (+GST for private paying clients $213.39) to complete a Functional Capacity Assessment. The total cost is $2909.85 (+GST for private paying clients $3,200.84).

For this cost, you get a comprehensive report (usually between 40-60 pages in length) which provides detailed information to the NDIA about your functional capacity, AND we provide a complimentary consultation with one of our experienced Support Coordinators to provide you some information and support to make sure that you have everything you need to maximise your plan review / change of circumstances / NDIS planning meeting. The Support Coordinator access is not an additional cost and will not be billed to your NDIS plan. You do not need to have Support Coordinator approved funding in order to access this. Furthermore, if you don’t want to access this complimentary service, there is no reduction in the price of the FCA, as this is a complimentary service only and not built into the price.

If you would like to request for a Functional Capacity Assessment to be completed for you, or someone you care for or support, please complete the referral form by clicking the button below and send us any of your reports and assessments as instructed to enable the process to be completed. Once we receive this and a Service Agreement is signed, we will allocate a clinician and the assessment can commence.