Clinic template
An NDIS progress report template for Cliniko
This is a Cliniko letter template for the progress report an occupational therapist or physiotherapist writes ahead of an NDIS plan review. It reports functional change against the participant's stated goals and frames any recommended hours using the reasonable and necessary criteria in section 34 of the NDIS Act, the test the NDIA actually applies when deciding what to fund.
Last checked 25 Sep 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.
Free template ยท Cliniko
Letter template: NDIS progress report for plan review: occupational therapy and physiotherapy
The template: 9 fields
| Section | Field | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Header | Date | Text | Placeholder General.CurrentDate. |
| Header | Participant name, NDIS number and plan dates | Text | Bracketed prompt: [participant details, NDIS number, current plan start and end date]. |
| Header | Prepared for | Text | Bracketed prompt: [participant, support coordinator, or NDIA planner, whoever requested the report]. |
| Goals | Goals from the current plan | Paragraph | Bracketed prompt: [goals as stated in the participant's plan]. Quote the plan's own wording so the report reads against what the NDIA already funded, not a therapist's rephrasing of it. |
| Goals | Progress against each goal | Paragraph | Bracketed prompt: [functional change per goal, with an outcome measure or plain functional description where used]. One line per goal, not a single paragraph covering all of them. |
| Reasonable and necessary | Support needed and why | Paragraph | Bracketed prompt: [support requested, linked to a specific goal and impairment]. State which of the section 34 criteria the support meets: linked to the impairment, supports a stated goal, aids social or economic participation, represents value for money, and reflects current good practice. |
| Reasonable and necessary | Recommended hours or supports for the next plan | Text | Bracketed prompt: [hours per week or fortnight, and support item]. State a number, not a vague ongoing recommendation, since the NDIA is deciding a funded amount from this report. |
| Reasonable and necessary | Risk if the support is reduced or ends | Paragraph | Bracketed prompt: [what happens to function, safety or participation without this support]. Optional but strengthens the value for money and effectiveness criteria. |
| Sign off | Practitioner name, qualification and registration | Text | Bracketed prompt: [name, qualification, AHPRA or other registration where relevant]. |
Build it in Cliniko
- Go to Settings > Letter templates, add a new template, and name it internally as NDIS progress report so it sits alongside the other funder specific reports in this cluster.
- Write the header with General.CurrentDate for the date and bracketed prompts for the participant's details and who the report is prepared for, since Cliniko does not document a placeholder for NDIS specific fields.
- Build the Goals section to quote the plan's own goal wording rather than paraphrasing it, so the NDIA reviewer can match the report directly to what they already funded.
- Write the Reasonable and necessary section to name which of the section 34 criteria each recommended support meets, rather than only describing the participant's condition, since that is the actual legal test the NDIA applies when deciding what to fund in the next plan.
- State recommended hours as a specific number per week or fortnight against a named support item, not a general statement that therapy should continue, so the report gives the NDIA a concrete figure to work from.
- Test the template on a sample participant file, confirming the date fills in and every bracketed prompt, especially the goals and the reasonable and necessary reasoning, is fully replaced before the report is sent to a support coordinator or the NDIA.
Write to the test the NDIA actually applies
A progress report that only describes how a participant is doing clinically leaves the reader, often a support coordinator or an NDIA planner rather than another clinician, to work out on their own whether that justifies continued funding. Section 34 of the NDIS Act sets six criteria a support must meet to be funded as reasonable and necessary: it addresses needs arising from the participant's impairment, it helps pursue their stated goals, it supports social or economic participation, it represents value for money against the cost of alternatives, and it is likely to be effective given current good practice. This template asks the practitioner to name which of those criteria each recommended support meets, rather than leaving the reviewer to infer it from a general clinical summary.
Goals get quoted, not rewritten
The participant's plan already states their goals in specific wording that the NDIA signed off on. A progress report that rephrases those goals in clinical language, even accurately, makes the reviewer do extra work matching the report back to the plan. This template's goals section quotes the plan's own wording and reports progress against each one individually, so a reviewer scanning the report for whether goal three was met does not have to read the whole document to find it.
A number, not an open ended recommendation
NDIA planners are deciding a funded amount from the reports in front of them. A recommendation that therapy should continue, without a stated number of hours or a named support item, gives them nothing concrete to allocate. This template asks for a specific hours per week or fortnight figure tied to a support item, which is also what makes the value for money criterion assessable: a reviewer can weigh a stated number of hours against the benefit described, in a way they cannot weigh an open ended recommendation.
Sources
- Under section 34 of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013, a support must meet all of six criteria to be funded as reasonable and necessary, including that it is necessary to address needs arising from the participant's impairment, will assist the participant to pursue their stated goals, will assist social or economic participation, represents value for money relative to the benefit and cost of alternatives, and will likely be effective and beneficial having regard to current good practice. National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth), s 34, AustLII, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- The NDIA assesses the information and evidence a participant and their providers supply against the reasonable and necessary criteria and the NDIS rules when deciding what supports to fund in a plan. National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIS), checked 25 Sep 2026.
- The NDIS Pricing Schedule sets the physiotherapy direct service price limit (item 01_721_0128_1_3) at $183.99 an hour nationally for 2026-27, effective 1 July 2026, unchanged from 2025-26, and describes these limits as the appropriate and reasonable maximum price for a support rather than a guaranteed fee. National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIS), checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Cliniko's letter templates are created under Settings > Letter templates, require a name, body and default email subject, and their template text can still be edited when the actual letter is written from a participant's file. Cliniko Help, checked 25 Sep 2026.