Participant voice and choice
Supported decision-making in an NDIS care team: prepare one choice together
When a care team is discussing a choice, begin with the person whose life it affects: what matters to them, what they want to understand and how they want support. An unfinished decision does not always need more persuasion. It may need clearer information, a different way to communicate or more time.
- For:
- Participants and chosen supporters preparing one practical care-team choice
- Includes:
- Copyable preparation note + fictional example + specialist links
- Time:
- 6 minute read
Published 6 September 2026
Written by Callum Cruikshank — Founder of Kinovo
Callum draws on his family's lived experience of coordinating support. These resources offer practical coordination ideas, not clinical, legal or NDIS funding advice. No independent clinical review is claimed.
The NDIA's supported decision-making policy centres support for people to make their own decisions, recognising their will, preferences and rights. The preparation note below offers a practical way to organise missing information around one choice. It is not a capacity assessment, a consent form or a substitute for legal authority. NDIA: Supported decision making policy.
Copy the decision-preparation note
The choice we are exploring
- The actual question, without assuming the answer: ___
- What the person has said or communicated matters to them: ___
- Their preferred way to receive and explore information: ___
- People they want involved in supporting this choice: ___
- People or topics they do not want included in this discussion: ___
- A useful time or event for checking whether they want to continue: ___
For each option or unanswered question
- Option or question: ___
- Information we have, including its source: ___
- Information still needed: ___
- Who has agreed to obtain it: ___
- How it will be made available to the person: ___
- What the person expressed about it: ___
- Anything we have not understood and need to clarify: ___
Before any follow-through
- The person's expressed preference or position, including “not decided”: ___
- A supporter's interpretation, if recorded, clearly separated from that expression: ___
- Next action that has actually been agreed: ___
- Who accepted that action: ___
- What information is to be shared, with whom and for this purpose: ___
- Any question about consent, authority or professional advice that still needs an appropriate answer: ___
Leave out information that is unnecessary for this choice. Do not make someone complete a form as a condition of having their view heard. The note is there to help supporters organise their work.
Make the question smaller without choosing the answer
“What support should we arrange?” may hide several different choices. Is the person considering a particular activity, deciding whether to meet a provider or asking for more information before any commitment?
Try: “Would you like to find out what the Saturday art group is like?” That is different from “Which Saturday should we book?” The second question assumes the person already wants to go.
Ask what matters about the choice. A supporter may be focused on transport while the person is worried about joining a group of strangers. Record both pieces of information with their source instead of treating the supporter's concern as the person's preference.
Ask how support should work for this decision
Use the person's usual communication supports and check what would help in this situation. Someone might want information in advance, a smaller conversation, photographs of a place, a trusted supporter nearby or the opportunity to return to the question later. Do not assume the same approach works for every choice.
Queensland's Office of the Public Guardian provides a guide for families, friends and carers on supporting someone to understand options and express choices. It is Queensland guidance; legal questions should be checked for the person's circumstances and jurisdiction. OPG: Guide for families, friends and carers.
For a broader record of how someone likes support with decisions, the WAiS decision-making profile resource is an established starting point. This article's note has a narrower purpose: keeping track of the missing answers and agreed work around one upcoming choice.
If a shared conversation would help, use the participant-led meeting agenda.
Keep an expressed preference separate from an interpretation
Write what the person communicated as accurately as you can. If the meaning is uncertain, say so. Avoid changing “I don't want to talk about it today” into “They do not want the activity”. The person may be declining the conversation at that time, the option itself or something else that needs clarification.
A record might contain:
- What the person expressed: “I want to see what it looks like first.”
- Supporter's interpretation: “I think photographs may help, but we have not checked whether that is what they mean.”
- Next clarification: ask how they would like to find out about the place, using their usual communication approach.
This separation helps the next person understand what is known. It does not turn the note into evidence that a particular decision is authorised.
A fictional example: considering an art group
Chris is considering a community art group. Chris asks a sibling, Jo, to help find out about it. A worker is enthusiastic about booking a trial, but Chris has said they want to know what the room and group are like first.
The preparation note records the question as “Would Chris like to explore this group further?” It does not record “Choose a trial date”.
Jo accepts the task of asking the organiser for information about the setting and whether a visit to look around is possible. Chris wants the answer explained in a quiet conversation. The worker's suggestion of a trial is recorded separately as a suggestion.
When the information arrives, Chris says the group size does not appeal and wants to hear about a smaller option. The team records that preference and asks whether Chris wants help finding out more. No booking is made merely because the original option was available.
Nothing in this fictional example determines what is funded, what is clinically suitable or who has legal decision-making authority. It illustrates a practical difference: supporters have work to do, but the task list does not choose the outcome for the person.
Know when the note is not enough
If people disagree about the meaning of a preference, appropriate communication support may be needed. If the issue concerns consent, guardianship or decision-making authority, get advice relevant to the situation rather than resolving it through a care-team vote.
The Disability Gateway supported decision-making hub brings together resources for people and supporters. Use appropriate advocacy or professional assistance when the discussion needs more support than the team can provide.
Be careful with sharing. A note may include sensitive preferences or disagreements. The guide to sharing plan information explains the importance of considering purpose and audience. Share only the information needed for the relevant contribution.
Use Kinovo for the supporting work
If the person wants the practical work coordinated in Kinovo, a Team leader or appropriately permitted member can create tasks for missing information and keep relevant documents with those tasks. Check who can see each item before adding sensitive detail; the document-visibility guide explains the current controls.
A Kinovo Team leader role concerns workspace management. It does not, by itself, establish authority to make personal decisions for someone. Keep the software's coordination role separate from the person's choice and any relevant legal arrangements.
You can use the preparation note without an account. See Kinovo's participant and family workspace if it would help the people involved contribute their part.