The One Plan Process in South Australia: Step by Step

The One Plan process in South Australia has a formal structure, but many parents experience it as something that "just happens" to them — they're called to a meeting, shown a document, and asked to agree to something they don't fully understand. That's not how it's supposed to work.

Understanding the actual process — who initiates it, what each stage involves, and what your rights are at each point — puts you in a position to drive it rather than just respond to it.

Stage 1: Identifying That a One Plan Is Needed

A One Plan is not automatic for every student who receives any kind of support. It's used for priority cohorts — primarily students with disability, children in out-of-home care, and Aboriginal students requiring extensive adjustments.

The trigger is typically one of three things:

• A formal disability diagnosis — a paediatrician, psychologist, or specialist report that establishes a diagnosed condition
• Functional need identified by the school — a classroom teacher or inclusion coordinator identifies that a student requires adjustments beyond standard differentiated teaching
• Parent request — you can request that a One Plan be initiated for your child

If your child has a diagnosis and no One Plan has been initiated, you can write to the inclusion coordinator and request one directly. Frame the request around your child's functional needs in the classroom and reference the school's obligations under the Disability Standards for Education 2005.

Stage 2: Evidence Gathering and Assessment

Before the first One Plan can be meaningfully written, there needs to be an evidence base. Schools will typically:

• Review any existing allied health reports (speech pathology, OT, psychology, paediatric assessment)
• Gather teacher observations about the student's current functioning across different settings
• Consult with the student (age-appropriately) about their own experience
• Consult with parents about the child's strengths, needs, and the family's priorities

For students with complex needs or where higher-tier IESP funding is being sought, the school may also request input from the Department for Education's Student Support Services (SSS) team. This can include a school psychologist assessment, a speech pathology consultation, or a functional behaviour assessment.

If the school's assessment feels incomplete or you believe it doesn't accurately reflect your child's needs, you can provide your own independent clinical reports. These should be taken seriously in the One Plan development — ask that specific recommendations from the report are incorporated into the plan.

Stage 3: The NCCD Categorisation

Before the One Plan is developed, the school makes a professional judgment about your child's NCCD (Nationally Consistent Collection of Data) adjustment level. This determines the disability funding loading the school receives:

• Quality Differentiated Teaching Practice (QDTP) — adjustments embedded in standard teaching
• Supplementary — specific adjustments at specific times
• Substantial — frequent and significant adjustments across most of the day
• Extensive — comprehensive, individualised, ongoing support across all settings

The NCCD categorisation is the school's professional judgment — parents are not required to formally agree to it. But it significantly affects the resources available to your child. If you believe your child's needs warrant a higher categorisation than the school has assigned, you can raise this directly with the inclusion coordinator and provide additional clinical evidence.

Stage 4: The One Plan Meeting

The One Plan meeting is where the document is developed collaboratively. It should involve:

• The classroom teacher(s)
• The inclusion coordinator
• The parent or carer (and the student, where appropriate)
• An SSO if they are involved in the student's support
• Any external provider who is working with the student (NDIS therapist, school psychologist, etc.)

The meeting works through the One Plan's seven screens:

1. Overview — curriculum links and learning priorities
2. Background — demographic information (pre-populated)
3. Services — external providers involved
4. Perspectives — voices of the student, parent, and teacher
5. Aims and Goals — specific, measurable learning objectives and the adjustments that will support them
6. Support — who delivers what, when, and how
7. Notes / Agreed Actions — accountability and next steps

Your role in the meeting: The "Perspectives" screen should capture your view of your child's strengths, needs, and goals — not just the teacher's view. If the school has pre-written the Perspectives section before you arrived, ask whether it accurately reflects what you would say. If not, ask for it to be revised.

The Goals screen is where most parents need to push hardest. Vague goals like "will improve literacy" are not measurable and not accountable. Specific goals like "by end of Semester 1, will independently use phonics decoding strategy to read unfamiliar CVC words with 85% accuracy across three consecutive sessions" are.

At the end of the meeting, agreed actions should be documented in the Notes screen — who is responsible, for what, by when.

Stage 5: Implementation

After the meeting, the One Plan should be in effect immediately. The adjustments don't wait for the next funding cycle or the next term — they are current obligations.

Common implementation failures:

• Relief teachers are not briefed on the One Plan and don't follow the adjustments
• SSO support hours are shared across multiple students rather than allocated to the student as documented
• Visual schedules or assistive technology are not set up in the classroom
• Parents are not kept informed of whether the adjustments are working

If adjustments are not being implemented, raise this in writing with the inclusion coordinator. Ask for a documented response. If the issue persists, this is the basis for escalating to the Department's formal feedback process.

Stage 6: The Annual Review

At a minimum, the One Plan must be reviewed annually. But it should also be reviewed when:

• The student transitions to a new school or year level
• A new diagnosis or significant change in the student's condition occurs
• The student's needs change significantly
• The current adjustments are consistently not being implemented
• You request a review

The annual review follows essentially the same process as the initial meeting — gathering updated evidence, reviewing progress on goals, revising goals for the next period, and updating the adjustments section to reflect the current year.

At the review, you should come prepared with:

• Notes on which adjustments have been implemented and which haven't
• Your assessment of progress toward the previous goals
• New goals or adjustments you want to add for the coming year
• Any new clinical reports or assessments

Don't rely on the school to tell you what progress has been made. Teachers often manage many One Plans and may not have detailed notes. Your own observations are legitimate data.

What Happens When You Disagree With the One Plan

If you attend a One Plan meeting and disagree with what the school is proposing, you have several options:

1. State your disagreement in the meeting and request that the meeting be paused to consider alternatives. You are not required to agree to the plan as presented.

2. Ask that your perspective be recorded in the Notes / Agreed Actions screen, even if the school proceeds with their version of the plan.

3. Request a follow-up meeting with additional people present (a disability advocate, an external clinician, the principal) to resolve the disagreement.

4. Escalate to the Department's Customer Feedback Team if you believe the One Plan fails to meet your child's legal entitlements under the DSE 2005.

You should never feel pressured to sign or agree to a plan in the meeting. Ask for time to review it and respond within a week.

The South Australia Disability Support Blueprint includes a complete One Plan preparation checklist, goal-writing templates, and the escalation pathway for when the process breaks down — so you're prepared for every stage.

The Bottom Line

The One Plan process in SA runs from identification of need through evidence gathering, NCCD categorisation, the planning meeting, implementation, and annual review. At every stage, parents have a right to participate meaningfully — not just be informed. The most important stage for most families is the planning meeting, where pushing for specific, measurable goals and detailed support documentation is the difference between a plan that protects your child's entitlements and one that gives the school maximum flexibility with minimum accountability.

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