How to Transition from a Functional Capacity Assessment to the I-CAN v6

Using your existing evidence as a bridge — not a substitute

Disclaimer: This article reflects publicly available information about the I-CAN v6 framework and the Functional Capacity Assessment process as at October 2026. This guide does not constitute professional disability support or legal advice.

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If you have been in the NDIS for more than a few years, there is a good chance your plan has been shaped by Functional Capacity Assessments (FCAs). You may have a folder of OT or allied health reports that describe your capacity in FCA terms. You may have had your plan built directly from FCA findings.

Now the I-CAN v6 is coming — and it is a different tool, with a different framework, different language, and a different central question.

This guide explains the transition: what you can carry forward from your FCA history, what you will need to develop fresh, and how to work with your allied health team to bridge the gap.

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The Philosophical Difference: Two Different Questions

The most important thing to understand about the FCA-to-I-CAN v6 transition is the fundamental question each tool asks.

A Functional Capacity Assessment asks: What can this person do?

Specifically: can they shower independently? Can they cook? Can they manage their medication? The FCA typically produces a profile of capacity across activity areas, often using standardised scales (like the FIM or similar instruments) to rate independence.

The I-CAN v6 asks: What support does this person need to do things safely and with dignity?

These are related questions, but they can produce different answers.

Consider someone who "can" shower independently — meaning the pure mechanics of the activity are within their physical capacity. Under an FCA, they might be rated as independent for showering.

Under the I-CAN v6, the relevant questions are different:

• Does their disability create a fall risk in the shower that requires someone present for safety?
• Does the effort of showering cause fatigue that prevents them from managing other activities for the rest of the morning?
• Does it take 90 minutes instead of 15, which has knock-on effects for the entire day?
• Do they need adaptive equipment that is only safe if someone helps set it up?

The I-CAN v6 is designed to capture the support need, not just the capability. This is a meaningful shift that many FCA reports do not adequately capture.

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What Your FCA Reports Can Tell an I-CAN v6 Assessor

FCA reports still have value in an I-CAN v6 context. They can:

Establish baseline functional history. If your FCA from two years ago documented significant functional limitations, it provides context for the assessor about your history and trajectory.

Provide clinical corroboration. FCA reports from occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and other allied health professionals confirm the clinical picture alongside your self-report.

Document equipment and aids in use. FCA reports often list equipment, modifications, and adaptive strategies — this is directly relevant to the I-CAN v6's assessment of Mobility, Self Care, and Domestic Life.

Provide time measurements. Some FCA reports document how long tasks take — this is functional information directly relevant to the I-CAN v6's domain assessments.

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What Your FCA Reports Often Cannot Tell the Assessor

The support context, not just the capacity. FCAs typically measure what someone can do; they often do not describe what happens to other activities when a demanding task is completed, or the safety considerations that make apparent independence actually dependent.

The "cost" of activity. FCAs usually don't document that completing a task independently took two hours and required three hours of recovery.

The cross-domain spillover. If morning self-care is so demanding that it prevents afternoon participation in community activities, the FCA may rate self-care as manageable without noting the downstream impact.

The support currently provided by informal carers. Many FCA assessors see a participant performing an activity independently — not knowing that before the assessment, a family member did the preparation, is waiting outside, and will handle the recovery.

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How to Bridge the Language Gap

FCA language and I-CAN v6 language often describe the same things differently. Here is a practical mapping:

When you are preparing your I-CAN v6 documentation, take the findings from your FCA reports and translate them into the functional language of daily life support needs — describing not just what you can or cannot do, but what you need assistance with, how often, and what the consequences are without that assistance.

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What to Ask Your Allied Health Team to Update

When you transition to the I-CAN v6, some of your existing allied health documentation will need to be updated or reframed.

Ask your OT specifically for:

• A functional summary describing your support needs across the I-CAN domains in daily life terms
• Not just capacity ratings, but specific descriptions of what assistance is required, how often, and what happens without it
• Documentation of safety considerations that may not have been prominent in previous FCA-focused reports
• Description of informal support currently provided that may be masking true support needs

Ask your GP or specialist for:

• A current letter that includes functional impact description, not just diagnosis and treatment
• If their previous letters were primarily clinical, a supplementary functional summary for NDIS purposes

Ask your physiotherapist for:

• A current report on mobility capacity, fatigue, and physical function that explicitly addresses the Mobility and Physical Health domains in functional terms

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How Your Previous Plan May Not Translate

Your current plan was built from FCA-based evidence, using NDIS budget categories and funding logic that developed over many years. When your I-CAN v6 assessment produces a plan, it will be built from the new framework's domain ratings and support level structure.

This may mean:

Some supports that were funded in your previous plan may not feature prominently in I-CAN v6 terms — particularly if the FCA language was specifically aligned to old NDIS funding categories.

Some support needs that were under-represented in your FCA (because FCAs don't ask certain questions) may now be captured for the first time.

The domain and language structure will be new, even if the underlying support needs are the same.

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The Most Practical Step: Domain-by-Domain Mapping

The most useful thing you can do to prepare for your I-CAN v6 after years of FCA-based assessments is to sit down with your existing FCA reports and map them to the 12 I-CAN domains.

For each domain, ask:

1. Does my existing FCA documentation address this area?
2. Is the documentation still current (within two years)?
3. Does it describe functional support needs, or just functional capacity?
4. What gaps exist between what my FCA says and what I actually need support with in this domain?

The gaps you identify are where your new preparation documentation — and potentially updated allied health reports — need to focus.

ICANReady's domain-by-domain structure makes this mapping process straightforward: work through each domain, draw on your FCA documentation where it is relevant, and add the support context and safety considerations that FCA assessments typically miss.

Try ICANReady free →

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For information on the I-CAN v6 domains, see The 12 I-CAN v6 Domains Explained. For comparison of FCA and I-CAN v6, see I-CAN v6 vs Functional Capacity Assessment.