Your choice to be a registered NDIS provider is based on:

• The plan management type of the NDIS participant’s you work with
• The types of services you provide
• Whether you desire the resulting business benefits.

Participant plan management type

Allied Health Professional’s (AHPs) providing services to any NDIA-managed participant must be a registered NDIS provider. Therefore,

• If you do already and/or plan to provide services to NDIA managed participants, YES you need to become a registered provider
• If your business provides supports to self-managed and/or plan-managed participants only, NO, the NDIS Commission does not currently require you to be a registered provider.

You can learn more about participant plan management types and how participant’s choose here

Types of services you provide

It is important to consider which participants can engage an unregistered NDIS provider and how this may impact demand for and availability of your services to your intended audience.

NDIS participants whose plan is self-managed or plan managed can use unregistered NDIS providers in most circumstances. However, an NDIS participant whose plan is self-managed or plan managed must only use registered NDIS providers for the following supports or services:

• Specialist disability accommodation
• Supports or services during which there is or is likely to be a need to use a regulated restrictive practice
• Specialist behaviour supports that involve undertaking behaviour support assessment of the participant or developing a behaviour support plan for the participant.

Business Benefits

Working to the NDIS Quality and Safeguard Commissions registration standards requires you implement a Quality Management System (QMS) to manage your business practices which is proactive, risk-based and data-driven.

This approach to regulation is intended to deliver ongoing improvements to service provider capability, quality and participant safety and may benefit your business in the following ways whether you choose to register or not:

• Improved compliance with other regulatory requirements such as privacy, mandatory reporting and workplace health and safety
• Higher quality service provision
• Efficiencies with managing business information
• Timely completion of renewals
• Help to identify opportunities for improvement
• Decrease risks to your business, client’s and staff
• Differentiate from your competitors
• Compile objective evidence about your business practices and service quality
• Improve the resale value of your business.

Additional benefits for registered providers may include:

• Opportunity to attract a wider range of participant’s (Agency-managed) and provide a greater variety of services
• Improved visibility of your service to participants via additional online directories
• Enable participants to choose a provider based on service quality
• Ensure participants have reasonable expectations of your business practices
• Empower participants to utilise their purchasing power and choice of supports and services to work with providers who offer more innovative, sustainable and cost-effective products and services than their competitors.

If you’d like to see if your competitors are registered you can do so here.

If you decide not to register you must still conduct certain regulatory requirements to deliver services to self-managed or plan-managed participants as listed and explained below.

Comply with the NDIS code of conduct

See here for information related to:

• The intent of the Code of conduct
• Who the Code applies to
• A summary of what the Code requires
• Guidelines to help NDIS providers and workers understand their obligations under the Code were updated in September 2023 and are now available.

A free Worker Orientation Module is available to help workers understand the NDIS Code of Conduct. All registered providers and their workers must use this to support compliance with the Code. As an unregistered provider you can choose whether you use this or not but it is a cost-effective way of ensuring and demonstrating compliance with the Code.

It takes about 90 minutes to complete, and a certificate of completion is provided by the system.

Effectively manage complaints

Unregistered providers must be able to effectively manage complaints that may concern the quality and safety of supports and services being provided.

You can see the Verification pathway Complaints Management section if you would like assistance with this area.

Worker screening

The NDIS Worker Screening Check is an assessment of whether a person who works, or seeks to work, with people with disability poses a risk to them. The assessment determines whether a person is cleared or excluded from working in certain roles with people with disability.

As an unregistered NDIS provider, you have the option of asking workers that you employ or otherwise engage to demonstrate they have a NDIS Worker Screening clearance, or to ask them to obtain one. Participant’s may ask if this is something you and/or your staff have.

You can see acceptable alternative checks here

However, there are some additional requirements put in place by States and Territories which you should also be aware of:

In Queensland, it is an offence for unregistered NDIS providers to engage a person subject to a suspension, interim bar or exclusion.

Refer to the Worker Screening Unit in your state or territory for details of any additional requirements:

• Australian Capital Territory: Access Canberra
• New South Wales: Service NSW
• Northern Territory: SAFE NT
• Queensland: Disability Worker Screening
• South Australia: Department of Human Services Screening Unit
• Tasmania: Consumer, Building and Occupational Services
• Victoria: Department of Justice and Community Safety

You can utilise the NDIS Worker Screening Database to determine if any workers you engage have been previously cleared or excluded anywhere around the nation.

• The NDIS Worker Screening Database will be available to unregistered NDIS providers and self-managed participants (or their representative or nominee) who have been approved to access it by the NDIS Commission.
• To request access to the NDIS Worker Screening Database, please complete an application form.
• Refer to the Quick reference guide – Unregistered Provider – Request access to the NDIS Worker Screening Database for assistance.

If you want to or want your workers to undergo the NDIS Worker Screening Check – see our additional information here

Legal Requirements

Comply with Australian Consumer Law and other legal requirements the NDIA expect you to comply with.

Great, you’ve decided to register. Follow the rest of the steps on this website for assistance going through the process and preparing the system you’ll put in place to demonstrate and maintain your compliance.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (Provider Registration and Practice Standards) Rules 2018 set out what the Commission and providers are required to do for the registration process. A key condition is the need to comply with NDIS Practice Standards. Within the Practice Standards there are 5 modules.

Depending on the services you provide and the structure of your business, the NDIA Quality and Safeguards Commission (The Commission) will ask you to complete requirements relating to one or more of the following five modules:

1. Verification Module
2. Core Module
3. High Intensity Daily Personal Activities Module (Supplementary module)
4. Early Childhood Supports Module (Supplementary module)
5. Specialist Disability Accommodation Module (Supplementary module)

The modules contain the practice standards you must comply with and therefore will be audited against when going through the registration process.

You need to know which modules are relevant to you as these will help you determine:

• Whether to follow the Verification or Certification pathway on this website for support
• What you must prepare
• Give you an indication of the timeframe you require to prepare
• Enable you to gain quotes from auditors re the cost of

The modules relevant to you are determined by the Class of Supports / Registration Groups you deliver or are registered for.

The relationship between the Class of Supports / Registration Groups and the modules required are listed in the Commission’s document Registration Requirements by Supports and Services.

When determining which Class of Supports / Registration Groups you will provide, you should consider that anything beyond the Verification module requires significantly more work before registration can be achieved as these services are considered higher risk and required to have this level of regulation.

Your task: Review the Registration Requirements by Supports and Services document, confirm your Class of Supports / Registration Groups and which of the 5 modules you are required to comply with.

NOTE: Impact of organisation structure:

• Please make sure you note there may be differences dependent upon your organisation’s structure
• For businesses set up as Individual or Partnership (only) you will also be required to meet the Practice Standard ‘Freedom from violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation or discrimination’ (see the Rights and Responsibilities Standard in the Certification Pathway for assistance).
• If you are applying to provide early intervention supports and set up as an individual or partnership, you may be able to undergo a Modified Certification.

These nuances can be difficult to determine, this extract from Section 20 of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Provider Registration and Practice Standards) Rules 2018 (legislation.gov.au) may assist with clarity.

NEXT TASK: Once you have determined which classes of supports/registration groups you will register for, you need to confirm your registration requirements with the Commission by completing parts A and B of Step 1: Start a new application on the Application Portal via the Commission’s website.

This will confirm for you which modules you need to comply with. 

To complete parts A and B you will need to:

1. Have a PRODA account
2. Provide information, including:
   • your organisation’s contact details
   • your corporate structure
   • your outlets/places of operation, and
   • your key personnel
3. Select the registration groups your organisation provides. This determines which NDIS Practice Standards apply to your organisation. Based on your responses, the form will filter to show you relevant information.

Part C of the form requires you to Complete a self-assessment against the NDIS Practice Standards relevant to the supports and services your organisation delivers to participants and upload any documents required as evidence. We suggest you don’t complete this aspect until you have worked through the resources on this site and conducted all the work required to demonstrate your compliance with the modules and standards.

Aspects of this resource will help you complete this self-assessment in a way that will ensure you achieve a value for money quote from auditors and are ready for your audit when auditors are.

Outcome

You should now know if you need to comply with the Verification Module, Core Module and/or any Supplementary Modules or Additional Requirements.

We have developed two groups of resources to assist you to become a registered NDIS provider. We have called these Pathways. Follow the Pathway relevant to the module you need to complete:

• The Verification Pathway is for those who have to complete an audit against the Verification Module.

• The Certification Pathway is for those who have to complete an audit against the Core Module.

Please note the following as you work through the resources:

• Neither pathway includes support related to any of the three Supplementary Modules.

Supplementary modules are recommended to be completed after the Core module work is complete as there is some overlap. With Core module procedures in place, the Supplementary modules may not require much further work and/or assistance.