The questions providers ask about care standards
29 recurring questions, harvested from what providers, coordinators and consultants search and ask, each answered in 40 to 60 words from the held text of the four frameworks and cited to its clause. The same answer is on each question's own page.
What is an NDIS quality indicator?
The NDIS Practice Standards state, module by module, the quality standard a registered provider must meet for the supports it delivers. A quality indicator is how that outcome may be shown, and an approved auditor assesses the provider against them. Providers meet them in practice far more often than they can show it on paper.
What changed in the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards?
The strengthened edition replaced the earlier standards, and its clauses now carry codes beginning ACQS25. It sets seven standards, from the individual and the organisation through to clinical care, food and nutrition and the residential community, with more depth on diversity, dementia care, provider governance and clinical care.
From Aged Care Quality Standards ACQS25-5.1 · ACQS25-5.1 ACQS25-2.4
What is a notifiable change, and when must I tell the Commission?
A registered provider must notify the Commissioner, in the approved form and as soon as practicable, of any change to its contact details and of any change in scale: the geographic areas served, the locations it operates from, or a significant increase or decrease in participants or in workers.
From NDIS Provider Registration Rules s13 · s13
When must I notify the Commission of a change of ownership?
A registered provider must notify the Commissioner of a significant event, including a change of ownership, before it happens. The notice is given in the approved form, and a change of ownership also brings an audit of the provider within three months of the change.
Do I need an ABN to register as an NDIS provider?
Yes. An applicant for registration must hold an Australian Business Number under the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999. The number must be held by the applicant itself and not by a related entity, and it must match the legal name on the application.
From NDIS Provider Registration Rules s11 · s11
What is a mid-term certification audit and when is it due?
A provider registered through certification is audited again mid-term. The mid-term certification audit falls due within eighteen months, and it is assessed against the modules that apply to the supports the provider delivers by the method the registration rules prescribe.
When is NDIS registration mandatory?
Registration is mandatory for some supports: assistance with supported independent living must be provided by a registered provider, and digital platform services must be registered. A provider must not provide, or hold out that it can provide, a support that requires registration unless it is registered.
What does the NDIS Code of Conduct require of a support worker?
It sets seven obligations: respect the person's rights to expression, self-determination and decision-making; respect their privacy; provide supports safely and competently, with care and skill; act with integrity, honesty and transparency; raise quality and safety concerns promptly; prevent and respond to violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect; and prevent and respond to sexual misconduct.
Does the Code of Conduct apply to unregistered providers?
Yes. The Code binds every NDIS provider and every worker who delivers supports, whether or not the provider is registered, so a sole trader serving self-managed and plan-managed participants is bound by all of its obligations. The Commission can investigate a complaint about an unregistered provider.
Can I charge an NDIS participant more than other customers?
Not without a reasonable justification. A provider must not charge a higher price for goods or services supplied to an NDIS participant than the price it charges a person who is not a participant, unless the higher price is reasonable and can be justified.
From NDIS Code of Conduct s6-2 · s6-2
What counts as a reportable incident?
A reportable incident is one of the serious events the Commission must be told about, within the timeframe the rules set. A registered provider must hold an incident management system that records the incident, the immediate action, the investigation, the outcome and the corrective action, and the notification it lodged.
From NDIS Provider Registration Rules s73Y-73Z · s73Y-73Z core-14.1
What records must a registered provider keep, and for how long?
A registered provider must keep the records the registration rules prescribe, and it must keep them after its registration ends. The records must show what was delivered, who delivered it and when, and the decisions made about the person's supports, retrievable when the assessor asks for them.
From NDIS Provider Registration Rules s73Q-73R · s73Q-73R
What must a complaints management system include?
The system must be proportionate, fair and compliant with the complaints rules. Participants must be told how to complain, including how to complain externally to the Commission, and must be able to do so without reprisal. Workers must be aware and trained, and complaints and feedback must feed continuous improvement.
From NDIS Practice Standards core-13.1 · core-13.1 core-13.2 core-13.4
What evidence do I need for the risk management quality indicator?
An assessor asks for a risk register that rates likelihood and consequence, sets the treatment and names an owner; participant risk assessments linked to that register; and a work health and safety hazard register. The system itself must be documented and proportionate to the provider's size and scale.
From NDIS Practice Standards core-10.1 · core-10.1 core-10.2
How do I show a documented internal audit program?
Keep the internal audit program itself, dated, with a schedule that covers the applicable standards; the internal audit reports with their findings; and the action records that close those findings. A schedule on its own shows an intention to audit, not a program that ran and closed its findings.
From NDIS Practice Standards core-11.2 · core-11.2
What must be in a participant's service agreement?
The agreement is developed with the participant and its conditions are explained in a way they understand. Signed copies are held for both parties, and where a copy is not on file the record states why none was given. The supports to be provided during an emergency or disaster are documented too.
From NDIS Practice Standards core-20.1 · core-20.1 core-20.3 core-20.5
What must I do about a restrictive practice?
A regulated restrictive practice requires authorisation, and the behaviour support plan must set out the commitment to reducing and eliminating it, the monitoring of its use, and the reportable use of the practice. A reportable use also brings the medical referral and the notification the rules require.
What records must be kept for high intensity supports?
Only the high intensity supports listed on the certificate may be provided, and each needs its participant-involved plan, a practitioner review and an escalation step. The policies, procedures and the worker training plan sit behind it, with participant-specific training to the skills descriptor for that support.
From NDIS Provider Registration Rules s13C · s13C m1-3.1 m1-3.2
What must a medication management system cover?
Records of the medication, the dosage and the participant identification; workers who understand the effects, the side-effects and the steps to take after an incident; and safe, secure, identifiable storage that only trained workers can access. Medicine-related adverse events are monitored, reported and used to improve practice.
From NDIS Practice Standards core-26.1 · core-26.1 core-26.2 core-26.3
What does the clinical care standard ask of the governing body?
The governing body is accountable for clinical safety and quality: clinical governance is integrated into corporate governance, clinical care spans assessment through to review by qualified practitioners, and the clinical risks that are high impact and high prevalence, such as pressure injury, falls and medicines, are identified and managed.
From Aged Care Quality Standards ACQS25-5.1 · ACQS25-5.1 ACQS25-5.2 ACQS25-5.12
What must I have in place for emergency and disaster planning?
A plan for continuity of critical supports before, during and after an emergency, built with participant consultation and covering preparation, changes, adaptation and recovery, with the governing body's response and oversight set out. A dated drill record within the last six months, with its actions closed, is what an assessor looks for.
From NDIS Practice Standards core-16a.1 · core-16a.1 core-16a.2 core-16a.3
What training and supervision records do workers need?
A training system that identifies the mandatory training and the NDIS obligations, with completion records for each worker; timely supervision, support and resources; and the NDIS worker orientation module and continuing professional development records where they apply. First aid currency and the skills mix the roster needs are part of the same file.
From NDIS Practice Standards core-15.3 · core-15.3 core-15.4 core-15.5
How must personal information and recordings be handled?
The provider agrees with the participant what personal information and recordings may be collected and used, and for what purpose. Consent is recorded, the forms name the information and the images held, and a withdrawal of consent is honoured. Participants are told about the confidentiality policy and how to see their own information.
From NDIS Practice Standards core-5.3 · core-5.3 core-12.1 ACQS25-2.13
What does a support plan need to contain?
An assessment and a plan developed with the participant, covering their goals, needs and preferences; a regular risk assessment with the risk treatment strategies; a periodic review of those strategies with the participant; and an annual review of the plan, or earlier if something changes, with progress assessed against the goals.
From NDIS Practice Standards core-19.1 · core-19.1 core-19.2 core-19.4
What must I do for a participant moving to another provider?
Transitions must be planned and documented, the risks identified, including temporary transitions such as a hospital stay, and the transition processes documented, reviewed and communicated. Where a move is coordinated across services, the transition and exit planning is shared so the person is not left without support.
From NDIS Practice Standards core-22.1 · core-22.1 core-22.3 m3-6.4
What does the aged care record-keeping requirement ask for?
Records about the individual must be accurate, current and accessible, with confidential information managed in line with the consent the person has given. The provider must be able to show the care and services delivered, the decisions taken with the person, and who delivered what, when an assessor or the person asks.
From Aged Care Quality Standards ACQS25-2.12 · ACQS25-2.12 ACQS25-2.13
What evidence do I need for the food and nutrition standard?
The provider partners with individuals on a quality food and drinks service, assesses each person's nutritional needs and preferences, provides nutritious and appetising food with variation and choice, records the support a person needs to eat and drink, and keeps the mealtime and texture-modified food procedures current.
From Aged Care Quality Standards ACQS25-6.1 · ACQS25-6.1 ACQS25-6.2 ACQS25-6.4 core-26a.8
How can I check whether my policy covers a requirement?
Read the requirement and its evidence list, then paste your policy or evidence pack into the reading. It marks each of the 429 held requirements as mentioned in your text or not mentioned, quotes the words of yours that decided it, and cites the clause, so you can hand a manager the list.
From Aged Care Quality Standards ACQS25-2.6 · ACQS25-2.6 core-10.1
What is the difference between the Code of Conduct and the Practice Standards?
The Practice Standards set the quality standards a registered provider is audited against, module by module, for the supports it delivers. The Code of Conduct sets how every provider, key person and worker must behave while providing supports. A registered provider meets both, and an unregistered provider is still bound by the Code.
Ask it of your own pack
These answers are what the standards say. To see what your own documents say, paste a policy or evidence pack and read it against all 429 requirements.