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.
Answered from the held text of NDIS Code of Conduct s6-1-a. The clause behind it is cited below, and the requirement page carries the evidence an assessor asks for.
What the clause behind this answer says
s6-1-a Respect rights to freedom of expression, self-determination and decision-making
When supports or services go to a person with disability, every provider, key person and worker respects the person's rights to express themselves, to self-determination and to make decisions, in line with the laws and conventions that apply (the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities among them). The Commission's guidance reads this as supporting people to make their own decisions, communicating in a form and language they understand so they can make their will and preferences known, and taking account of their values and beliefs, including culture, faith, gender identity, sexuality and age.
Source: NDIS Code of Conduct on the compliance desk. Our statement of the clause, not the instrument verbatim.
s6-1-b Respect the privacy of people with disability
Every Code-covered person respects the privacy of people with disability: personal information is collected, used, disclosed and stored consistently with Commonwealth and State or Territory privacy law, and supports are delivered in a dignified way that protects personal privacy (for example during personal care, and in how photographs, social media and conversations about participants are handled).
Source: NDIS Code of Conduct on the compliance desk. Our statement of the clause, not the instrument verbatim.
What evidence answers it
- Code of Conduct policy adopted by the provider and acknowledged by each worker and key person
- Participant records showing choices and preferences recorded in the person's own words and acted on
- Communication plans or accessible-format materials (Easy Read, interpreter bookings, AAC use) for participants who need them
- Training completion records for the NDIS Worker Orientation Module and supported decision-making training
What assessors commonly find
- Decisions made for participants by staff or family without recording the participant's own wishes
- Information given only in standard English print to participants who need another format
- Unregistered providers and sole traders unaware that the Code binds them
The reviewer opens with
Show me code of Conduct policy adopted by the provider and acknowledged by each worker and key person, and tell me who owns it and when it was last reviewed.
Read your own text against these clauses
Paste your policy or evidence pack and the reading marks, line by line, whether a phrase from each requirement appears and quotes your own words when it does. Read your pack, free