NDIS Fundamentals for Support Workers

Choice and control is the founding principle of the NDIS. Participants decide what supports they receive, who delivers them, and how they are delivered. Your job is to make those choices real in everyday support, not to make decisions on the participant's behalf.

In practice this means offering genuine options rather than defaults. Ask before acting, explain what you are doing, and respect a decision even when you would choose differently. Small moments matter: what to wear, what to eat, the order of tasks, whether to go out.

• Offer options, not instructions
• Ask before assisting with any task
• Respect decisions you disagree with, and record concerns factually
• Raise barriers to choice with your coordinator rather than working around the participant

NDIS plans fund supports that are "reasonable and necessary". A support meets this test when it relates to the participant's disability, helps them pursue their goals, represents value for money, and is not something better provided by another system such as health or education.

As a support worker you deliver what is in the plan and the service agreement. If a participant asks for something outside the plan, do not simply refuse or quietly do it anyway. Explain that you need to check, then raise it with your supervisor or the participant's support coordinator.

Understanding this test also helps you write better notes. Your observations about what works, what has changed, and what the participant is trying to achieve become evidence at plan reviews.

Participants are supported by a network of roles, and knowing who does what keeps support safe and consistent. The NDIA plans and funds. Support coordinators help participants find and connect services. Providers employ workers and hold quality obligations. Plan managers handle invoicing and budgets.

Your role sits closest to the participant: delivering agreed supports, observing changes, documenting accurately, and escalating concerns. You are not the participant's clinician, financial adviser, or decision maker.

• Know your service agreement and what supports you are engaged to provide
• Direct plan or funding questions to the coordinator or plan manager
• Escalate clinical concerns to your supervisor for referral
• Never accept gifts, loans, or private work arrangements outside policy

Consent is ongoing, not a one-off signature. Ask before every support task, in a way the participant understands, and accept that consent can be withdrawn at any moment. "We do this every day" is not consent. Where a person needs help to decide, support the decision with plain language, extra time, and trusted people; you support the decision, you do not make it.

Privacy is the other half of respect. Participants share their homes, bodies, and health information with you, and the Privacy Act and NDIS Code of Conduct require you to protect all of it. Share information only through proper channels and only as needed to deliver support.

• Ask before assisting, every time, and respect a "no"
• Never discuss participants with your own family or friends, even without names
• Keep notes and rosters out of public view and lock devices used for shift notes
• Ask before photos, never post them, and report any privacy breach the same day

An incident is any event that caused, or could have caused, harm to a participant, worker, or other person during support. This includes injuries, medication errors, falls, property damage, and near misses where harm was narrowly avoided.

A subset are "reportable incidents" that providers must notify to the NDIS Commission: the death, serious injury, abuse or neglect of a participant, unlawful sexual or physical contact, sexual misconduct, and the unauthorised use of a restrictive practice.

You do not have to classify the incident yourself. Your job is to recognise that something is an incident, make the person safe, provide first aid if trained, call 000 for anything life-threatening, and report internally promptly and factually. When unsure, report it anyway: a near miss reported today prevents an injury next month.

Every provider has an incident procedure that sets out who you tell, how quickly, and in what format. Know yours before you need it. The usual chain is worker to supervisor or on-call manager, then management handles notifications to families, the NDIS Commission, police, or the coroner as required.

Time frames matter: reportable incidents generally must reach the NDIS Commission within 24 hours of the provider becoming aware, with a detailed report within 5 business days. Your prompt internal report on the same shift is what makes that possible.

Never sit on a concern because you are not certain, because someone senior seems unbothered, or because the person involved is a colleague. If your supervisor does not act on a serious safeguarding concern, escalate above them: protecting the participant outranks the roster.

Objective notes record what you observed: what you saw, heard, measured, or were told, with the source identified. Subjective notes record opinions and interpretations, and they do not belong in care records.

Write "Maria ate half her lunch and pushed the plate away" rather than "Maria was being difficult about food". Write "John said he did not sleep and yawned frequently" rather than "John was lazy today". If someone else told you something, attribute it: "Maria's sister reported...".

• Describe behaviour, do not label the person
• Quote significant statements word for word where possible
• Include times, durations, and amounts
• Note what you did in response
• Read your note back: could the participant read it without feeling judged?

A good shift note lets the next worker walk in informed. Use your organisation's template; where there is none, a reliable structure covers supports delivered, observations, and follow-up.

Start with the essentials: date, time, location, who was present. Record the supports you delivered against the plan, how the participant engaged, anything unusual, and any incidents or concerns raised. Close with actions needed: messages for the next shift, supplies running low, appointments coming up.

Write notes during or immediately after the shift while details are fresh. Late notes lose accuracy, and in a dispute an entry written days later carries far less weight.

Handover transfers responsibility for someone's safety and wellbeing. Done poorly, it is where information and continuity fall through the cracks.

Prioritise what the incoming worker must know to support the person safely today: changes in health or mood, medication updates, new risks, incidents, appointments, and anything the participant has asked for. Distinguish clearly between fact and impression, and point to the notes for detail.

• Lead with safety-critical changes
• Keep it structured and brief; do not rely on memory alone
• Confirm the incoming worker understands the key points
• Record that handover occurred and where the details live
• Never skip handover because a shift ran late