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National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Worker Screening

Read this important information before applying for an NDIS endorsement

Before applying for NDIS worker screening, you first must apply for a registration to work with children with an NDIS endorsement. To get this endorsement, your NDIS employer (this includes an NDIS participant) must verify your work. Your application will NOT proceed without this verification. You will need to provide your employer details so have this information ready before starting your application. Further instructions are provided when you apply.

PLEASE NOTE: you cannot apply for an NDIS endorsement if you do not have an NDIS employer

What is the NDIS?

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is an Australian Government Scheme that funds costs associated with disability. An individual with a disability (or their guardian) receives funding so they can choose a provider to supply the services and supports they require.

From 1 February 2021, if you provide supports and services to a person with a disability under the NDIS in Tasmania, and don’t already have a registration to work with children in Tasmania, you must apply for a registration to work with children with an NDIS endorsement.

This new NDIS worker screening introduces a nationally consistent approach, setting a single national standard for all NDIS workers that can be used in all Australian states and territories.

This new application process had been incorporated into the current online registration to work with children. The application to work with children will automatically offer the option to apply for NDIS Worker Screening with no added registration fees.

Who needs to have an NDIS worker screening check?

All individuals starting work for registered NDIS providers in certain types of roles will need an NDIS worker screening clearance.

Under the NDIS Commission, a worker is anyone who is employed or otherwise engaged to provide NDIS supports and services to people with disability. Workers can be paid or unpaid, and can be people who are self-employed, employees, contractors, consultants, and volunteers.

I already have current registration to work with children, do I need to apply for NDIS endorsement?

If you had a registration to work with children issued prior to 1 February 2021, your current registration is recognised until you renew it, or it expires. If you provide support and services to a person with a disability under the NDIS, when you renew your registration you must also apply for NDIS endorsement on your registration to work with children.

If you had a registration to work with children issued after 1 February 2021, and now provide support and services to a person with a disability under the NDIS, you will need to upgrade your registration to include the NDIS endorsement. You can apply to add the NDIS endorsement through My Registration.

I already have a disability worker screening clearance in another State or Territory

If you already hold a current NDIS worker screening clearance in another State or Territory you cannot have the screening clearance endorsed on your Tasmanian working with vulnerable person registration.

As the NDIS screening was obtained in another State, it cannot be added onto your Tasmanian working with vulnerable person registration. You can use the NDIS worker screening clearance obtained in the other state to undertake work in Tasmania.

You can confirm with your employer that you are eligible to work with NDIS by showing them your NDIS worker screening clearance from the state or territory where approved. Alternately, they can confirm this by logging on to their NDIS portal through the NDIS Worker Screening Database.

What happens after I apply?

After you have lodged your application (by showing your ID and paying the fee), your employer or self-managed NDIS participant will need to verify your application and confirm that you currently work (or intend to work) for them. Your employer will receive a verification request through the NDIS Worker Screening Database and will need to respond to this request. If your application is not verified it cannot progress. Once verified, you will be assessed to work with children and to work for the NDIS. There are differences in what can be taken into consideration for your suitability to work in these categories.

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What happens if I work for an NDIS self-managed participant?

If you are not a registered NDIS provider but work for an NDIS self-managed participant, you may be required to undergo a worker screening check.

To verify your employment with the NDIS, your self-managed participant will need to register themselves as your employer through the NDIS Worker Screening Database. Once they have registered themselves and your employment has been verified, you will be assessed to work with children and to work for the NDIS.

Further information regarding worker screening for self-managed participants and registering through the NDIS worker screening database is available through the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission website.

What if I am a sole trader?

If you are a sole trader, you are an employer and an employee for the purpose of NDIS worker screening.

You will need to request access as an employer to the NDIS Worker Screening Database. Once registered you will be issued with an NDIS employer ID number, which you then enter on to your application and verify via the NDIS Worker Screening Database.

My NDIS status is showing as Eligible to Work: Yes except in QLD, SA and VIC, what does this mean?

Once the applicant is verified by their NDIS employer the NDIS screening status will show as pending eligible to work – yes except QLD, SA and VIC.

In Queensland, South Australia and Victoria a person cannot work until they have a clearance, these states do not accept an application on foot, it must be fully assessed and registered before a person commences work.

In Tasmania, this means that a registered NDIS employer may allow a worker to begin working before their NDIS Worker Screening Check application is decided, provided that:

  • the worker is in the process of obtaining a clearance (i.e. they must have submitted a complete application); and
  • the worker is supervised by a person with an NDIS Worker Screening Clearance who is present at all times while the person engages in regulated activity
  • the registered NDIS provider has a risk management plan in place as outlined in Section 18 of the Registration to Work with Vulnerable People Act 2013.

It is best that you contact your employer to see if they have the capacity to employ you while your status is Pending.

Once the assessment has been completed and the application is registered the eligibility to work will change to yes.

What needs to be included in a risk management plan?

Registered NDIS providers must develop and maintain a risk management plan for all workers in risk

assessed roles, including those that can ‘work application’. The requirements of the risk management plan are set out in Section 12 of the Worker Screening Rules.

The risk management plan must identify and describe each risk to a person with disability that the

registered NDIS provider provides supports or services to and explain how each risk will be managed.

The risk management plan should document the arrangements in place to appropriately supervise workers that work on application.

Read more about worker screening requirements for registered NDIS providers on the NDIS Commission website.

Are there times when I cannot apply, and what are exclusion and presumed exclusion offences?

If you have been refused an NDIS worker screening application or have had your NDIS registration cancelled in another state or territory, you cannot reapply for five years unless you can show that there has been significant and special changes in your circumstances.

If you have been convicted of an exclusion offence then you will be refused registration. If you are already registered, your registration will be cancelled.  There is no right to appeal decisions over exclusion offences.

If you have been convicted of a presumed exclusion offence the Registrar will presume that your application will be refused. If you are already registered, your registration will be cancelled, unless you can show that 'exceptional circumstances’ exist.  There is a right to appeal this decision if you do not agree.

What happens after I'm registered?

All categories of workers who are registered with RWVP are subject to ‘ongoing monitoring’. This means the Registrar can re-assess your registration if they believe new information about you is relevant to your suitability to have a registration.

In Tasmania, the Registrar receives daily reports from Tasmania Police as well as Child Safety Services. Other individuals and agencies are obliged to report to the Registrar if they become aware of allegations or behaviours indicating a worker may be unsuitable to work in the capacity for which they applied.

If a person has a complaint about your work with NDIS, they can complain to the NDIS Commission who will consider the complaint against their NDIS Code of Conduct. The NDIS Commission will let us know if the complaint is serious.

The National NDIS Worker Screening Database

Your NDIS Clearance status will be recorded on the NDIS Commission’s National Worker Screening Database (NWSD). Employers can check the status of your NDIS Clearance on the NWSD at any time.

Registered NDIS providers are required to link new and existing workers to their organisation through the NDIS Commission portal.

What are the current fees for registration?

The current fee schedule is available. An RWVP registration with an NDIS Worker Screening Check is valid for five years.

Related information

Last updated: 02 Aug 2023

This page has been produced and published by the Consumer Building and Occupational Services Division of the Department of Justice. Although every care has been taken in production, no responsibility is accepted for the accuracy, completeness, or relevance to the user's purpose of the information. Those using it for whatever purpose are advised to verify it with the relevant government department, local government body or other source and to obtain any appropriate professional advice. The Crown, its officers, employees and agents do not accept liability however arising, including liability for negligence, for any loss resulting from the use of or reliance upon the information and/or reliance on its availability at any time.