Do independent support workers need to be NDIS registered?

The NDIS Commission lists the work that needs registration. Everything else you can do unregistered, but only for participants who self-manage or plan-manage their funding.

• NDIA-managed participants. Only registered providers can be paid from a plan the NDIA manages. Some unregistered workers deliver these supports under a registered provider's registration (the Commission calls it facilitation or brokerage); that provider then claims the payment and is responsible for the support.
• Supported independent living. SIL is a package of home and living support for people with higher support needs, managed by the provider. The Commission says it isn't SIL if the person only gets a few hours of support a day or week, or chooses and manages their own support workers.
• Platforms. Since 1 July 2026, an online platform that matches participants with workers and takes payment from their plans has to register itself. That doesn't register you, and it doesn't mean you have to.
• Also on the list: using regulated restrictive practices. Support coordination was considered for registration too, but the Commission has paused it.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Act 2026 passed Parliament on 19 August 2026 and became law the next day. Some parts started on 27 August; others wait on rules and lists that haven't been written yet. These are the changes that touch registration, and where each stood on 26 October 2026.

• 1 July 2026, in force. Supported independent living providers and NDIS digital platforms have to be registered.
• 1 December 2026, law. Claims have to be made within 90 days of the support, down from 2 years. For a plan-managed participant the plan manager makes the claim, so send your invoice promptly. More in how to invoice the NDIS.
• 1 January 2027, proposed. Lower price limits for unregistered providers of social, community and civic participation supports. The NDIA's pricing review in June 2026 recommended they drop 10% and stop rising each year, while registered providers' limits keep rising. The government is consulting on it, and says the price schedule will be updated later this year. If it went ahead as recommended, a weekday daytime hour of community access (04_104_0125_6_1), limited to $73.58 in 2026-27, would be limited to about $66.22 for an unregistered worker.
• 1 July 2027, announced. Registration starts to widen to providers of higher-risk supports, and everyone it covers has to be registered by December 2030. The government will publish the list of supports first. It says the list might include personal care, daily living supports and supports in closed settings, and that providers will have time to check and register before it starts. Participants will still be able to choose unregistered providers for lower-risk supports.
• 1 July 2027, announced. Most providers will need to enrol with the NDIA, giving basic identity details and a checked bank account so they can be paid. That's separate from registration: enrolling doesn't make you registered.

• The NDIS Code of Conduct. It applies to every NDIS provider and worker, registered or not. Read it on the NDIS Commission's site.
• Worker screening. Unregistered providers aren't legally required to have an NDIS worker screening clearance, but the Commission recommends it, and participants who self-manage or plan-manage can decide that the workers who support them must have one. A clearance lasts 5 years.
• Price limits. When a plan manager pays you, the NDIS price limits apply whether you're registered or not. Only participants who self-manage aren't bound by them. The invoice checker checks a line against the limit for the day you worked.
• Records. The government says providers will need to keep records of NDIS payments for 7 years, with a penalty for not keeping them, and that it will explain how and give providers time to set up. What a shift note needs, with a template: progress and shift notes.

Registering with the NDIS Commission is free; the cost is the audit, which you pay an approved auditor for. In short, from the Commission's own steps:

1. Check you're eligible. You need an ABN, and evidence that you can deliver the supports you're applying for.
2. Get your worker screening clearance. The Commission checks every key person in the business (as a sole trader, that's you) for a clearance, and for suitability, such as past convictions or enforcement action.
3. Apply online. Set up myID, then apply in the NDIS Commission Portal in two parts. Finish within 60 days of starting, or the application is deleted and you start again.
4. Choose an auditor and get quotes. Pick from the Commission's list of approved quality auditors. The Commission doesn't set audit prices; they depend on the size of your business and how many participants you support.
5. The audit, then the decision. The auditor checks you against the NDIS Practice Standards and makes a recommendation. The Commission decides, checks your suitability, and sends your certificate. Registration generally lasts three years.

A verification audit is for lower-risk supports. A certification audit is for higher-risk ones, and comes with a mid-term audit 18 months into your registration. Apply for supports that need each kind, and it's a certification audit.