# Checking an NDIS provider: registration, screening and your options *Digital Pages Editorial · 2026-08-03* An NDIS provider is either **registered** with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, meaning it has passed an audit and a suitability check, or **unregistered**, meaning it hasn't. Whether you're allowed to use an unregistered one depends on how your NDIS plan is managed. Both types of provider must still follow the NDIS Code of Conduct. Here's what each status actually means and how to check before you sign a service agreement. ## What does "registered" mean? A registered NDIS provider has applied for registration, been audited against the relevant NDIS Practice Standards, undergone a suitability assessment of the business and its key personnel, and been issued a certificate of registration. Registration generally runs for three years. Details of registered providers, including any conditions on their registration, are published on the NDIS Provider Register under section 73E of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013, according to the NDIS Commission. Registration is compulsory for providers delivering specialist disability accommodation (SDA), specialist behaviour support services, plan management services, supported independent living (SIL), NDIS digital platform services, or any support funded through NDIA-managed funding. Providers using regulated restrictive practices must also be registered. ## When can I use an unregistered provider? Only if your plan, or the relevant part of it, is self-managed or plan-managed, per NDIS guidance. If any part of your funding is NDIA-managed, that portion must be spent with a registered provider. You can usually choose either registered or unregistered providers for self-managed or plan-managed funding, except for the mandatory-registration supports listed above, which always require a registered provider no matter how the plan is managed. Some providers use subcontracting arrangements, where an unregistered sole trader or subcontracted worker delivers supports under a registered provider's registration. In that case the registered provider stays responsible for the supports delivered and must make the arrangement transparent to the participant, per the NDIS Commission's guidance on subcontracting. ## Does the Code of Conduct apply to unregistered providers too? Yes. The NDIS Commission is explicit that the Code of Conduct binds registered providers, unregistered providers, and their key personnel and workers alike. It requires providers to act with integrity and honesty, respect a participant's privacy and right to make their own decisions, deliver supports safely and competently, act on concerns about safety or quality, and take reasonable steps to prevent violence, exploitation, neglect, abuse and sexual misconduct. The Code also has a fair pricing clause: a provider must not charge, or represent as available, a higher price for a participant than it charges other customers for the same goods or services without reasonable justification. Registration status doesn't change any of this. It changes who audits the provider, not what conduct is expected of them. ## What is an NDIS Worker Screening Check, and who needs one? An NDIS Worker Screening Check is an assessment, run by a state or territory worker screening unit on the NDIS Commission's behalf, of whether a worker poses a risk to a person with disability. The outcome is either "cleared" or "excluded" from working in certain roles, and a check is valid for up to five years, per the NDIS Commission. Workers in risk-assessed or key personnel roles at a registered provider must hold one. So must anyone at a registered or unregistered provider whose employer has decided all workers need one, and self-employed workers or sole traders who are registered providers. A worker can give you their worker screening ID number so you, or an employer, can confirm the check's current status through the national worker screening database rather than relying on a document they show you. Using an unregistered provider doesn't automatically mean the worker has no screening check — some unregistered providers choose to screen their workers anyway, and a self-managed participant can require it as a condition of engaging a worker. ## How are NDIS support prices set? The NDIS pricing schedule sets what the NDIS considers appropriate and reasonable maximum prices for NDIS supports, listing a support item number, unit, and national, remote and very remote maximum price for each item, according to NDIS pricing guidance. If a provider proposes to change prices in an existing service agreement, they must discuss the change with you first, and you must agree before it takes effect. Price limits interact with how your plan is managed: NDIA-managed and plan-managed funding is generally spent within these published limits, since claims are made against the same pricing arrangements. If you're weighing up a registered provider against an unregistered one on cost, ask each for an itemised quote against the current support item numbers so you're comparing like with like. ## How do I check a provider before I sign up? Start with the NDIS Provider Register to confirm registration status and see whether any conditions or compliance actions are attached to a provider. Ask directly whether workers who'll support you hold a current Worker Screening Check, and ask for a worker screening ID to verify it rather than taking a provider's word alone. Request a written service agreement that sets out the supports, cost, payment method, and how either party can end the arrangement, as recommended by the NDIS. It's also worth checking a provider's ABN is active and registered against the business name you're dealing with, since a mismatch can be an early warning sign. For allied health workers specifically, such as physiotherapists or psychologists delivering NDIS supports, a separate professional registration with AHPRA may also apply on top of any NDIS provider registration. ## Where do I raise a concern about a provider? You can raise it directly with the provider first — they're required to make you feel safe doing so and must not respond to a complaint by threatening you, per the NDIS Commission's complaints guidance. If that doesn't resolve it, or the issue involves risk of harm, report it to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission online, or call 1800 035 544 (free from landlines) or TTY 133 677. Contact centre hours are Monday to Friday, 7:30am–3:30pm in Western Australia and 9am–5pm elsewhere, closed on public holidays. If someone's life is at risk or there's an emergency, call 000 first. You can report anonymously or ask that your report stay confidential, though the Commission notes this can make it harder for them to assess and act on your concern. The Commission handles quality and safety issues with providers and workers; questions about your plan's funding amount or NDIA decisions go to the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) instead. Browse [NDIS providers](/ndis-providers) on Digital Pages, or see related categories including [allied health](/allied-health) and [aged care](/aged-care) providers who may also deliver NDIS-funded supports. For a general ABN lookup before engaging any provider, see [how to check an ABN](/kb/check-an-abn). ## FAQ **Can I use an unregistered NDIS provider?** Yes, if your plan is self-managed or plan-managed. If your plan (or part of it) is NDIA-managed, you must use a registered provider for that funding. Some supports, such as specialist disability accommodation and supported independent living, always require a registered provider regardless of how your plan is managed. **Does the NDIS Code of Conduct apply to unregistered providers?** Yes. The Code of Conduct applies to registered providers, unregistered providers, and their workers and key personnel. It covers safety, privacy, honesty, preventing abuse and exploitation, and fair pricing, and participants can report a breach to the NDIS Commission whether or not the provider is registered. **How do I check if a worker has an NDIS Worker Screening Check?** Ask the provider or worker directly, or ask for their worker screening ID number so you or your employer can confirm the current status through the national worker screening database. Checks are issued by state and territory worker screening units and are valid for up to five years. **What is the NDIS Provider Register?** It is the public record the NDIS Commission maintains under section 73E of the NDIS Act 2013, listing registered providers and their registration status. Enforcement actions such as banning orders appear in a separate part of the same register. **Who do I contact if I have a concern about an NDIS provider?** Contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission on 1800 035 544 (free from landlines) or report online. For an emergency where someone could be seriously harmed, call 000 first, then the Commission. ## Sources - [NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission — About registration](https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/provider-registration/about-registration) - [NDIS — How to find and choose a provider](https://www.ndis.gov.au/participants/working-providers/finding-providers/how-find-and-choose-provider) - [NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission — Worker screening](https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/workforce/worker-screening) - [NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission — NDIS Code of Conduct](https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/rules-and-standards/ndis-code-conduct) - [NDIS — Pricing arrangements](https://www.ndis.gov.au/providers/pricing-and-payments/pricing/pricing-arrangements) - [NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission — Report an issue or make a complaint about a provider or worker](https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/complaints/report)