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National Disability Insurance Scheme

Service providers applying to the NDIS Quality and Safeguard Commission to become a registered NDIS provider must be assessed by an Approved Quality Auditor to meet the requirements of the NDIS Practice Standards.

Recent mandated reforms in the Disability Services Sector have led to increased expectations by NDIS participants for consistent, sustainable and quality services, delivered by providers receiving NDIS funding.

Key Benefits

Meet Compliance Requirements

By ensuring your organisation complies with the regulatory requirements mandated by the NDIS Q&S Commission, you will be eligible to receive government funding, while building confidence and trust with your clients.

Build Sustainable Business Practices

Implement effective processes and support to ensure consistency of service, and continual improvement that drive business sustainability and growth.

Keeping Clients Front of Mind

Deliver an enhanced customer experience with integrity that comes from consistently providing services that deliver to client expectations. Demonstrate your commitment to adhering to quality and safety of service through certification to the NDIS Practice Standards.

What Is It?

To apply for or renew registration with the NDIS Commission, providers must be audited against the NDIS Practice Standards

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission is an independent regulator, established to ensure consistency in the quality and safety of disability services, nationally.The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Practice Standards was created to set mandatory guidelines for providers seeking funding for products and services.The Core modules of the Practice Standards include:
  • Rights and responsibility for participants
  • Governance and operational management
  • The provision of supports
  • The support provision environment
What are the Changes?

State-based disability schemes will migrate to the NDIS (Provider Registration and NDIS Practice Standards) Rules 2018.

Key migration commencement dates are:

  • 1 July 2018 – NSW & SA
  • 1 July 2019 – VIC, QLD, TAS, ACT, NT
  • 1 December 2020 – WA

Existing State arrangements remain in place until each State transitions to the NDIS Standards.

What are the Audit Requirements?

The NDIS Q&S Commission requires all audits conducted by ‘Approved Quality Auditors’ to ensure quality and safety safeguards are adhered to.

Organisations will require either a Verification or Certification audit to the NDIS Practice Standards.

The type of audit required, including additional auditable Modules, is determined by the organisations legal entity status and the Registration Groups currently registered for.

How do the Audits Differ?

Verification Audit

A Verification Audit consists of a desktop audit of the organisation’s documents and records. This can be done off-site. This type of audit is restricted to organisations who provide services that are considered in the lower risk Registrations Groups.

Certification Audit

A Certification Audit is a two-stage process consisting of a desktop stage 1 audit and an on-site stage 2 management system audit. Organisations will require a mid cycle surveillance audit, and a re-certification audit every three years. These audits include both interviews with staff and participants, and reviews of files and records.

The Audit Process

There are three key requirements for SAI Global to conduct an audit:

  1. Ability to access system documentation such as policies, procedures, and instructions.
  2. Ability to access to files for participants and staff.
  3. Ability to conduct interviews with staff and participants.

All of these can be conducted on-site with processes in place to ensure the safety of you, your staff and your participants, or remotely via a mix of telephone and computer technologies.

What Qualifications do Auditors Have?

As one of Australia’s leading certification bodies of disability and human services, our auditors are qualified and trained to ensure they have a good understanding of your industry as well as the NDIS Practice Standards.

Police checks, Working With Children Checks and regular performance reviews, including on site witnessing of their audit work forms part of our processes.

How are Auditors Assigned?

With teams located throughout Australia, SAI Global has the local resources and experience needed to understand your unique requirements, help you through the certification/verification process, and identify opportunities for continual development for improved performance.

To ensure our auditors are competent in auditing the NDIS Practice Standards, NDIS registration groups and specific NDIS Practice Standards Modules, we assess their competency and, if competent, allocate the Standard and specific codes to our auditors. 

Your organisations are similarly coded (based on the Registration Groups and Modules requiring auditing) and our system then ‘matches these’. This ensures that only competent and trained auditors can be assigned to conduct your audits.

SAI Global Assurance Achieves Accreditation for the NDIS Practice Standards

SAI Global Assurance becomes the first certification body to be accredited in the delivery of audits to the NDIS.