The NDIS Code of Conduct: What It Means for Providers and Workers

The NDIS Code of Conduct is the one set of rules that applies to everyone delivering NDIS supports. Registered or unregistered, sole trader or large organisation, key personnel or newest support worker: the same obligations apply. It is short, and most of it describes what good providers already do. But because it is enforceable, it is worth understanding exactly what it asks of you and how to show you meet it.

The eight obligations

The NDIS Code of Conduct requires people who deliver NDIS supports and services to:

1. Act with respect for individual rights to freedom of expression, self-determination, and decision-making in accordance with relevant laws and conventions.
2. Respect the privacy of people with disability.
3. Provide supports and services in a safe and competent manner with care and skill.
4. Act with integrity, honesty, and transparency.
5. Promptly take steps to raise and act on concerns about matters that might have an impact on the quality and safety of supports provided to people with disability.
6. Take all reasonable steps to prevent and respond to all forms of violence against, exploitation, neglect, and abuse of people with disability.
7. Take all reasonable steps to prevent and respond to sexual misconduct.
8. Not charge or represent higher prices for the supply of goods for NDIS participants without a reasonable justification.

On the eighth, the NDIS Commission explains that pricing is fair when there is no major price difference between the cost of a product or service for an NDIS participant compared to other customers.

Each obligation is broad on purpose. It describes an outcome rather than a procedure, which means you decide how your business meets it, and you need to be able to show that you do.

Who it applies to

The Code must be followed by registered NDIS providers, their key personnel and NDIS workers, and by unregistered NDIS providers, their key personnel and NDIS workers. That makes it one of the main protections that reaches unregistered providers.

Registered providers must also meet the NDIS Practice Standards, which specify the quality standards that registered NDIS providers need to meet. The standards describe the systems you need; the Code describes how everyone in the business must behave. Our guide to the NDIS Practice Standards explains how the two fit together.

What it looks like in practice

The Code becomes real in everyday decisions. Some examples of what each obligation means on an ordinary day:

• Rights: a participant decides how and when a support is delivered, within their plan, even when a worker would have chosen differently.
• Privacy: a worker does not discuss one participant with another, and records are kept where only the right people can see them.
• Safe and competent supports: workers only deliver supports they are trained and qualified for, and ask for help when they are unsure.
• Integrity: invoices match the supports actually delivered, and conflicts of interest are declared, not hidden.
• Raising concerns: a worker who notices something wrong knows who to tell, and the business acts on it.
• Preventing harm: risks to a participant are identified and managed, and any harm is responded to and, where required, reported.
• Fair pricing: a participant is not charged more for goods than other customers without a reasonable justification.

Building it into your business

Showing that you meet the Code does not need a thick manual. It needs a few things done consistently.

Induction

Every new worker should be introduced to the Code before they start delivering supports, with examples relevant to your services. Record that they have done it.

Training and refreshers

Revisit the Code regularly, especially after an incident or complaint, and keep a record. Our guide to the NDIS Worker Screening Check covers the related screening for workers in risk-assessed roles and key personnel roles.

Clear ways to raise concerns

Make sure workers and participants know how to raise a concern, and that raising one is safe. Your complaints and incident processes are where the fifth, sixth and seventh obligations become visible.

Records that show it

Auditors and the NDIS Commission look for evidence, not intentions. Induction records, training attendance, incident and complaint registers and supervision notes together show that the Code is part of how your business runs. Keep them as you go, rather than assembling them before an audit, and they will also tell you where the Code is working and where it is not.

Leadership by example

Owners and managers set the standard. A business where the people in charge follow the Code openly is one where workers do too.

What happens when the Code is breached

The NDIS Commission has a range of compliance and enforcement powers, including banning orders, compliance notices and court-based outcomes. It also educates providers and works closely with other complaints and regulatory bodies. Acting promptly on concerns, and keeping a record of what you did, is the best protection for participants and for your business.

Where to start

If you are registering, the Code should be woven through your policies and your induction from day one. If you are already operating, a short review against the eight obligations is a useful check: for each one, ask how a worker would know what to do, and what record would show they did it. If you are starting out, our guide on how to become an NDIS provider shows where the Code fits in the wider registration process.