How to Choose the Right NDIS Support Worker

Key Takeaways

• Choosing the right NDIS support worker starts with understanding your needs, goals and funding – and knowing whether you can work with registered or unregistered providers.
• Take time to meet and assess potential support workers to ensure they have the right qualifications, experience and personality fit for you.
• Build a strong working relationship through clear communication, goal-setting and regular check-ins. Remember you can always change support workers if the fit isn’t right.

 

A support worker is someone who helps you achieve your NDIS goals by assisting with day-to-day tasks, building skills, and helping you participate in the community. However, finding the right person can seem overwhelming at times!

Depending on where you live, a quick search for a NDIS support worker could become a trawl through hundreds of names. So, how do you narrow it down and find the right one for you?

 

 

How to find a support worker

The first step in finding a support worker is to make sure you have the right funding for their services. You can find this information in your NDIS plan.

You should also look into who can help you with this process – if you’re eligible for support coordination, for example, you can lean on your support coordinator to help you find the perfect fit.

You can also ask your Local Area Coordinator (LAC) for help. While they won’t fill the same role as a support coordinator, they can give you recommendations for support workers in your area – and can answer any questions you have about your plan.

Related: What Makes NDSP One of Australia’s Most Trusted Plan Managers?

Clarify your needs and preferences

Support workers provide services to NDIS participants living with a disability, helping them to live more independently and engage with their community. This might mean assistance with anything from personal care (showering, dressing, hygiene) to household tasks, grocery shopping and cooking, or transport to and from activities.

What are the tasks and goals you’re looking to accomplish? Clearly defining your goals helps you find someone who fits your needs. You can also narrow the search by preference – are you usually more comfortable with a woman, a man, someone from a certain age group or cultural background? Do you need someone who can speak your first language, so you can communicate freely? Are there any personality traits you do or don’t want?

And finally, do you want someone who’s worked with participants with similar needs to yours?

What type of support worker do you want to work with?

Are you looking for someone who is:

• Working in an agency / for a larger provider?
• Self-employed?
• A registered or unregistered provider?

 

Some of your choices will depend on how your plan is managed. If you are self-managed or plan-managed, you can work with either registered NDIS providers or unregistered providers. If you’re agency managed (by the NDIA), you can only work with registered providers.

Related: Registered vs Unregistered NDIS Providers – A Participant’s Guide

Regardless of whether they work for a provider organisation or are a sole operator, all NDIS support workers should have:

• NDIS worker screening check
• Current first aid certificate
• Current police check
• Liability insurance
• An ABN for invoicing

 

Additionally, any allied health professionals you’re looking to hire must have recognised qualifications to work with NDIS participants, and the therapy they provide must be a support funded by the NDIS (an NDIS Support).

How to find and shortlist NDIS support workers

1.      Where to look for support worker options

Here are some common starting places for finding reputable support workers and providers:

• Asking other NDIS participants in your area – if you have a network in your local community, use it to get recommendations for good operators! You can also find word-of-mouth referrals in support groups, or on forums like Reddit.
• Ask your LAC, plan manager or support coordinator – your LAC will have a good idea of who is operating in your area, and may be able to put you in contact with the right person or people for your needs.
• Search the NDIS provider finder, or the NDSP provider finder. Both are great national databases, with our NDSP tool also listing unregistered providers and support workers.
• Looking online – some support workers have websites and/or social media, which can be a great way to get a feel for what their qualifications and values are, as well as how or where they operate.

 

2.      How to filter the pool of providers

This is where you can start applying your needs and preferences to the pool of candidates, as well as making sure they are qualified to provide the best, NDIS-compliant assistance.

Check for:

• Qualifications
• Screening checks (like NDIS and police)
• Relevant experience and training

 

Once you have removed options that aren’t suitable or don’t match your needs, you can start looking for someone you really get on with!

Finalising your choices

The best way to get to know if someone is a good fit, is to meet them – you can ask initial questions over the phone or on a video call if that’s easier for you. This helps you get a feel for someone’s personality and communication style, and whether these align with your own.

Use part of this time to work out logistics. Can they travel to your home? Are they available when you need them? What’s their cancellation policy? What would happen if they were sick or on leave?

Working out a comprehensive service agreement

When you get to the point of creating and signing a contractual agreement, it should include:

• Clearly defined roles and responsibilities
• Payment / invoicing details, including any agreed travel costs
• Shift times and days if applicable
• Cancellation or change policy, and any costs these would incur
• Any documentation or reporting expectations
• Information about what happens in the case of complaints, feedback, or requests to change the arrangements

 

Your service agreement is what you will refer back to if things go awry at some stage (on either side of the table), so be sure yours covers everything you need!

How to build a great working relationship

You’re going to be working closely with your support worker, so it’s important to ensure you’re on the same page from day one. Part of this is running through some ‘onboarding’ – letting them get to know you, your needs, your home, as well as your routines and goals. You can also set short- and long-term goals together. These should align with your NDIS plan and give you a clear way to track progress.

What really makes a great working relationship is open communication. Establish ways to regularly check in and make sure you’re able to give honest feedback if something isn’t working for you! Remember, it’s a two-way street; building rapport isn’t just the responsibility of the support worker. If you both respect each other’s boundaries and keep communication open, you can create a long-lasting partnership with a support worker you trust.

If something isn’t working out – or if you see red flags like lack of reliability or poor communication – you may have to end the arrangement. Your service agreement should have the details of any notice periods you need to give when changing providers.

Can you change support workers?

Absolutely. If something’s not right, you can request changes. Who you can work with and how this change process occurs can be impacted by your plan management type, but as an NDIS participant you have the right to choice and control over your plan and the supports you purchase.

Remember to document everything, even if things are going well currently! This will help you if you need to provide any examples of changes in reliability, care standard, or if you just don’t end up gelling with the worker over time. You can also use this as a bit of a ‘guide’ when finding a new support worker, to remind yourself of practices or values that don’t align with yours.

How NDSP Plan Managers can help

NDSP are your NDIS-registered plan management experts. We empower NDIS participants living with disability by taking on the financial management of their plan, freeing up your time and energy.

This includes helping set up service agreements with new providers, checking that all your provider invoices are compliant with your plan and NDIS requirements, and making sure your providers get paid in a timely manner. Taking this off your shoulders means you and your support worker can focus on more important things – like reaching your goals!

We work with NDIS participants across Australia, using our team-based strategy and national network to deliver a personalised plan management experience for every client. Why not contact our friendly team today to find out more about how NDSP can help you.