Risk Assessment for NDIS Providers: Templates and Tips

A Guide to NDIS Worker Screening Checks: Managing Risk and Ensuring Safety

Just like any other workplace environment, NDIS providers, workers, and participants are subject to a range of risks and hazards that need to be effectively managed. Risk assessments help NDIS providers ensure the safety and well-being of participants.

One of the main types of risk assessments that NDIS providers are tasked with is completing Worker Screening Checks. This guide will step you through the NDIS Worker Screening Check process, complete with templates and tips to help you effectively manage risk within your workplace.

Understanding Worker Screening Checks

As an NDIS provider, you’re responsible for ensuring your staff hold NDIS Worker Screening clearance. Worker Screening Checks are mandatory background checks for individuals who want to work in specific roles with people with disabilities under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). These checks help ensure the safety and well-being of NDIS participants by assessing whether a person poses any risk of harm.

Who needs a Worker Screening Check?

Worker Screening Checks don’t just apply to front-line NDIS workers. Instead, anyone who works in a risk-assessed role is required to hold Worker Screening clearance.

A risk-assessed role is defined as a role that:

• Involves the direct delivery of specified supports or services to a person with a disability,
• Is likely to require ‘more than incidental contact’ with people with a disability, which includes:
  • Physically touching a person with a disability; or
  • Building a rapport with a person with a disability as an integral and ordinary part of the performance of normal duties, or
  • Having contact with multiple people with disability as part of the direct delivery of a specialist disability support or service or in a specialist disability accommodation setting.
• Is a key personnel role (for example, a CEO or a board member).

There are several positions that don’t require a Worker Screening Check, including:

• Secondary school students completing a formal work experience placement in a risk-assessed role aren’t required to have an NDIS Worker Check if they are directly supervised by a worker who already has an NDIS Worker Check.
• Employees of registered NDIS providers who aren’t involved in risk-assessed roles are not required to have an NDIS Worker Check. That said, registered NDIS providers may still request these employees to obtain an NDIS Worker Check and clearance if desired.
• Employees of unregistered NDIS providers and those working with self-managed participants don’t require a check. Nonetheless, self-managed participants or unregistered providers may choose to request that these workers obtain NDIS Worker Screening Clearance.

Who completes Worker Screening Checks?

While NDIS service providers were once able to complete their own support worker risk assessments, the NDIS Commission now requires these checks to be completed by the relevant State or Territory Worker Screening Unit.

That said, it’s up to NDIS providers to identify which roles are considered risk-assessed roles and require a Worker Screening Check. It’s then up to the individual employee to initiate a check before they begin working in a risk-assessed role.

Download our comprehensive guide on NDIS Risk Assesments to find out more.

The NDIS Worker Screening Check process

While the NDIS Worker Screening Check is nationally consistent, the application process and some details may vary slightly across different states and territories in Australia. For instance, in some states and territories, support workers can start working (supervised) in risk-assessed roles once they’ve submitted their application. In contrast, other jurisdictions require NDIS workers to hold Worker Screening Clearance before working in a risk-assessed role.

With this in mind, it’s important to familiarise yourself with your local requirements to ensure you’re meeting your compliance obligations.

Submit an application

Applying for an NDIS Worker Screening Check is a relatively straightforward process.

Each individual worker has to apply for an NDIS Worker Screening Check through the relevant state or territory agency:

• Australian Capital Territory: Access Canberra
• New South Wales: Service NSW
• Northern Territory: SAFE NT
• Queensland: Disability Worker Screening
• South Australia: Department of Human Services Screening Unit
• Tasmania: Consumer, Building and Occupational Services
• Victoria: Department of Justice and Community Safety
• Western Australia: Department of Communities

Each region in Australia has its own application portal. The Worker Screening Check can usually be completed by submitting an online application. As part of the process, you’ll be required to provide personal details, identification documents, and a fee payment.

The applicant must be linked to an NDIS provider or self-managed participant before the application can be processed. To do this, they’ll need to enter the Employer ID of the NDIS provider or organisation they’ll be working for.

Once the application has been submitted, the NDIS will need to confirm the link. From here, the application will be assessed by the state or territory agency.

Background check and assessment

Once the worker has submitted their application, the worker screening unit will complete several background checks, including:

• National Criminal history check: This involves reviewing the applicant’s criminal record, including both convictions and charges, across all Australian states and territories.
• Disciplinary and misconduct records: Any findings related to misconduct in previous employment, particularly in sectors like disability services, child protection, or aged care, are reviewed.
• Other relevant information: This may include any relevant information from professional regulators, child protection authorities, and health and safety bodies.

Based on the information gathered during the background checks, the worker screening unit will assess the individual’s suitability to work in the NDIS sector. The criteria include any history of violence, sexual offences, fraud, or any other behaviour that could pose a risk to people with disabilities.

NDIS Worker Screening Clearance decision

Once the screening unit has completed its assessment, the worker will either be cleared or excluded.

• Cleared: If the screening process doesn’t uncover any disqualifying information, the worker will be granted Worker Screening Clearance, allowing them to work in any risk-assessed role within the NDIS. Clearances are valid for five years, during which the worker is subject to continuous monitoring.
• Excluded: If the individual is found to pose an unacceptable risk, they will be excluded from working in NDIS risk-assessed roles. Excluded individuals are prohibited from engaging in any role that involves direct contact with NDIS participants. Workers who are excluded can seek a review of the decision, depending on the state or territory’s appeals process.

Once the screening unit has made its decision, both the applicant and their linked NDIS provider receive notifications about the outcome of the screening. The results are also stored in the NDIS Worker Screening Database, a national platform where NDIS providers can verify the screening status of current or prospective workers. The database can be accessed via the NDIS Commission Portal.

To help you and your staff members navigate the NDIS Worker Screening Clearance process, we’ve created a Worker Screening checklist to ensure they’ve got all the information on hand to be able to submit an application. You can use CareMaster’s all-in-one NDIS software to store all of your records relating to NDIS Worker Screening Checks and risk assessments in one convenient location.

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