Webinar video: Auditors

Welcome, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. We're just letting people in from the lobby. We might just give it a minute or so to let some people join us and then we'll kick off. OK, it looks like we've trickled down with new entrances, so we might kick off.

Thank you for joining us today. My name is Anna Polson. I am the Acting Assistant Commissioner for Data Change and Program Management at the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. Today we're going to give you a look at the new auditor portal and some of the changes and improvements you'll see in this space ahead of the portal's launch later this year. Next slide. Thank you.

So I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the lands on where we're all meeting from today. So for me, that's the Ngunnawal people here in Canberra. It's a beautiful spring day in Canberra, although it has been setting off by hay fever a little bit, so I apologise for the raspy voice. I would like to pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. And I would also like to acknowledge all people with lived experience of disability and those who support them.

Next slide. Thank you. So quick housekeeping items before we get into the really good stuff. So as you can see, we have our lovely Auslan interpreters are here with us today. We also have closed captions available in Teams. If you go up to the three little ellipse dots, click on ‘more’, ‘language and speech’, you'll be able to turn on live captions. The session is being recorded, so to protect privacy, you will notice that your cameras, the chat, and the QA function have been disabled for this recording.

If you have any feedback after today's session, we would love to hear it via the Dart mailbox and we'll provide you that email address at the end.

So as the Commission continues to develop the new provider and auditor portals, we're creating a simpler, more connected way for providers, AqQA’s and auditors to engage with the Commission and to meet your regulatory obligations. The new portals will bring together key functions and services into a single platform. This is making it easier to manage interactions with the Commission, access information, submit requests and track activities without needing to navigate across multiple systems.

The provider and auditor portals are a key part of the Commission's broader digital transformation program. And they're designed to improve the user experience through more intuitive navigation, streamline processes, smarter forms, and greater visibility of activities and submissions. While the technology and user experiences are changing, provider and auditor obligations and the Commission's regulatory role remains the same. So today we're going to look at those new provider and auditor portals, the toolkit and what comes next. We're going to go for about an hour today.  Next slide.

So before I stop talking and just want to give you the first look at the new provider portal that is being built. This short 3-minute video is the first look at the new provider portal, including some of the feature designs designed to make it easier for providers like Dynamic Forms, information pre-filled from trusted sources and the ability to save and come back. A note before we start, this is a preview. Some of the screens may change slightly before go-live. The video should assist auditors to understand what providers will be doing in the system and how they will be able to triangulate evidence during audits. This video is also available to watch in the Provider Toolkit section of the website. After the video, our subject matter expert will take you through areas in more detail, and we'll look at the Auditor portal as well. Thank you.

Explainer video: Overview of the new NDIS Commission portal

Thank you, I hope you enjoyed that quick view of the new provider portal. I'd now like to hand over to Sherie, who's the Director of Audit and Monitoring and our subject matter expert to take you through the really interesting and exciting part of the presentation. Thank you, Sherie.

Thank you, Anna. And as Anna has said, spring has sprung and I also seem to be a little bit raspy myself, so apologies. So thank you and hello everyone. I'm Sherie Avalos, the Director of the Audit and Monitoring team at the NDIS Commission. I'd also like to begin by acknowledging the traditional custodian custodians of the lands on which we're meeting today. For me, it's the Ngunnawal people in Canberra. Today I'll take you through some of the key changes and what they mean for providers and Approved Quality Auditors, AQA’s.

Before we move into the auditor portal, I want to briefly highlight some of the key changes providers will see in the new provider portal. The new portal brings registration activities together into a single system, allowing providers to manage applications, renewals and variations in one place. Providers will complete registration activities through structured online forms supported by data quality checks and earlier suitability assessments designed to identify issues before audits are scheduled. They will also be able to upload documents directly through the portal, receive notification and reminders, and track the progress of their applications throughout the registration process. Importantly, providers will have greater visibility of their registration information, communication, and any outstanding actions requiring attention.

For AQA’s and auditors, these changes should result in more complete information being available earlier in the registration process, helping support audit planning and reducing the need for follow up and clarification. As with any new system, there is some important considerations in the initial release. Once an application has been submitted, providers will not be able to amend it through the portal. This means it will be particularly important for AQA’s and auditors to confirm the proposed audit scope during planning activities.

Where a new applicant identifies that information in their application is incorrect, such as registration groups, sites or key personnel, they should be advised to withdraw and resubmit the application for the before the audit commences. We will have messaging for new applicants around this, but there is also significant information in the provider portal directing providers to ensure accurate application submissions in the very first instance. We would not be encouraging renewing providers to withdraw their application as we do not want them to inadvertently expire out. Where issues or scope changes are identified after submission, they should be clearly documented by AQA’s through audit reporting to support Commissions decision making.

Some limitations will be addressed for future enhancements, but the audit report will remain the key mechanism for communicating scope related matters to the Commission. As we move closer to go-live, the key messages for providers is to continue progressing their current registration activities and not delay any actions awaiting the new portal. Providers should ensure their registration details, key personnel information and contact details are current and should work to finalise any outstanding registration or audit related matters. They should also continue monitoring communications from the Commission for updates, transition information and any actions required ahead of implementation. From an audit perspective, a well-prepared provider will help support a smoother transition and reduce potential delays once the new portal is introduced.

Now I'd like to shift our focus to the new auditor portal and what it means for approved quality auditors, auditors and AQA personnel. The new portal brings together key audit activities into a single system supporting the audit life cycle from receiving audit requests through to submitting audit outcomes and recommendations to the Commission.

Today's demonstration will focus on the practical functionality available to AQA’s and auditors, including managing audit reports, accessing providers information, assigning audits, tasking progress, and submitting audit reports. While this is the initial release and further enhancements will incur over time, the portal introduces significant improvements to how audit activities are managed and monitored.

Let's start by looking at some of the key changes AQA’s can expect to see. One of the biggest improvements is that audit activities can be managed through a simple system, sorry, through a single system. From receiving audit requests through to submitting audit reports and recommendations, AQA and auditors will have access to provider application information and scope documentation within the portal, providing greater visibility of relevant information before audit planning and scheduling begins. The portal also introduces more structured work flows for managing audit request provider link and delink arrangements, order allocation and reporting activities. This creates a more consistent and transparent audit process. For AQA management teams the portal provides an organisation wide view of audits underway, making it easier to monitor progress, manage workloads and identify outstanding actions. Earlier suitability assessments and data integrity checks of providers application by the Commission will also help identify potential issues before audit commences, improving the quality of information provided and made available to AQA’s. The portal will support key activities through notification and reminders, reducing reliance on separate communications and helping users keep track of important milestones and reporting requirements.

Overall, these changes are intended to reduce manual administration, improve access to information, and support more efficient interactions between providers, AQA’s and the Commission. With those benefits in mind, I'll now highlight some important consideration and interim arrangements AQA’s and auditors will need to be aware of in the initial release. Starting with scope updates.

AQA’s and auditors will not be able to update registration groups, supports and services, sites, or any other scope information in the Auditor Portal at this stage. Similar to the Provider Portal, providers cannot amend their application once it's been submitted and for the initial release, Auditors cannot make those changes on their behalf. As a result, AQA’s and auditors will need to validate the provider's scope during audit planning and scheduling 

For audit documentation, if scope changes are identified during planning, scheduling, or audit activities, AQA’s should work with the provider to address these changes and ensure that they are clearly documented and communicated to the Commission through existing audit reporting processes. This may include audit reports, corrective action plans, sign changes of scope documentation or other supporting evidence. Where scope changes cannot be reflected in the portal, it is important that they are accurately captured in audit finding recommendation and supporting submissions provided to the Commission. While the portal record audit information, AQA’s will need to continue using robust documentation practices to ensure scope changes are adequately communicated.

Another important interim arrangement relates to self-assessments. In initial release, Providers will complete the self-assessment in the system only for the supports and services included in their application. If additional modules are identified during audit planning and further self-assessments against the NDIS Practice standards are required, providers will need to complete these through the Word templates previously provided to AQA’s and submit them before the audit. AQA’s should then upload these documents as part of the audit evidence.

As we move closer to go-live, there are several practical steps AQA’s and auditors can take to prepare for transition. The most important message is that activities already underway should continue to be managed and completed in the current portal. New activities will commence in the new portal once transition arrangements take effect. AQA’s should review outstanding actions, ensure records are up to date and begin considering organisational readiness activities for their staff. It is also a good opportunity to review user access arrangements and identify which staff will require further access to the new system ahead of go-live. Further information about portal access arrangements will be provided by the Commission closer to implementation.

Auditors should familiarise themselves with the new functionality and make use of the training and guidance materials that will be released over the coming weeks. The key takeaway is simple. Complete existing work in the current portal, prepare your organisation and staff for the transition and be ready to commence new activities in the new portal at go-live.

Before we step through the Portal screen, I'd like to note that the images you will see today are wireframes and early designs. They are intended to give AQA’s and auditors an understanding of the portal's layout, functionality, and user experience. As development continues, some aspects of the design, navigation, and features may change or be refined based on testing feedback and ongoing improvements before release.

Let's start with the Auditor Portal homepage. This is the landing page users will see when they first log into the portal. The homepage is designed to provide a central view of audit activity and quick access to the areas you'll use frequently. From here, users will be able to access audit requests, manage audits, review provider information and complete day to day administration activities. There will be hyperlinks to Quick Reference Guides and plenty of explanatory information to assist users to know how to use and interact with each page in the portal. The overall aim is to make it easier for AQA’s and auditors to quickly identified work requiring attention and move directly to the relevant tasks and information they need.

This screen shows the view of auditor’s functionality, the AQA administrators and management staff. This area provides visibility of audits associated with your organisation. This is where you'll be able to review auditor details and confirm your auditor’s information remains accurate and up to date. Prior to go live, we will be reaching out to AQA’s for a list of auditors who will be populated in the system to be able to receive allocations.

This screen shows the audit request area. This is where AQA’s will receive and manage audit requests through the portal. Rather than relying on separate communications to understand what works, what work is available, users will be able to view requests, review relevant information and progress the next steps from within the portal. This area provides a clearer and more transparent process for managing audit allocations and understanding what actions are required by the AQA. You will be able to see which audits are assigned to your AQA, which are pending and need review, which are completed, what type of audit it is. Example midterm recertification, when the audit is due and who is assigned to it. Auditors will be able to see which audits are assigned to them. This will be AQA specific, so if auditors work across multiple AQA’s, they will have to enter the portal under each separate AQA in order to manage privacy.

We also anticipate there will be data export ability for AQA’s to further analyse information. As organisations become familiar with the portal, this is likely to become one of the most frequently used sections of the system.

We're now looking at the Manage Audit screen. This area provides AQA’s with a central location to oversee audits that are currently underway for AQA managers and administrative staff. This provides improved visibility across audit activity within the organisation and help support workload management and audit oversight. Auditors can quickly see the audits they are responsible for and access these audits directly from the portal. This should make it easier for auditors to understand their current workload, identify priorities and progress audit activities without needing to navigate through multiple areas of the system.

For auditors specifically, this will likely become one of the primary screens used in day-to-day activities as it provides a personalised view of the work assigned to them. This screen shows the My Audits view where the AQA will look at all the providers that have chosen to link with them. In the portal you will see some high-level information about the provider and have the ability to accept or decline their request to link with your AQA.

If you click Decline Audit, a message will appear to confirm that and then the provider will be notified to choose another AQA. If you clicked Accept Audit, then you'll be prompted to enter audit dates. If you are not sure on them, you can enter a date and update it down the track. However, we want these dates to  always remain as accurate as possible.

This screen shows how audits are assigned within the portal. AQA administrators will be able to allocate audits to individual auditors directly through the portal, providing a clear record of audit ownership and responsibility. AQA administrators can click Assign Audit and then choose which audit in the drop-down list to assign the audit to. Only one auditor will be chosen at a time. Some AQA’s may wish for their AQA administrator to be assigned initially to enter into administratively information such as audit dates, etcetera, and then reassign later to the lead auditor. This functionality also gives AQA’s greater visibility over auditor workloads and help support internal resource planning and allocation decisions.

Now we are looking at the Review Provider application screen. In the new portal, auditors will have access to provide application information within the system. This allows auditors to review key day details relating to the providers registration application and intended registration scope before commencing audit activities. Having this information and documents available within the portal supports audit preparation and helps auditors better understand the provider and audit scope from the outset. It also creates a more connected process between registration and audit activities by making relevant information available through a single system.

Once an audit has been allocated and planning activities are complete, auditors can commence the audit within the portal and will encounter the Start Audit Outcome screen. This allows the audit to progress through the system and provides visibility of where the audit sits within the overall process. For AQA’s, this creates a clear picture of audit process and supports oversight of auditors being undertaken across the organisation. The portal records these activities as part of the audit journey, helping provide greater transparency and reducing reliance on separate tracking processes.

In this screen you can see an auditor can click Start Audit and the Start Audit Outcome page appears. For recording outcome details following completion of audit activities, the auditors will be able to record audit outcomes within a portal. This includes indicating which supports and services were witnessed during the audit and not. This will be simpler to the current process. Sorry, this would be similar to the current process. Apologies there.

In this Practice Standard section, auditors will provide their responses of their assessment of the provider to the NDIS Practice standards and quality indicators. Auditors will also select a conformance rating, either major non-conformance, minor non-conformance, conforming, or not applicable. The auditor and Commission will be able to see ratings at indicator and outcome level and enter their comments. As auditors or audit administrators update these pages, you will be able to ‘save as draft’ and come back to them at a later time if and where needed.

In the Audit Detail screen, you will be able to record the key details of the audit. One important requirement is entering the actual start and end dates for each stage of the audit process. You also need to enter details of anyone involved in conducting the audit that is part of the audit team. This includes lead auditors, support auditors, technical experts and any other relevant team members who participated in the audit. As this is a free text field at the moment, it's important to enter each individual's full legal name rather than initials, abbreviations or short names. This helps ensure records are complete and supports accurate audit tracking and reporting. For each person listed include their role in the audit. The example shown on screen provides the preferred format such as lead auditor, support auditor or technical expert.

Before moving to the next stage, you will take a moment to review the information entered. Accurate audit dates and audit details are important as they form part of the official audit record submitted to the Commission. 

This Audit Details page outlines the information required to complete the audit outcome. Auditors should review the guidance carefully before entering information into the form. The guidance explains what should be included for audit dates, audit team members, recommendations, outcomes, comments, and supporting documentation.

We will look at the rest of that page now. Continuing on with the audit details page, auditors are able to enter the actual Stage 1 audit date and end dates reflecting when the audit activities occurred. Select the audit recommendation based on the audit findings and assessment outcomes, whether it's recommended or not recommended. Record any additional information in the auditor outcome field to support the recommendation. List all audit team members involved in the audit, including their roles. Upload the final audit report and all supporting documentation relied upon to reach the outcome. Once all required fields have been completed, select ‘Next step’ to progress to the Declaration and Submission page.

Following submission of the audit report, audit team leaders will complete the declaration process within the portal. The declaration confirms that information being submitted is complete and accurate and supports the integrity of the audit process. While the declaration requirement itself is not new, the process is now incorporated directly into the portal workflow rather than occurring through separate processes. This helps ensure audit submissions are completed consistently and that all required steps have been undertaken before the audit progresses. This Audit Portal ,audit submission screen shows the final audit submission stage. Once all required information has been entered, supporting documentation uploaded and declarations completed, the audit can be formally submitted through the portal.

A key change in the new process occurs once the lead auditor declaration has been completed and the final audit report has been uploaded. At that point, the audit workflow moves from auditor to the provider. The provider will receive a notification, and we'll need to log into the provider portal to review the audit report and audit recommendations submitted by the AQA.

The provider must then confirm they agree with the audit outcome and formally submit their registration application through the provider portal. Only once the provider has completed this step with the application, progress to the Commission for assessment and registration decision making. It's important to note that if the providers not log in, review the audit report and submit their application, the application will not move forward in the progress. This is a significant change from the current arrangements and will require increase engagement by providers throughout the registration process. AQA’s may wish to remind providers of this requirement to help avoid unnecessary delays.

Once the provider has submitted their application, it becomes available to the Commission for assessment and any subsequent registration decision making processes. From an AQA perspective, the portal provides greater visibility of where a submission is within the process and creates a clear record of actions that have been completed. This finalises the audit workflow within the audit portal and demonstrates how the system supports the audit process from the receipt of an audit request, through to the submission of the completed audit outcome, and through to provide a submission to the Commission.

That concludes the overview of the Auditor portal and some of the key functionality available to AQA’s and auditors. Before we close today's session, I highlight where you can find supported materials and additional resources as we move to closer to the go-live date. Additionally, I just want to put it on record again that the audit team are here to support the AQA’s and auditors through this transition to the new portal. And I and Katherine look forward to working closely with all AQA’s and auditors. Thank you. Back over to Anna.

Thank you so much, Sherie, for taking us through that presentation. I hope everyone's excited and looking forward to the new portal and the new functionality that comes with it.

I would like to take you through the Provider Toolkit. This is available on our website and will be the central hub for information, guidance, and support materials as we move towards go-live. You'll find a range of resources there to help you understand the new portal and prepare for the changes ahead. The Portal preview video shown earlier is already available, along with the factsheets and Easy Read resources that provide a high-level overview of the new experience. Over the coming weeks, we'll continue to expand the toolkit with additional resources, including Quick Reference Guides, journey maps, webinar recordings like this one, and Frequently Asked Questions. We encourage you to share to continue sharing your questions and feedback, as these will help shape the FAQ content and ensure that we're providing the guidance providers need most.

As part of our readiness activities, we're also delivering a series of webinars that will provide detailed walkthroughs of key portal functions. These will include reportable incidents, Behaviour Support Plans, registrations, auditors and the worker screening processes. Invitations will be distributed through our mailing lists and recordings will be made available through the Provider Toolkit for those unable to attend sessions. We're committed to making these resources as accessible as possible. Materials will be developed in Plain English and Easy Read formats, and Auslan supported content will be available where appropriate to support a broad range of users. In addition to the resources available through the Provider Toolkit, the new Provider Portal will also include built in guidance to assist users while completing processes. Contextual help text prompts and links to relevant guidance materials will be available throughout the portal, providing support exactly when it's needed. This means users won't need to leave the system to find information, helping make processes clearer and easier to complete correctly the first time.

Following go-live, we'll also implement a dedicated support. Providing enhanced support arrangements and clear communication channels to help resolve issues quickly and support providers as they become familiar with the new portal. We encourage you to visit the Provider Toolkit regularly as new resources become available and to continue sharing your questions and feedback with us. Your input is an important part of helping us refine our support material and ensuring providers are well prepared for successful transition to the new portal. Next slide please. Here we are.

So on the screen here you'll see our email. Please send through any feedback you have either on the session or on any information you find on the website and the toolkit. Thank you again for joining us today. We really appreciate it and we look forward to continuing to support you throughout the transition and sharing more information with you as we get closer to go live.