Video transcript
If you're worried about the safety or quality of your NDIS supports or services, you can raise a concern with the NDIS Commission. We receive and respond to issues about providers and workers.
However, if you feel comfortable, speaking directly to your provider can resolve your concern quickly.
Every concern matters. Even if it doesn't lead to direct action, it helps us build a clearer picture of risks across the sector.
Find out more at ndiscommission.gov.au.
NDIS participants have the right to receive quality respectful NDIS supports and services that follow the Code of Conduct. You can report an issue with the quality and safety of the NDIS supports you or an NDIS participant receives.
Your report can help protect other participants and improve the quality of supports.
Report a critical issue
If someone's life might be at risk or there's an emergency where a person with disability could be critically harmed or seriously injured, call triple zero 000.
If a person with disability could be injured or harmed soon but it's not an emergency, call the NDIS Commission as soon as possible.
- Call 1800 035 544 (free call from landlines) or TTY 133 677. Interpreters can be arranged.
- National Relay Service: ask for 1800 035 544.
- Our Contact Centre hours are:
- open Monday to Friday
- 7:30am – 3:30pm in Western Australia
- 9am – 5pm in all other states and territories
- closed on public holidays in your state or territory.
Contact the NDIS Commission online to Report an issue if:
- you can't call during Contact Centre opening hours
- you communicate in writing.
What injury or harm looks like...
- abuse or violence where a person with disability needs medical care, mental health support, or to go to hospital, for example:
- hitting or kicking
- sexual abuse or sexual assault
- yelling or saying things that make the person feel scared or worried about their safety
- serious neglect of a person with disability, for example:
- not taking the person to the toilet or to be changed when it's needed
- giving the person hard or lumpy food when they could choke on it
- not changing the dressing on a wound regularly
- not giving the person the medication that has been prescribed to them
- a threat to the life of a person with disability
- a person with disability could become homeless
- a person with disability needs a lot of one-on-one support for most of their day and their supports are about to stop
- a person with disability is missing
- someone is using threats, force, violence, tricks, control, or fear to make a person with disability do something they don't want to do, for example:
- tricking the person into giving away money
- telling the person they will hurt them if they stop using a provider
- grooming or predatory behaviour
- someone is targeting a person with disability, gaining their trust, then taking advantage of that trust.
People who can’t advocate for themselves – like a child or non-verbal person – are at greater risk of harm or injury. Report these issues to the NDIS Commission immediately.
Report the issue or concern to your NDIS provider
You can resolve some concerns by raising them directly with your provider. This can help you find a quick solution. When a provider hears a concern from your perspective, they can understand your needs better. They can change their practice and improve the experience for many participants.
Your NDIS provider must:
- make you feel safe and comfortable to discuss concerns or make complaints to them
- deal with your concern or complaint quickly and effectively
- not threaten you for raising a concern or making a complaint
- assist you to report an issue to the NDIS Commission when needed.
Billy has an acquired brain injury. Their Support Coordinator Tyla has organised several supports including support workers. When Billy’s main support worker is on leave, Tyla arranges replacements, notifying Billy via text. Sometimes Billy misses these texts or gets a different worker than the one mentioned in Tyla’s text. Billy feels surprised and frustrated at the changes and ineffective communication.
After three incidents, Billy feels like a weekly schedule of workers and a phone call for late changes would be better.
Billy calls Tyla’s employer SC123, explaining the issues and concerns. The person taking the call uses SC123's complaint collections form. This collects all relevant information, including Billy’s suggestions for improvement. They agree that calls are better than texts for last-minute changes and ask about workers Billy has got on well with. Billy mentions Jan, who has provided good support recently.
Tyla reviews the roster and realises Jan can cover most of Billy’s support until the main worker returns. Tyla can now create weekly rosters and agrees to call Billy if there are changes to the roster.
The issue is resolved quickly. Billy feels respected after making choices and having control over their supports and communication.
Report the issue to the NDIS Commission (us)
The NDIS Commission can:
- help you understand your rights as a person with disability and an NDIS participant
- give you information to help you resolve the issue with your provider or another organisation
- when needed, use the information you give us to create a complaint.
What we can’t help you with
- individual dispute resolution
- the conduct of people who aren’t NDIS providers or workers, such as public trustees, guardians, advocates, family and friends of an NDIS participant, or hospital staff
- issues that impact NDIS providers or workers, such as employment disputes or unpaid invoices
- complaints about an NDIS participant or a person with disability.
Contact the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) for:
- complaints about who’s got an NDIS plan and who hasn’t
- the amount of funding in an NDIS plan
- NDIA decisions or response times
- the myPlace or myNDIS provider portals
- issues with providers getting paid after the delivery of supports or services.
What we can help you with
You're an NDIS participant, provider, worker, family, friend, advocate, or a member of the public, and you’re aware any of these are happening:
- experiencing neglect, abuse, or mental health impacts while accessing NDIS supports
- risk of harm or injury
- risk of supports stopping or are low quality
- a provider not responding to complaints effectively or not responding at all
- not receiving the supports funded by an NDIS plan
- you suspect NDIS funds are being misused
- you suspect an NDIS provider is charging an unfair price
- you believe an NDIS provider or worker has breached a participant's privacy, has a conflict of interest, is taking advantage of a participant, or is using unfair practices to attract participants.
Report it online
Call us
Call 1800 035 544 (free call from landlines) or TTY 133 677.
Interpreters can be arranged.
Open: Monday to Friday
Western Australia - 7:30am – 3:30pm
All other states and territories: 9am – 5pm
Closed: Public holidays in your state or territory.
Use the National Relay Service
Ask for 1800 035 544.
Send a letter
NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
PO Box 210 Penrith NSW 2751.
You can get support to report an issue from family, a friend or an independent advocate.
Make it known, make it better and Overview of the NDIS Code of Conduct helps you understand what to report.
You don't have to tell us your name when you report an issue or concern. You can choose for your report to be:
- anonymous – we don't collect or record your name or contact details, we can't let you know about updates or outcomes
- confidential – we don't share any information that would identify you to others who are involved, we can give you information about progress.
Please be aware it will be harder for us to assess the issue and give advice if we don’t record your details.
All information we collect is handled as described in Privacy.
Theo, who uses a wheelchair, received NDIS funding to make their bathroom accessible. Theo’s Support Coordinator hired an Occupational Therapist (OT) to specify the changes needed. They hired Pyramid Renovations to complete the work.
After the work was complete, Theo was concerned the modifications didn't meet the Occupational Therapist’s specifications and posed a safety risk. Pyramid Renovations didn’t agree.
Theo contacted the NDIS Commission to discuss the issue. We used our prioritisation model and intelligence about providers to guide the next steps, including:
- assessing the situation and determining there’s no immediate safety risk to Theo
- confirming that the issue hadn’t been raised with Pyramid Renovations or the Support Coordinator yet
- finding no similar complaints about Pyramid Renovations in the past
- getting Theo’s consent to contact the Support Coordinator.
The Commission then:
- informed the Support Coordinator of the issue
- advised them to coordinate with Theo and Pyramid Renovations
- reminded the Support Coordinator of their obligations under the NDIS Code of Conduct
- contacted Pyramid Renovations and explained the issue
- directed Pyramid Renovations to work with Theo and the Support Coordinator to resolve the complaint
- provided Theo with information about local building regulators and advocacy services.
With this support, Theo worked with Pyramid Renovations directly to make further changes to the bathroom. The Support Coordinator worked with the Occupational Therapist to identify the steps to make the modifications safe:
- finding the parts that didn't follow the specifications
- listing the changes needed to correct the modifications.
The NDIS Commission kept the information about the issue in our records. If there are any future reports about Pyramid Renovations’ work, this information will help create a clearer picture of how they’re performing.
Video transcript
The NDIS Commission can help if you're experiencing unsafe, poor quality, or missing supports, or if a provider or worker is acting inappropriately or unfairly.
We can't help with NDIS plans and funding. Those are managed by the NDIA. If you're unsure, contact us anyway and we'll guide you to the right place.
Find out more at ndiscommission.gov.au.
Why you should report issues
Reporting an issue can get a problem fixed and help other NDIS participants. When issues are fixed, it helps improve the quality and safety of supports provided to others. It can also:
- help the NDIS Commission, providers and workers understand the needs of people with disability
- assist us to teach providers and workers what they need to do
- show providers and workers how they should handle complaints
- tell us how providers and workers are doing
- alerts us when there might be a risk to other participants.
When you report an issue to the NDIS Commission, we can help you understand your rights and how your supports should work.
How we handle issues reported to us
The NDIS Commission has a prioritisation model that guides how we deal with your concern or issue.
All complaints about NDIS supports and services are important to us. We place highest priority on:
- harm or a serious risk of harm to participants
- negligence by providers
- a pattern of ongoing non-compliance by providers
- violation of human rights.
See after you report an issue for more information.
Privacy
When you report an issue and provide your information, we use that according to the: