NDIS registration

What is NDIS registration?

NDIS registration is the process a provider goes through to be approved by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission to deliver specific NDIS supports. You apply online for the registration groups you want, are audited against the NDIS Practice Standards by an independent auditor, and are assessed for suitability. If the Commission approves you, it issues a certificate of registration, usually for three years.

This page is about the process: what you apply for, in what order, how long it lasts and how to keep it. If you want to know what the status means once you have it, see registered NDIS provider; if you are weighing up whether to register at all, see unregistered NDIS provider.

The word is used in three slightly different ways:

• The application: "we're going through NDIS registration" — the steps from first application to decision.
• The outcome: "our registration covers 0107 and 0117" — the registration groups (classes of support) listed on your certificate.
• The obligation: "SIL now needs registration" — supports the law says only registered providers may deliver.

Who has to register (and who doesn't)

Registration is voluntary for most supports, but the Commission's about registration page lists the cases where it is mandatory. You must be registered to provide:

• supports or services to participants whose funding is NDIA-managed (agency-managed);
• specialist disability accommodation (SDA);
• specialist behaviour support services, and any support that involves the use of a regulated restrictive practice;
• plan management services;
• supported independent living (SIL), from 1 July 2026;
• NDIS digital platform services, from 1 July 2026.

The Commission's mandatory registration page notes that mandatory registration for support coordination has been paused, so check that page before you rely on any summary. Everyone else can choose: participants who self-manage or are plan-managed can use unregistered providers.

Delivering a support that requires registration without being registered is now a serious matter. Since 9 April 2026, the Integrity and Safeguarding Act 2026 makes it an offence (up to 2 years' imprisonment, 120 penalty units, or both) and a civil penalty provision to provide such a support while unregistered, or to hold yourself out as able to provide it.

How NDIS registration works, step by step

The official sequence is on the Commission's apply for registration page. In practice it runs in this order:

Before you apply

You need an Australian Business Number (ABN), a myID to use the NDIS Commission Applications Portal, and details of your organisation's structure, governance, locations and key personnel. Your key personnel must hold an NDIS Worker Screening Check clearance and are assessed for suitability, so start their checks early: missing clearances are one of the most common causes of delay.

The application

The online form asks for the registration groups you want, a self-assessment against the NDIS Practice Standards that apply to those groups, and suitability questions. You must finish the application within 60 days of starting it or it is deleted. You are responsible for every answer: the Commission expects responses to be specific to your organisation, not copied from purchased templates, and false or misleading information can lead to refusal and penalties.

The audit

When you submit, the Commission sends an Initial scope of audit. It tells you whether you need a verification audit or a certification audit and which modules apply. You then choose and pay an approved quality auditor from the Commission's list of auditors; the Commission does not set audit prices and suggests getting more than one quote.

The decision

The Commission considers the auditor's report, assesses the suitability of your organisation and key personnel, and decides. If approved, your certificate of registration lists your registration groups, your registration period and any conditions, and you appear on the public NDIS Provider Register.

What decides the audit you need

Your registration groups drive everything else. Each group is assigned an assessment method in the Provider Registration and Practice Standards Rules 2018, and the Commission publishes them on its registration groups page. The rule that surprises most applicants: if even one group needs certification, the whole application is audited by certification.

Source: the Commission's quality audit process page. Group-to-audit mappings change occasionally, so always check the live table before you apply.

How long registration lasts and how to keep it

Registered providers are generally registered for three years. Registration is not a one-off event; it has a life cycle:

• Conditions of registration apply from day one: complying with the Practice Standards and the NDIS Code of Conduct, running incident and complaints systems, notifying reportable incidents, keeping worker screening records and telling the Commission about certain changes.
• Mid-term audit: certification providers generally complete one that starts no later than 18 months into the registration period.
• Variation: to add a registration group during your period, you apply to vary your registration, which may need an out-of-cycle audit.
• Renewal: you apply again before your registration ends and complete a new audit. Start early; the Commission's apply page sets out renewal timing.

Breaching a condition of registration carries a civil penalty of up to 250 penalty units, or up to 10,000 penalty units for a serious contravention, since the 2026 amendments to the NDIS Act. The Commission can also impose conditions, suspend or revoke registration.

NDIS registration in 2026: what changed

Two changes reshaped registration this year. First, from 1 July 2026 providers of SIL and NDIS digital platform services must be registered. Two new registration groups were created — 0137 Providing an NDIS digital platform service and 0138 Assistance with supported independent living — and both require certification. SIL providers are also assessed against the new SIL Practice Standards module. Existing unregistered SIL providers had to apply before 1 October 2026 to keep delivering SIL while their application is decided (see the Commission's SIL transition page).

Second, the Integrity and Safeguarding Act 2026 raised penalties across the scheme and created the offence of providing, or holding yourself out as able to provide, a support that requires registration while unregistered.

The Commission has also consulted on a broader review of the Practice Standards and how they are assessed, described on its Practice Standards reform page. It had not announced a new general audit model as at October 2026.

What NDIS registration means for participants

Participants don't register with the Commission, but registration affects who they can choose. If your plan is NDIA-managed, every provider you use must be registered for the support they deliver. If you self-manage or use a plan manager, you can choose registered or unregistered providers, except for supports that legally require registration, such as SIL and SDA.

You can check a provider's status yourself:

1. Search the NDIS Provider Register on the Commission's website by the provider's name or ABN.
2. Check the registration groups listed match the support you want — a provider registered for therapy is not automatically registered for personal care.
3. Look for any conditions, suspensions or banning orders shown on the register.
4. Ask the provider for their registration number and put it in your service agreement.

Registration tells you a provider has been audited against the Practice Standards and must report certain incidents to the Commission. It is not a guarantee of quality on every shift, so keep raising concerns with the provider and, if needed, make a complaint to the NDIS Commission.

How to prepare for registration

Auditors look for evidence that systems work in practice, not just that policies exist. Before you apply, make sure you can show:

A self-assessment is the fastest way to find gaps. The free NDIS Practice Standards self-assessment lets you rate every quality indicator in your scope, and the worker screening tracker keeps clearance numbers and expiry dates in one place. If you are setting up from scratch, a compliance register that links policies to records saves rework at audit time.

Common NDIS registration mistakes

• Applying before key personnel are cleared. The suitability assessment stalls until every key person has a worker screening clearance.
• Applying for groups you can't evidence yet. Each group must be backed by evidence you can deliver it, and one extra certification group changes the whole audit.
• Submitting generic template policies. The Commission expects responses specific to how your organisation actually works.
• Letting the 60-day application window lapse. An unfinished application is deleted.
• Treating approval as the finish line. Conditions of registration, the mid-term audit and renewal all depend on records kept from the first shift.
• Assuming registration lets you charge more. Price limits in the NDIS pricing arrangements apply to registered and unregistered providers alike for NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants.