Progress notes that pass the audit.
Fill in what happened on the shift and get a clean, goal-linked note in narrative, SOAP or DAP format — with a live check that flags subjective, judgemental and vague wording and suggests what to write instead.
Participant: — Date: — Support worker: — — Incidents: No incidents occurred during this shift.
Objective language check all clear
No subjective or judgemental wording found.
A writing aid — follow your organisation's documentation policy and record incidents in your incident system as well. Everything stays in this browser.
How to write NDIS progress notes
What NDIS progress notes are for, what the Practice Standards expect, exactly what to include, objective-language rewrites, a poor note and a better one side by side, SOAP and DAP examples, and the mistakes auditors find most often. For support workers, team leaders, coordinators and provider owners.
Why NDIS progress notes matter
A progress note (or shift note) is the written record of a support: what was delivered, when, by whom, what the participant did and said, how they are progressing towards their goals and what needs to happen next. It does four jobs at once:
- Continuity of support. The next worker, a team leader or a coordinator knows what happened without asking.
- Evidence of delivery. It shows the support you claimed for actually happened, for the hours claimed. Under the 2026 NDIS law changes, providers must keep records of supports and payments for seven years and may have to repay funding they can't show was used correctly.
- Progress towards goals. Notes feed support plan reviews and the participant's plan reassessment.
- Safeguarding. Changes in health, behaviour or circumstances show up in notes first, and notes are read closely after incidents and complaints.
What the NDIS Practice Standards expect
There is no single NDIS form for progress notes, and no rule fixing their format. The obligations come from the NDIS Practice Standards, which registered providers are audited against, and from your own policies. The Information management outcome in the Core module says each participant's information should be identifiable, accurately recorded, current and confidential, easily accessible to the participant and appropriately used by relevant workers. Its quality indicators expect:
- consent to collect, use, keep and disclose the participant's information, including telling them when it could be disclosed without consent because the law requires or authorises it;
- the participant being told how their information is stored and used, and how to access or correct it and withdraw or amend consent;
- an information management system, proportionate to the size of the organisation, that records each participant's information in an accurate and timely manner;
- documents stored with appropriate processes for access, transfer, security, retrieval, retention, destruction and disposal.
The Support planning outcome adds that progress towards the participant's goals is assessed at a frequency proportionate to risk and the participant's wishes, and that support plans are reviewed annually or earlier. Notes are where that progress is recorded. Unregistered providers aren't audited against these standards, but the NDIA's record-keeping periods are set for providers generally, and every provider needs to be able to evidence its claims.
Check your own readiness with the Practice Standards self-assessment.
What to include in an NDIS progress note
- Who, when, where — participant (or identifier), date, start and finish time, location, worker name.
- Supports delivered — what you did, matching the support you will claim for.
- Goals — which plan or support-plan goal each activity worked on, and what the participant achieved.
- Observations — what you saw and heard, with times for anything significant.
- The participant's voice — choices they made and their own words, in quotation marks.
- Health and wellbeing — medication given or declined, meals and fluids, personal care, sleep, pain or changes in health, as your policy requires.
- Incidents — whether anything happened that needs an incident report, and that you made it.
- Follow-up — what the next worker, family or coordinator needs to know or do.
- Sign-off — your name and the time the note was written, if it differs from the shift end.
NDIS progress note example: poor vs better
The same fictional four-hour shift, written two ways. The participant is identified only by an initial.
| Poor note | Better note | |
|---|---|---|
| Note | J. was in a bad mood today and was difficult all morning. Refused to have a shower. Seemed anxious at the shops so we came home early. Had lunch. Nothing else to report. | 09:00–13:00, J.'s home and local shopping centre. J. chose to shower after breakfast rather than before (offered at 09:15, agreed at 10:00). At the shopping centre J. selected four items from the shopping list (goal: plan and buy own groceries — last week, two items). At 11:40 J. covered both ears and said “Too loud, I want to go”. I offered the quiet exit; J. chose to leave and we returned home at 12:05. J. made a sandwich with verbal prompts for two steps. No incidents. Handover: J. asked to shop on Tuesday mornings when it is quieter — for coordinator to review roster. |
| Times and place | Missing | Shift times, location and the time of the key event |
| Language | “bad mood”, “difficult”, “refused”, “seemed anxious” — judgements and guesses | Describes actions and quotes J.; “chose to” respects choice |
| Goals | None | Links shopping to the grocery goal, with a comparison to last week |
| Support given | Unclear what the worker did | Offered shower times, offered the quiet exit, prompted two steps |
| Follow-up | “Nothing else to report” | A specific roster request for the coordinator |
| Audit value | Can't show the claimed support or progress | Evidences the support, the choice and the outcome |
Count of the nine checklist items above each note covers. Fictional example.
Paste either note into the writer above to see the language check flag the poor one — it catches “bad mood”, “difficult”, “refused” and “seemed” automatically.
Objective language: words to replace
Objective language records what happened, not your interpretation of it. It is fairer to the participant, more useful to the next reader and more reliable in an incident review. These are the patterns the tool's checker flags, with better alternatives.
| Instead of | Why it's a problem | Write |
|---|---|---|
| “was happy / sad / angry” | Interprets feelings | “smiled and laughed while…”, “said ‘I feel sad’”, “raised voice and said…” |
| “aggressive”, “non-compliant”, “difficult” | A label that reads as blame | The actions: what happened, what was said, what support you gave |
| “refused” | Implies fault; the participant has the right to choose | “chose not to…”, “declined…”, and what was offered instead |
| “had a good day” | Says nothing about what happened | The activities, choices and outcomes that made it a good day |
| “seemed”, “appeared”, “I think” | Speculation | What you observed; if you must infer, what you based it on |
| “allowed”, “made him”, “told her to” | Controlling; undermines choice and control | “supported … to”, “offered”, “encouraged”, “agreed with … to” |
| “nothing to report”, “as usual” | Hides routine supports and changes | A short list of the supports delivered and anything different |
| “lazy”, “rude”, “demanding” | Personal judgement | The specific behaviour and its context, without labels |
Not every flagged word is wrong. “Happy” is fine inside a quote — J. said “I'm happy with that” — and “refused” may be the participant's own word. The aim is that every statement is either something you observed or something the participant said.
Narrative, SOAP or DAP: which format to use
Use whatever your organisation's policy specifies. The content matters more than the headings, and the writer above produces all three from the same answers. Here is how the better note above maps to each.
| Format | Sections | Best for | What goes where (example) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Narrative | Free text, then goals, incidents and handover | Daily living, community access, SIL shifts | The note as written above, in time order |
| SOAP | Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan | Allied health, nursing, complex support | S: “Too loud, I want to go”. O: selected four items; covered ears 11:40. A: grocery goal progressing (2 → 4 items). P: coordinator to review Tuesday-morning shopping. |
| DAP | Data, Assessment, Plan | Behaviour support, therapy assistants, coordination | D: events, observations and the quote. A: goal progress and incidents. P: the roster request. |
How to link progress notes to NDIS goals
Goal-linked notes are the difference between a diary and evidence of outcomes. Take the goals from the participant's NDIS plan and your support plan, and for each one you worked on, write what the participant did, how much help they needed and how that compares with before.
- 1Name the goalUse the participant's words from the plan, e.g. “I want to plan and buy my own groceries”.
- 2Describe the activity“Selected items from the shopping list and paid at the self-checkout.”
- 3Measure the helpIndependent, verbal prompt, gesture, physical assistance — and how many times.
- 4Compare“Four items today; two items last week.”
- 5Say what's next“Try the full list next week at a quieter time.”
Over a few months, notes written this way give the participant and their coordinator real evidence for a plan reassessment — and show an auditor that support planning outcomes are being tracked.
When a note isn't enough: incidents
A progress note can mention an incident, but it doesn't replace your incident management system. Registered providers must also notify reportable incidents to the NDIS Commission — most within 24 hours of key personnel becoming aware, and some unauthorised uses of restrictive practices within five business days.
- Q1Was anyone harmed or at risk of harm, or was a restrictive practice used?Yes → Make an incident report now, tell your supervisor, and check whether it's reportable to the NDIS Commission.
- Q2Is it a change in health, behaviour, mood or routine the next worker needs to know?Yes → Record it in the note with times, and in the handover.
- Q3Is it a request, complaint or feedback from the participant or family?Yes → Record it in the note and pass it to the right person under your feedback process.
- Q4Is it routine support delivered as planned?Yes → Record it briefly in the note, linked to goals.No → If unsure, ask your team leader before the end of the shift.
Use the reportable incident checker to see whether an event must be notified and by when, and the restrictive practice checker if a practice may have restricted the participant's rights or freedom of movement.
Common progress note mistakes
- Writing notes later from memory. Details and times are lost, and a batch of notes written days later looks reconstructed.
- Copy-paste notes. Identical notes shift after shift suggest no-one is looking, and can hide change.
- Hours that don't match the claim. The note's start and finish times should match the roster and the support claimed.
- Judgements and labels. They harm the participant's dignity, and they read badly in a complaint or incident review.
- No goals. A note without goals is evidence of attendance, not progress.
- Incidents only in the note. The incident system and any NDIS Commission notification are separate obligations.
- Identifying other people. Use initials or roles for other participants; share information only with consent or where the law allows.
- Deleting instead of correcting. Add a dated correction so the record shows what changed.
- Notes on personal devices or messaging apps. Keep them in the organisation's system, with access controls.
Shift times also drive pay. If notes and the roster disagree, the timesheet is wrong too — the SCHADS pay calculator shows how start and finish times change the pay for a shift.
Glossary
- Progress note
- A record of a support with an emphasis on progress towards the participant's goals.
- Shift note
- A record of a single shift: supports delivered, observations, incidents and handover.
- Objective language
- Describing what was seen and heard, rather than interpretations, labels or guesses.
- SOAP
- Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan — a structured note format common in health and allied health.
- DAP
- Data, Assessment, Plan — a shorter structured format.
- Support plan
- The provider's document, developed with the participant, describing their needs, preferences, goals and how supports will be delivered.
- Reportable incident
- A serious incident, such as a death, serious injury, abuse or neglect, or unauthorised restrictive practice, that registered providers must notify to the NDIS Commission.
References
Sources checked 4 October 2026.
- NDIS Practice Standards — Core module: Provider governance and operational management (Information management) — NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, checked 4 October 2026
- NDIS Practice Standards — Core module: Provision of supports (Support planning, Responsive support provision) — NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, checked 4 October 2026
- NDIS Practice Standards (modules, definitions and Quality Indicators) — NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
- Reportable incidents — NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
- Securing the NDIS for future generations (record keeping requirements) — National Disability Insurance Agency, checked 4 October 2026
- Securing the NDIS for future generations — timeline — Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, updated 15 September 2026
Frequently asked
What should an NDIS progress note include?+
Who, when and where; the supports you delivered; progress towards the participant's NDIS goals; what you observed and anything they said (quoted); health, medication or personal care; any incidents; and what the next worker or coordinator needs to know.
What is objective language in progress notes?+
Writing what you saw and heard rather than your interpretation. “Sam smiled and said he enjoyed the walk” instead of “Sam was happy”; “chose not to eat lunch” instead of “refused lunch”. Objective notes are fairer to the participant and hold up in audits and incident reviews.
SOAP, DAP or narrative — which format should I use?+
Use whatever your organisation's policy says. SOAP (subjective, objective, assessment, plan) and DAP (data, assessment, plan) are common in allied health and complex support; narrative notes are common for daily support work. The content matters more than the format.
Does this use AI or send my notes anywhere?+
No. The note is assembled from your answers and the language check runs in your browser. Nothing is sent to Suppora. Avoid entering full names or identifying details on shared computers.
How long should an NDIS progress note be?+
Long enough that someone who wasn't there can tell what support was delivered, what changed and what to do next — often a short paragraph to half a page for a routine shift. Length isn't the test: a long note full of opinion is worse than five factual sentences linked to the participant's goals.
When should NDIS progress notes be written?+
As soon as possible — ideally during or at the end of the shift, before you leave. The NDIS Practice Standards expect participant information to be recorded in an accurate and timely manner, and notes written days later lose detail and are harder to rely on in a review or audit. Follow your organisation's timeframe.
How long do NDIS providers have to keep progress notes?+
Keep them for at least seven years. Under the 2026 NDIS law changes, providers must keep records of supports and payments for 7 years (participants 3 years, nominees 5 years). Progress notes are often the main evidence a claimed support was delivered. State or territory laws and your own policy may require longer, for example for records about children.
Can NDIS participants read their own progress notes?+
Yes, generally. The Practice Standards require providers to tell each participant how their information is stored and used and when and how they can access or correct it. Write every note on the assumption the participant, their family or an auditor will read it.
What is the difference between a progress note, a shift note and an incident report?+
A shift note records one shift. A progress note is the same kind of record with an emphasis on progress towards goals — many organisations use the terms interchangeably. An incident report is a separate record made through your incident management system, and some incidents must also be notified to the NDIS Commission within set timeframes. Mention an incident in the shift note, but never use the note instead of the incident report.
How do I correct a mistake in a progress note?+
Don't delete or overwrite the original. Add a dated correction or addendum that says what was wrong, what is correct, who made the change and when, following your organisation's policy. Most client management systems keep a version history for this reason.
Should I mention other participants or family members in a note?+
Only what's needed to understand the support you gave, and without identifying other participants — use initials or a role, such as 'a co-resident'. Each participant's information should be kept confidential and only disclosed with consent or where the law requires or authorises it.
Notes written on shift, linked to goals.
In Suppora, support workers write structured notes against the participant's goals from their phone, incidents raise their reporting deadlines automatically, and managers see every note on the participant record.
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