Questions to Ask an NDIS Provider Before You Sign Anything

Published by SESI Care Services · Updated September 2026 · 5-minute summary

Quick answer: Ask your questions before you sign, because a service agreement is a contract and the first shift is a bad time to find out what is in it. They fall into four groups: the organisation (where is your office, what is your registration number, what are you registered to deliver), the people (how many different workers will I see in a month, who covers leave, will I meet them first), the money (minimum shift length, travel charges, late cancellations, when support can start) and the agreement itself (notice period, minimum term, how prices change, can I take this home to read). You are not testing whether the answer is the one you hoped for, but whether it is specific. Several answers you should expect are entitlements, not favours: the NDIS Practice Standards already require a registered provider to cover worker absences with a suitably qualified person, to give workers your documented preferences before their first shift, and to leave you time to consider before you commit.

Key takeaways

• A service agreement is a contract, and outside specialist disability accommodation it is not compulsory, so every clause is there because somebody chose to put it there.
• Specificity is the signal. “We pride ourselves on continuity” tells you nothing. “Two named workers, and you meet the second before your first shift” tells you everything.
• Ask for a number, not a philosophy, when you ask how many different workers you will see in a typical month, and ask where the office is and whether you can visit it.
• Check the registration yourself on the NDIS Commission register, including which registration groups they hold.
• Many good answers are already required of registered providers, so you are asking whether they do it, not asking a favour.
• Nobody can make you sign on the spot. Time to consider and to seek advice is a quality indicator the Commission audits registered providers against.

Why the first phone call matters

Choosing a provider is one of the few NDIS decisions that is entirely yours, and it shapes your ordinary week more than almost anything else in your plan. Most people still choose whoever answered the phone first. The NDIA’s advice runs the other way: its guide to working with providers, current at 17 June 2026, tells participants to meet as many providers as they need to feel comfortable, and not to feel pressured into choosing the first.

What a service agreement actually is

The NDIA’s service agreement guidance, updated 19 June 2026, says a good agreement covers how and when supports will be delivered, pricing including travel and materials, how payment works, the cancellation policy, complaints and disputes, how long it runs and how it can be ended. Written agreements are mandatory only for specialist disability accommodation, so elsewhere a provider handing you fourteen pages has chosen to.

A contract you did not negotiate is still covered by consumer law. The ACCC’s guidance on contracts explains that a term in a standard form consumer contract is unfair if it causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights, is not reasonably necessary to protect the side it favours, and would cause harm if relied on. Penalising only one side for leaving, or letting one side change the terms unilaterally, are listed examples. In June 2025 the ACCC announced that a disability and aged care support platform amended terms including a minimum $5,000 penalty fee and a right to change fees without reasonable notice, in contracts used by consumers around half of whom were NDIS participants. A clause is not lawful merely because you signed it.

On price, the NDIA’s page on what the pricing arrangements are, current at 22 July 2026, states that published prices are maximums, that you and your provider can negotiate, and that you must agree to any change in your pricing before it is made.

Questions about the organisation

Ask this	A good answer sounds like	A weak answer sounds like
Where is your office, and can I visit?	A street address, a floor, and yes	A PO box, a 1300 number, or “we are mobile”
What is your NDIS registration number?	The number, said without hesitation	“We are fully compliant”
What are you registered to deliver?	The registration groups, named	Everything listed on the website
How do I complain, and what happens then?	A named process, plus the external options	“You would just call us”

The last one repays pressing. Under the NDIS Practice Standards a registered provider must ensure you have access to its complaints system, and the quality indicators it is audited against require that you be told how to complain including avenues external to the provider, and about your right to an advocate.

Questions about the people who will support you

This part decides your daily experience, and it is the part most people forget to ask about.

Ask this	A good answer sounds like	A weak answer sounds like
How many different workers will I see in a typical month?	A number, usually two or three	“It depends on availability”
Who covers when my regular worker is sick or on leave?	A named second person you have already met	“We will find someone”
Will I meet the worker before the first shift?	Yes, and here is when	“They will introduce themselves on the day”
Can I ask for a worker of a particular gender?	Yes, and it goes into the roster from the start	“We will try”

Three of those answers are not favours. The quality indicators for continuity of supports require that where a worker is absent or a position vacant, a suitably qualified or experienced person performs the role, and that your preferences are documented and given to workers before they start with you. The indicators for responsive support provision require reasonable efforts to involve you in selecting your workers, including your preferred gender of worker for personal care.

Screening has a hard answer behind it too. Registered providers must only engage workers holding an NDIS Worker Screening Check in risk assessed roles. Unregistered providers are encouraged to screen but not required to, which matters when the work means being alone with you in your home. The underlying trade-off, one familiar face against a small team who cover each other, is worth settling before you sign: see the same support worker every time, or a roster.

Questions about how it runs day to day

Ask this	A good answer sounds like	A weak answer sounds like
What is your minimum shift length?	A number, and why it applies to your booking	“That is just the rule”
Do you charge travel, and how much will it add?	A figure, and where it appears on the invoice	“There may be some travel”
How quickly can support start?	A date	“As soon as possible”
How much notice to cancel, and what am I charged?	The notice period and the amount, in writing	“We are pretty flexible”

Minimum shift lengths and travel are the two costs that quietly decide how far your budget goes. There is no NDIA rule setting a minimum shift, which makes it a rostering decision and therefore negotiable: our guide to the two hour minimum explains where the number comes from. A cancellation charge comes out of your plan budget, not your pocket, so get the notice period and the amount in writing.

Questions about the agreement itself

Ask this	A good answer sounds like	A weak answer sounds like
What notice do I give if I want to leave?	A number of days, and where the clause sits	“Let us not worry about that now”
Is there a minimum term or lock in?	No, or yes with a plain reason	Cannot find the clause
Is there a fee for ending the agreement?	No	A fixed penalty that binds only you
How are prices set, and when can they change?	At or below the price limits, and not without your agreement	“Prices are reviewed periodically”
Can I take this home to read before signing?	Yes, take your time	Any version of “we need this today”

The last question is the most informative on the page. The quality indicator for independence and informed choice says each participant is to have sufficient time to consider and review their options and seek advice if required, at any stage including assessment, planning, provision, review and exit, and that their right to have an advocate present is supported. A provider pressing you to sign in the room is contradicting a standard it was audited against.

Two worries raised here have simple answers: unspent funding never sits with the provider, and you need nobody’s permission to leave. See switching NDIS providers without a gap, and, where the ending is not your choice, if your NDIS provider closes down.

Registered or unregistered, and what changed in 2026

Both kinds of provider must follow the NDIS Code of Conduct: safe and competent supports, integrity, honesty and transparency, respect for your privacy and decision-making, and declaring and avoiding conflicts of interest. Beyond that the differences are real.

What changes	Registered provider	Unregistered provider
Who can use them	Anyone, and the only option for NDIA-managed supports	Self-managed and plan-managed funding only
Price	Cannot charge above the NDIS price limits	May charge above them
Audited against the Practice Standards	Yes, by an approved quality auditor	No
Worker screening	Required for risk assessed roles	Encouraged, not required
Publicly checkable	Listed on the Commission’s register	Not listed

The NDIA’s page on what a provider is, current at 3 June 2026, confirms that NDIA-managed supports must come from registered providers, while unregistered providers are open to you where funding is self-managed or plan-managed. A few supports need a registered provider whatever your management type, including specialist behaviour support and specialist disability accommodation.

The boundary moved this year. From 1 July 2026, mandatory registration applies to supported independent living providers and NDIS digital platforms, which now face the same audit, screening and incident requirements as everyone else registered. The equivalent reform for support coordination is paused. A provider still saying registration is optional for supported independent living is out of date.

Checking a provider yourself, in five minutes

1. Get the registration number on the call. SESI’s is 4050144347.
2. Search the register. The Commission’s find a registered provider page covers providers currently registered and those suspended or revoked. Check the registration groups too: registration for household tasks is not registration for supported independent living, however the website reads.
3. Search compliance actions separately. The Commission publishes banning orders and other decisions against providers and workers alike.
4. Then check availability, not existence. Being listed on the NDIA’s provider finder is not the same as a worker being free on Tuesday mornings.

The pattern to watch for

“We pride ourselves on continuity of care” is a sentence any organisation can say on any day. “You will have Maria on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Sam covers when she is on leave, and we will introduce them both before the first shift” is one only an organisation that rosters that way can say, because it can be checked in a fortnight. A provider answering in dates, names and numbers is describing what it already does; a provider answering in adjectives is describing what it hopes to become.

Frequently asked questions

Talk to SESI

Put us through all of it, including the blunt questions about how many faces you will see in a month and who covers leave: our office is Level 2, 66 Victor Crescent, Narre Warren and you are welcome to visit, in-person supports such as assistance with personal activities run across Victoria, support coordination runs by phone and video Australia-wide, and if we are not the right fit we will say so.

Tell us what’s going on: sesi.com.au/referral · Call: 1800 017 374

This guide is general information based on National Disability Insurance Agency, NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, Federal Register of Legislation and ACCC material current at September 2026. It is not advice about your individual plan or service agreement, and agreement terms vary, so read your own. For questions about your NDIS plan, contact the NDIA on 1800 800 110. To report a concern about a provider, contact the NDIS Commission on 1800 035 544.