What are safeguards?

The aim of the NDIS is to give participants choice and control over their lives. Safeguards are rules in place to help protect you from harm, abuse, neglect or exploitation.

Why are safeguards needed?

Safeguards are important to protect your right to be safe and receive quality services from NDIS providers and workers. 

Some of these safeguards are in the Australian Consumer Law which says:

You have the right to be treated fairly

You have rights when buying goods and services from a business or provider.

The law makes it clear that you have the right to:

  • be treated fairly
  • be given accurate information before you buy
  • cancel a faulty service
  • a repair, replacement or refund if something goes wrong.

Not all of these laws are in place when you buying something privately, such as from a friend, garage sale or someone selling an item they’ve owned.

It is okay to speak up if you:

  • feel unsafe with your provider
  • are not happy with the quality of the services from your provider.

Speaking up can help to improve services for you and other people.

You may want to talk to your provider first to see if they can put things right.

You can also contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission:

More information about your rights and where to go for help is also available on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission website including:

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission) handles complaints about the quality and safety of NDIS supports and services. The NDIS Commission is an independent agency.

More information:

NDIS Worker Screening Check

The NDIS Worker Screening Check is one way to reduce risk of harm to people with disability. This clears a person to work in certain roles.

Registered NDIS providers must ensure that workers in certain roles have had this check or hold a valid acceptable check .

Unregistered providers and self-managed participants can choose to ask workers to get an NDIS worker screening clearance.

Unregistered providers and self-managed participants can request access to a database to check the clearance status of an NDIS worker. Registered NDIS providers have automatic access to the database through the NDIS Commission Portal.

Visit the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission website for more information on worker screening:

When will participant safeguards be discussed?

We encourage participants to consider the safeguards, strategies and support mechanisms they have in their lives when developing their statement of supports, deciding on their support requirements, developing their plan and putting their plan into action.

The planning and assessment conversation is a chance to discus actual and potential risks to the participant.

The NDIA planner and participant work together to identify risks and any safeguards that may be required, and discuss plan management options. The planner helps to identify how participants can enhance the existing safeguards they have in their lives, ways they could enhance their capacity to protect themselves from risk, and other formal safeguarding mechanisms they might wish to access.

If required, an NDIS Local Area Coordinator can help to monitor and assist in strengthening safeguards in the participant’s life.

This page current as of
17 March 2021