When you start looking for NDIS providers, you'll quickly see some described as "registered" and others as "unregistered". Both can deliver good support. The difference is in how they're checked, which participants can use them, and, in a few cases, what they're allowed to provide.

## What "registered" means

A registered provider has been audited and approved by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (the NDIS Commission). Registration shows the provider meets the NDIS Practice Standards. To be registered, a provider has:

- applied for registration with the NDIS Commission
- been audited against the NDIS Practice Standards and assessed as meeting them
- passed a suitability assessment of the organisation and its key people
- been issued a certificate of registration.

Registration usually lasts three years. After that, the provider has to renew it and be audited again. Registered providers also have ongoing conditions. These include having proper systems for complaints and incidents, making sure workers in certain roles hold an NDIS Worker Screening clearance, and telling the NDIS Commission about certain events.

## What "unregistered" means

An unregistered provider isn't registered with the NDIS Commission, but that doesn't mean there are no rules. **All providers, registered or not, must follow the NDIS Code of Conduct and have a complaints process.** The Code of Conduct also means no provider can charge you more than they'd charge anyone else for the same support.

Many unregistered providers are small businesses and sole traders. Many therapists are also regulated by their own professional bodies, whether or not they're registered with the NDIS.

## Which ones can you use?

It depends on how your funding is managed. If the NDIA manages your funding, you can only use registered providers. If you're plan-managed or self-managed, you can use either, with some exceptions.

- **Agency-managed (the NDIA pays):** registered providers only.
- **Plan-managed:** registered providers, and unregistered providers with some exceptions.
- **Self-managed:** registered providers, and unregistered providers with some exceptions.

### The exceptions: supports that always need a registered provider

Some supports must always come from a registered provider, even if you self-manage or use a plan manager:

- plan management
- specialist behaviour support, when the provider is doing a behaviour support assessment or writing a behaviour support plan
- any support likely to involve a regulated restrictive practice
- specialist disability accommodation (SDA)
- supported independent living (SIL)
- NDIS digital platforms (previously called platform providers).

## Does it affect the price?

It can. The NDIS pricing schedule sets maximum prices for most supports, and those limits can differ depending on whether a provider is registered or unregistered.

How your funding is managed matters too:

- **Agency-managed or plan-managed:** you can't pay more than the maximum price, but you can pay less if the provider charges less.
- **Self-managed:** you can agree to pay less or more than the maximum price. If you pay more, your funding will run out sooner, and the NDIA won't top it up before your next plan.

## How to check a provider's registration

The NDIS Commission keeps a public **Provider Register** on its website. Search by the provider's business name, legal name or ABN, and choose the registration status "Approved" to see who's currently registered. The same search can show providers whose registration has been suspended or revoked, and the Commission publishes banning orders separately.

The NDIS Provider finder on ndis.gov.au can also help you find registered providers in your area.

## Questions to ask any provider

Registration tells you a provider has met a standard. It doesn't tell you whether they're the right fit for you. Whichever type you're considering, it's worth asking:

- What supports do you provide, and how often could you see me?
- Who will actually be coming to my home? Can I meet them first?
- Do your workers hold an NDIS Worker Screening clearance?
- What training and experience do your workers have for my kind of support?
- How do you handle complaints, and what happens if I'm not happy?
- What do you charge, and is anything charged on top, like travel or cancellations?
- Can we put what we agree in a written service agreement?

And for a registered provider:

- What are you registered to provide? (You can check this on the Provider Register.)