How to Start an NDIS Business in 2026: Step by Step

The short version

You can start an NDIS business without registering, but registration decides who you can work for and what you can deliver. In 2026 the line moved:

• Unregistered providers can only work with participants who self-manage or plan-manage their funding, and can't deliver supports that need registration (NDIS Commission, About registration).
• Supported Independent Living (SIL) has needed registration since 1 July 2026 (NDIA news, 30 June 2026).
• More is coming. Mandatory registration for higher risk supports, such as personal care and daily living supports, starts rolling out from 1 July 2027 (NDIA, Securing the NDIS).
• Claiming gets tighter. From December 2026, claims must be submitted within 90 days of delivering a support (NDIA, Securing the NDIS).

Everything below is sourced to the NDIA, the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission or another government body unless we say otherwise. This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice.

Registered or unregistered: what each can deliver

The NDIS Code of Conduct applies to every provider, registered or not (NDIA, Becoming an NDIS provider). The difference is who you can serve and what you can sell.

Source: NDIS Commission, About registration. The Commission says plainly: "Only participants who self-manage or plan-manage their NDIS funding can choose to get supports and services from unregistered providers."

SIL: registration is now mandatory

From 1 July 2026, all new providers wanting to deliver SIL must be registered. Unregistered providers already delivering SIL had to apply by 1 October 2026 or stop (NDIA news, 30 June 2026). SIL is its own registration group, 0138, and it's assessed by certification audit (NDIS Commission, Registration groups). If SIL is your plan, read our SIL mandatory registration guide before anything else.

High-risk supports: announced, not law yet

The 2026-27 Budget funded expanding mandatory registration to all high-risk supports from 1 July 2027, so that 90% of NDIS payments go to registered providers (NDIA news, 30 June 2026). The Department says it will publish a list of high-risk supports, "such as personal care, daily living supports and supports provided in closed settings", and that everyone in scope must be registered by December 2030 (DHDA provider FAQs, July 2026). We couldn't find that list published as at 2 October 2026.

If you plan to deliver personal care or daily living supports, build the business as if registration is coming, because it probably is.

Provider enrolment is a separate thing

From 1 July 2027, most providers will also need to enrol with the NDIA, with identifying details and a validated bank account, before they can be paid. The Department says this "is a separate process to being a registered NDIS provider" (DHDA provider FAQs). The details aren't out yet.

The steps to start

1. Decide what you'll deliver

Pick your services first, because they set your registration groups, and the groups set your audit. Some common ones (NDIS Commission, Registration groups):

If even one group needs certification, your whole audit is a certification audit.

2. Get an ABN and pick a structure

You must have an ABN to register (NDIS Commission, Apply for registration), and plan-managed invoices need one too, unless you're exempt (NDIA, Getting paid). You apply through the Australian Business Register. Not everyone is entitled to one, and if your application needs checking it can take up to 20 business days (ABR, Applying for an ABN).

The usual structures are sole trader, partnership, company or trust (business.gov.au, Business structures). A sole trader is personally responsible for everything the business does; a company is a separate legal entity. Get an accountant's view before you choose, because changing later is a hassle.

3. Insurance

For registered providers this is an audit item. The Practice Standards say "Appropriate insurance is in place, including professional indemnity, public liability and accident insurance" (NDIS Commission, Core module governance; Verification module).

If you have employees, you must also hold workers compensation insurance from an authorised insurer. It doesn't cover a sole trader, who needs their own personal cover (business.gov.au, Types of business insurance).

4. Worker screening and training

The NDIS worker screening check is done by the worker screening unit in your state or territory, is recognised nationally and lasts up to 5 years (NDIS Commission, Worker screening).

• Registered providers: every key personnel and every worker in a risk-assessed role needs a clearance, and the Commission checks them during your application (NDIS Commission, Apply for registration). Board members count as key personnel (About registration).
• Unregistered providers: screening is your call, unless a self-managed participant requires it of the workers they engage (NDIS Commission, Worker screening).

Screen yourself first. Your application stalls without it. Registered providers also need an induction that includes "the mandatory NDIS worker orientation program" (Core module governance).

5. Policies that match what you actually do

The Commission suggests reviewing your policies against the Practice Standards and making an action plan for gaps before you apply (Apply for registration). At minimum, registered providers need working incident management, complaints, risk management and worker screening systems (About registration).

Write them yourself, or at least rewrite bought templates. The application includes a self-assessment against the standards, and auditors check that your records match your policies. Our audit preparation guide covers what they ask for.

6. Apply to the Commission

You apply in the NDIS Commission Applications Portal. You'll need a myID, your organisation's structure, governance and locations, key personnel details and the supports you'll deliver. The form covers your registration groups, a self-assessment with evidence, and suitability questions, such as whether anyone has been bankrupt or convicted of an indictable offence. Finish it within 60 days of starting or it's deleted (NDIS Commission, Apply for registration).

On logins: the Commission is moving from PRODA to myID and Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM). Your business's principal authority links the ABN in RAM, then authorises staff. Sole traders do both steps themselves. PRODA still works as a fallback if you can't set up myID (NDIS Commission, Changing from PRODA to myID and RAM).

7. The audit: type and cost

When you submit, the Commission emails an "Initial scope of audit" setting out your audit type and the standards that apply. You pick an approved quality auditor and pay them; the Commission recommends more than one quote (Apply for registration).

There's no fee to register with the Commission, and it "doesn't set prices for audit services" (NDIS Commission, The quality audit process). We couldn't find official figures. One industry estimate, which doesn't publish its method:

Source: Provider Plus. Treat these as rough. Get real quotes using your scope of audit.

A new provider with no participants yet gets a provisional audit, and may need a further site stage once supports start (AQA Scheme Guidelines, section 27). The Commission gives no total processing time; it depends on your size and services (Apply for registration). Registration generally lasts three years (About registration), and certification providers also face a mid-term audit 18 months in (The quality audit process).

8. Connect to the NDIA's portals

Once registered, you can connect to the NDIA's systems (NDIA, How to register). You need a myID linked to your business in RAM first; the old advice to set up PRODA for the NDIA's portals is out of date (NDIA, How to use the provider portals).

There are two portals, and you'll use both:

• my NDIS provider portal: for participants on the NDIA's new computer system. View plans (with consent), request "my provider" relationships, and lodge claim enquiries.
• myplace provider portal: for participants on the old system, and for all claims and payments. Service bookings, payment requests, bulk payment uploads and your registration details live here.

Source: NDIA, How to use the provider portals.

How you get paid

It depends on how the participant manages their funding (NDIA, Getting paid):

Every claim needs the participant's name and NDIS number, the dates, the support item number and the price. The NDIA says valid claims from my providers are usually paid in 2 to 3 business days, and about 10 business days otherwise (NDIA, Getting paid).

The time limit is changing. The NDIA's getting paid page still gives 2 years after delivery as the general limit, and 90 days from the end of a service booking for NDIA-managed claims. Its reform timeline says that from December 2026 "Claims must be submitted within 90 days of delivering a support" (NDIA, Securing the NDIS). The Department gives the start date as 1 December 2026 (DHDA provider FAQs). Build a weekly billing habit from day one.

Plan management is changing too: from 1 October 2027 only providers on an NDIA panel can deliver it (DHDA provider FAQs).

On GST: an NDIS supply is GST-free only if the participant has a plan in effect, the support is a reasonable and necessary support in their plan, there's a written agreement, and the support is covered by the ATO's NDIS determination (ATO, GST and the NDIS). Ask your accountant how this applies to you.

Price limits

The NDIA's pricing schedules set the maximum prices. They apply to NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants: you can't charge more, and the NDIA can't pay more (NDIA, Pricing arrangements). Since 24 September 2026 those limits are set by the Minister in a legislative instrument (Pricing Determination 2026).

For 2026-27, a weekday daytime self-care hour is capped at $73.58 nationally (NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27). Our NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27 guide covers the full schedule, the support catalogue and how to read an item number.

Differentiated pricing: confirmed vs proposed

Unregistered providers may soon get paid less for some supports.

Confirmed:

• The NDIA's Annual Pricing Review recommended cutting prices by 10% from 1 January 2027 for social, community and civic participation supports delivered by unregistered providers, and stopping indexation on them (Recommendation 16) (APR report).
• As at 24 September 2026, the government was "currently consulting disability stakeholders on the implementation of differentiated pricing" (NDIA news, 24 September 2026).
• Today's price limits are the same for registered and unregistered providers (Pricing Determination 2026).

Proposed or not decided:

• The 1 January 2027 start date and the 10% figure. It's a recommendation, not law.
• Expanding it beyond community participation. The NDIA lists "expanding differentiated pricing for unregistered providers" as a topic for consultation (NDIA, Securing the NDIS).

If you plan to stay unregistered and deliver community access, model a 10% cut before you sign a lease.

Staffing and the SCHADS Award

Most disability support workers are covered by the SCHADS Award. From 1 July 2026, a Level 2.1 social and community services employee earns at least $36.22 an hour (FWO pay guide, 1 July 2026). Home care disability employees under Schedule E get an interim rise from 1 December 2026 (FWC determination PR814259).

The gap between the award and the NDIA's price limit is your margin for supervision, admin, travel, leave and profit. Read our SCHADS Award pay rates guide for penalties, sleepovers and the December change before you price a single shift.

Before anyone works with a participant, check their screening clearance, qualifications and induction, and keep the records. Registered providers must keep records of the workers in risk-assessed roles for 7 years (NDIS Commission, Worker screening for registered providers).

Your first participant

1. Check how they manage their funding. NDIA-managed means you must be registered.
2. Agree in writing. The NDIA recommends a service agreement but says it's only mandatory for SDA (NDIA, What is a service agreement). Write one anyway: it's your GST evidence, your cancellation terms and your price agreement in one.
3. Get recorded. For NDIA-managed funding, ask the participant to record you as their my provider, or send a request from the my NDIS provider portal (NDIA, How to be recorded as a my provider).
4. Deliver, record, bill. Keep shift times and notes that match what you claim. Providers will have to keep records of supports and payments for 7 years (NDIA, Securing the NDIS).
5. Claim inside 90 days. Don't let invoices pile up.

Take a fictional example. Priya starts a sole trader business delivering community access. Her first participant is plan-managed, so she can start before registering: she invoices the plan manager with her ABN, at or under the price limit. When an NDIA-managed participant asks for her, she can't take them until she's registered.

Checklist

1. Choose your services and look up their registration groups and audit type.
2. Get an ABN and choose a business structure with your accountant.
3. Arrange professional indemnity, public liability and accident or workers compensation insurance.
4. Get your own NDIS worker screening clearance, then your key personnel's.
5. Write policies for incidents, complaints, risk and worker screening that match what you do.
6. Set up myID and link your business in RAM.
7. Apply in the Commission's portal within 60 days, then get several audit quotes.
8. Once registered, set up the my NDIS provider portal and myplace provider portal.
9. Load the 2026-27 price limits and price your services under them.
10. Cost staff on SCHADS rates, including the December change.
11. Prepare a service agreement template.
12. Set up weekly billing to beat the 90 day claim window.
13. If unregistered, model the proposed differentiated pricing cut.
14. Watch for the high-risk supports list and provider enrolment details.

The admin side is where new providers drown. Orangised keeps each participant's NDIS number, plan dates, documents and signed service agreements on one record, makes a timesheet and invoice lines from every shift worked, and prices invoices off the NDIS price guide for the day and time. It can download your NDIA-managed invoices as a bulk payment file for you to upload. Registering and claiming are still yours to do.