NDIS Worker Clearance Check

Do I have to do the NDIS Worker Check?

Since February 2021, the NDIS Clearance became mandatory for any individual working in a risk-assessed role including allied health assistants and allied health professionals. An NDIS Clearance is valid across Australia for 5 years (unless it is surrendered or revoked) and will be necessary for all workers in the allied health industry.

However, there are exceptions for transitional arrangements e.g. In Victoria, if you have a valid police check and Disability Worker Exclusion Scheme (DWES) check, you will have until 31 July 2021 to get an NDIS Worker Screening Clearance (NDIS Clearance).

No. The NDIS Commission has strict guidelines so that workers can only commence work in a risk-assess role if they have a valid NDIS Worker Screening (unless otherwise stated in the state’s transitional arrangements).

You will need to access the relevant NDIS Worker Screening Unit page to get started:

• Australian Capital Territory: Access Canberra
• New South Wales: Office of the Children’s Guardian
• Northern Territory: NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services
• Queensland: Department of Seniors, Disability Services and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships
• South Australia: Department of Human Services
• Tasmania: Consumer, Building and Occupational Services
• Victoria: Department of Justice and Community Safety
• Western Australia: Department of Communities

The relevant NDIS Worker Screening Unit in your state or territory.

E.g. in Victoria:
Department of Justice and Community Safety. GPO Box 1915, MELBOURNE, VIC 3001
Customer Support Line: 1800 921 422
Email: NDISworkerscreening@justice.vic.gov.au

For other states, please access the relevant NDIS Worker Screening Unit page:

• Australian Capital Territory: Access Canberra
• New South Wales: Office of the Children’s Guardian
• Northern Territory: NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services
• Queensland: Department of Seniors, Disability Services and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships
• South Australia: Department of Human Services
• Tasmania: Consumer, Building and Occupational Services
• Victoria: Department of Justice and Community Safety
• Western Australia: Department of Communities

We have found that most international students have needed to apply using a manual form.

If a worker does not have the identity documents required for an online application (such as an Australian drivers licence or medicare card), they will instead need to make a manual application directly to the Worker Screening Unit. You can find where to do this using the links to your state or territory page above.

If a worker has the necessary documents to apply but is having technical difficulties with the online application, the worker needs to contact the state or department agency (find the contact details using the links above) who will be able to assist or provide the offline application form.

We deal with this quite often, and there are usually a lot of questions that pop up, so if you’re unsure, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at info@foratherapy.com and we’ll help you with this.

Follow instructions available at the relevant NDIS Screening Unit (use the links above to find your state or territory screening unit). For example, see instructions to complete a manual form in Victoria here.

You will need to have your identity documents certified by an authorised officer. You can check who is an authorised officer here.

You will need the original document and a copy of the document (i.e. scanned and printed). For more info also check here.

Allied health assistants have waited anywhere between 1 week – 8 weeks or more.

According to the NDIS Screening Unit in Victoria:

Due to an unexpectedly large volume of manual applications the NDIS Screening Unit is experiencing delays on processing applications and enquiries.

After your application has been verified (by us, the employer) it can take up to 3 weeks for the NDIS Screening Unit to assess your application. In most cases, this will be a much shorter period (for example, if there is no criminal history to assess).

However, if there is a need to assess information, it may take up to 3 weeks for us to assess an application. This time may be extended if:

• an employer takes longer to verify an applicant’s engagement with them
• you have a common name
• a criminal history record or a finding has been made against you by a relevant disciplinary or regulatory entity.
• you lodge a manual application directly to the Worker Screening Unit

Yes. To work with paediatric clients (children) allied health assistants will be required to have a valid Employee Working With Children Check and a valid NDIS Clearance.

No. As the NDIS screening is a requirement for all workers in the allied health industry and is your responsibility as a worker, we are unable to provide compensation for any of the certification.

No. However, there is a process involved in having the fee waived or refunded.

For workers in Victoria, if you currently have a NDIS Workers Clearance and not a WWCC:

• Under section 54(3) of the Victorian Worker Screening Act 2020 (the Act), a person who applies for a Working with Children (WWC) Check and who holds an NDIS Clearance at the time of application is not required to pay their WWC application fee.
• To be eligible to apply for a WWC Check without paying a fee, applicants for a WWC Check must hold an NDIS Clearance and that NDIS Clearance must not have been revoked, suspended or expired.
• Workers can request the WWC Check fee be waived or refunded, provided they held a NDIS Clearance at the time of application for WWC Check.

If requesting a fee waiver the worker will need to contact the WWC Unit and request a fee waiver, they will then be sent a WWC manual application form.

If you have already applied and paid for the WWCC:

• If a worker has since received their NDIS Clearance applied and paid for their WWC Check online, they will need to request a WWC Check Fee Refund form from the WWC Unit.

Other similar programs exist in other states, please stay tuned as we update this page with more information. In the meantime, you may be able to find this information by using the state or territory links at the top of this page.

Allied health assistants will receive an email notification with their NWSD ID when their applications are ready for employer verification.

As the Worker Screening Unit is receiving large volumes of applications, there is currently sometimes a delay between a worker’s application being received and the application being processed and ready for employer verification.

If the worker has received an email from the NDIS Screening Unit advising their application is being processed, but this does not have their NWSD ID on it, then their application is not ready for employer verification and the worker will not yet be able to be found on the NDIS Commission’s Worker Screening Database for verification or linking.

You would only be able to claim tax for the cost of the NDIS Worker Screening if your cumulative salary (including any Centrelink or government payments) is above the tax-free threshold.

Workers that require the NDIS Clearance to continue their work can likely claim this expense come tax time.

New workers that are getting the NDIS Clearance in order to commence employment are unlikely to be able to claim this expense.

It is important to check your emails for any communication from NDIS Screening Unit for your NDIS Worker Screening Check application status. Fora will notify you once your worker check is linked to our organisation database for employer verification, but we can’t provide your NDIS Worker Screening Check application status. Fora will verify your request to be linked to our organisation database for employee verification, but we do not process your documents ourselves so cannot control the speed that your application is processed.

To learn more about the NDIS Worker Screening Check please read our NDIS Worker Screening Check guide.

For more information read our Allied Health Assistants Guide