Verification audit documents for NDIS sole traders
What an approved quality auditor checks in a verification audit, from ID and insurance to incident and complaints processes, from the Commission's list.
Verification is the lighter of the two NDIS audit types. It's a desktop audit: you send documents, and an approved quality auditor checks them. Nobody visits.
Verification is for all providers (excluding government entities) delivering lower risk, lower complexity supports
Source: NDIS Practice Standards Verification Module – Required Documentation, NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, updated May 2025
These documents are checked through a desktop audit undertaken by an approved quality auditor.
Source: the same document
Verification or certification?
It depends on the registration groups you apply for. The NDIS Rules give each group a set audit method.
- Verification covers groups such as household tasks (0120), assistance with travel and transport arrangements (0108), therapeutic supports (0128), management of funding for supports (0127) and assistive products for personal care and safety (0103).
- Certification covers groups such as assistance with daily personal activities (0107), high intensity daily personal activities (0104) and participation in community, social and civic activities (0125). Certification adds an on-site audit and a mid-term audit.
If you apply for groups of both kinds, the whole application goes to certification. The Commission says those providers "will need to complete a certification audit". Check the method for each of your groups on the Commission's registration groups page.
The documents for individuals and partnerships
The Commission's list sorts documents under four headings: human resource management, incident management, complaints management and risk management. The list below is the one for individuals and partnerships, which covers sole traders. Companies and incorporated bodies have a slightly different list in the same document.
Human resource management
- Proof of identity: 100 points of ID, with at least one primary and one secondary document.
- Right to work in Australia: citizens show a birth certificate, citizenship certificate or passport; non-citizens show a passport or ImmiCard.
- Qualifications or experience for each person who will deliver supports, matching the requirements for their profession and registration group.
- Worker screening: pre-employment checks in line with the NDIS worker screening requirements.
- NDIS worker orientation: the certificate of completion of the orientation program.
- Personal accident or workers' compensation insurance, only if you have staff.
Provide the certificate of completion of the NDIS worker orientation program (mandatory training).
Incident management
- A description or copy of how you manage incidents, including any material you give participants. It must meet the NDIS (Incident Management and Reportable Incidents) Rules 2018, and suit the size of your business and the supports you deliver.
Complaints management
- A description or copy of how you manage complaints, including any material you give participants. It must meet the NDIS (Complaints Management and Resolution) Rules 2018 and follow fairness and natural justice.
Risk management
- Work health and safety policies and procedures that suit your business and the supports you deliver.
- A certificate of currency for public liability insurance.
- A certificate of currency for professional indemnity insurance.
For each insurance, the list asks for current cover that "meets the minimum level of cover commensurate to the scope" of your business. It also says to get professional advice on the type and amount of cover you need.
Some groups ask for more
Each registration group can add requirements for the professions that deliver it. Assistance with travel and transport arrangements (0108), for example, asks for a driver's licence for the vehicle, and vehicle registration including insurance. Occupational therapists and psychologists delivering therapeutic supports need current Ahpra registration. The "Requirements by Profession" part of the same document lists each group.
Keep the dates current
Several of these documents run out: insurance certificates of currency, worker screening clearances and some professional registrations. Note when each one expires, and check them all before you book your audit.