By Aaron Price, Founder of Wyzed · Updated 11 November 2026
In short: an NDIS staff induction covers your organisation and the role, the Commission's Worker Orientation Module, your policies, each participant the worker will support and a buddy shift, then supervision check-ins and a sign-off. Keep a dated record of every step. The fastest, easiest way to run it is Wyzed, which texts each step to the worker and files every record.
This page is the induction itself, in order. For screening before a first shift and a comparison of induction platforms, see NDIS staff onboarding software.
What should an NDIS staff induction include?
Short answer: the induction rule names one item. Every worker at a registered provider completes the Commission's Worker Orientation Module as part of your induction. The Commission's guidance adds five points: your organisation and the worker's responsibilities, the capabilities for the role, your policies, an introduction to the person they support, and ongoing support. The 12 steps below put it in order.
# | Step | When | Signed off by | Record you keep | The rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Before the first shift | |||||
1 | Start the NDIS Worker Screening Check | The day you make the offer | You | Clearance number and expiry on your workers register | Must, for risk-assessed roles (worker screening) |
2 | A position description that names the role's training | Before the offer | The manager | The position description | Must: each position's skills and knowledge "are identified and documented" |
3 | Pre-employment checks, qualifications, contact details | Before the first shift | You | Copies on the worker's file | Must: "Records of worker pre-employment checks, qualifications and experience are maintained" |
4 | The Worker Orientation Module, "Quality, Safety and You": online, about 60 minutes | Before the first shift (our view) | You, once you have the certificate | A copy of the certificate | Must: induction "including completion of the mandatory NDIS worker orientation program" |
5 | Your handbook, the NDIS Code of Conduct and your policies, read and signed | Before the first shift (our view) | The worker | The signature, the date and the version they signed | Should: "new recruits need to know about the key policies or procedures they need to follow" |
6 | Infection prevention and control, plus PPE for direct support workers | Before the first shift (our view, no time is set) | The worker | The completion date and the refresher due date | Must: each worker "is trained, and has refresher training" |
The first week | |||||
7 | Your organisation: who they report to, who to call, how to report an incident or complaint, your emergency plan | Day one | Their supervisor | An induction checklist signed by the worker and the supervisor | Should: new workers need to know "who to go to if they are unsure or need support". Incident and complaints training are Must. The emergency plan is our view |
8 | Each participant: their plan, needs and preferences, and any behaviour support, mealtime or emergency health plan | Before supporting that person | The supervisor or key worker | A participant briefing, signed | Must, where a participant has specific needs that need monitoring or daily support: workers "are appropriately trained and understand the participant's needs and preferences". A briefing for every participant is our view |
9 | A buddy shift with an experienced worker, then a decision that they are ready to work alone | The first shifts with each participant | The supervisor, after asking the experienced worker | Who they shadowed, the participant, the date, and who decided they were ready and why | Example: "a common method to introduce new workers to the role" |
10 | Task training for medication, high intensity supports or SIL, and a competency sign-off | Before the worker does the task alone | A qualified assessor or health practitioner | The course, the assessor's name and the date | Must: training for workers who do the task. SIL workers are "trained and assessed as competent". A sign-off for the other tasks is our view |
The first three months | |||||
11 | Supervision check-ins (we suggest week 1, month 1 and month 3) | Through the first three months | Their supervisor | Dated supervision notes | Must: "Timely supervision, support and resources are available to workers" |
12 | The induction sign-off, with a check that it worked | Month 3 (our view) | Their supervisor | The signed induction record and the check results | Must, on a certification audit: a system to "evaluate the effectiveness of training" |
The rules come from the Practice Standards Quality Indicators (sections 17 and 24) and the Commission's welcome your new worker page. Step 8 comes from the provision of supports module, and step 10 from the high intensity and SIL standards.
Which rows apply depends on your audit. Higher risk supports, such as SIL, need a certification audit, and the whole table applies. Lower risk supports need a verification audit, where the rule is shorter: "Workers complete mandatory NDIS orientation module", plus records of identity, right to work, checks and qualifications, and infection control training. Check yours in the Commission's registration groups table.
Each induction record needs five fields, so an auditor can follow it from your checklist to the proof. The Practice Standards set no template. Here is a finished row:
Worker and role | Step | Completed | Signed off by | Proof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Priya Nair (example), support worker | 8. Briefing on J.R.'s behaviour support plan | 14 January 2026 | Kate Moore, team leader | Signed briefing on Priya's staff file |
For which training each role needs beyond the induction, see what training NDIS support workers need and the role-based training matrix.
How long does an NDIS induction take?
Short answer: about seven hours of the worker's time, then one or two buddy shifts per participant, and a final check at month 3. The Commission sets no length or deadline. The Worker Orientation Module takes about 60 minutes, by the Commission's estimate, and policies and a typical support worker's role training add about six hours.
Plan it so the worker never waits on you. Steps 3 to 6 can run in parallel while the screening check in step 1 is processed, on the worker's phone, because none of them needs a supervisor in the room. Steps 8 and 9 are the ones to slow down: a worker who meets four participants in their first week needs four briefings, not one.
Casual workers who pick up one shift a week take longer to reach month 3 in practice. Keep the three check-ins, and count them by shifts worked rather than by weeks if that suits your roster better.
How do you check an NDIS induction worked?
Short answer: at the month 3 check, look at three things. Can the worker do the job, from a supervisor watching a shift? Do they know your rules, from their course quiz results? And what do participants and families say? Record what you found and what you did about it. Certified providers must evaluate whether training worked.
The Practice Standards ask for "a system to identify, plan, facilitate, record and evaluate the effectiveness of training and education for workers". The Commission's supervision guide gives the examples: "Checking in more regularly with workers who are new to your organisation or have recently completed training, and actively seeking participant feedback".
If the check finds a gap, assign the training again, set a date to re-check, and note both on the worker's file. A gap you found and fixed is evidence the system works. A gap the auditor finds first is a finding.
When does a worker need to be re-inducted?
Short answer: the Practice Standards set no re-induction rule, so write your own triggers into your induction policy. We suggest six: a new participant, a new site, a new policy version, a new role, a return from long leave, and an incident that shows a training gap. Each repeats only the step that changed.
Trigger | Repeat | Record |
|---|---|---|
They start supporting a new participant | Steps 8 and 9 for that person | A signed briefing and buddy shift |
A new house or site | Step 7 for that site: the emergency plan, house rules and contacts | A signed site checklist |
A policy changes | Step 5 for that policy only | Who has signed the new version, and who hasn't |
A new role or new tasks | Steps 2 and 10 | An updated position description and the new sign-off |
A return after long leave (we suggest 3 months or more) | Steps 7 and 11, and any refresher that fell due | A return check-in note |
An incident that shows a training gap | The training the incident points to | A link between the incident record and the retraining |
Infection control and PPE refreshers are required whatever happens, though no interval is set. We suggest 12 months.
What is the best way to manage NDIS staff inductions?
Short answer: Wyzed. One text starts the whole induction: the handbook, policies with version control, the documents each role needs, the orientation certificate, mandatory and role training, and in-person sign-offs, all on each worker's staff file. At Family Based Care, Chris Lynch's team reached 100% compliance across 200 employees.
Wyzed is NDIS staff training and compliance software, used by 350+ NDIS providers and the fastest-growing NDIS staff training system (Wyzed platform data, October 2026). It is the only NDIS platform that runs employee onboarding end to end, from the handbook and service agreement to ongoing compliance, started from your existing systems and delivered by text. A worker logs in once. After that every step, course and reminder arrives by text, and one tap opens it.
In the steps above, the worker does steps 3 to 6 on their phone, and Wyzed asks for each document and chases until it is in. Your supervisors record steps 8 to 12 as sign-offs on the same staff file. When you update a policy, you can see who has signed the new version.
Wyzed's modules are independently audited by a third-party NDIS auditor and accredited, and Wyzed has supported 1,000+ audits with no non-conformities related to training (Wyzed platform data, October 2026). The switch is free and done for you: we set up your account and load your staff and every past training completion, with its original date, in under 24 hours.
Your situation | Best fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
New casual workers starting this week, on their phones | Wyzed | Steps 3 to 6 arrive by text and are done before the first shift. Emma Reed, Director of Tiaki Support Services, rolled Wyzed out to 50+ staff in under an hour |
Hiring through Employment Hero or another HR system | Wyzed | The induction starts when you hire in the HR system, with nobody retyping details. Allara Support Services starts each worker's onboarding from Employment Hero, and the finished training goes back into it |
SIL houses, medication or high intensity supports | Wyzed | The supervisor's in-person sign-off sits next to the course, which is the record "assessed as competent" asks for |
Many houses or sites | Wyzed | Every record filters by team, role, site or location. Home Caring runs about 2,000 staff on Wyzed and reports for each site |
Induction modules written for you from scratch | iinduct | It writes custom modules. In Wyzed you upload the plans and procedures you already have as short courses |
Recruitment, onboarding and rostering in one system | Suppora | Its roster refuses a worker whose screening has expired, unless a roster manager overrides it with a reason |
Sites with no mobile signal | A platform with an offline app, such as Cloud Assess | Wyzed needs a connection |
Before you choose any platform, ask the vendor to show you these four things live:
Text a new worker their induction and open it on a phone.
Record a buddy shift sign-off and a competency sign-off, with the assessor and the date.
Change a policy and show who has signed the new version.
Open one worker's induction record, all 12 steps, as you would for an auditor.
Frequently asked questions
Does the NDIS Worker Orientation Module certificate expire?
The Commission's pages state no expiry for the certificate, and the Practice Standards ask only that workers complete the module. A worker who finished it with a previous employer can give you that certificate. Check the name and date, file a copy, and record it as step 4 of their induction.
Is the Commission's "New worker: NDIS induction modules" series required?
No. It is an optional resource, and the Commission says providers "can use these modules" when they induct new staff. Its eight topics run from disability awareness and privacy to incident management and managing challenging situations. Use it for workers new to disability work, alongside your own induction rather than in place of it.
Do agency and contract workers need your induction?
The Practice Standards don't say. The screening rule does: for contracted workers in risk-assessed roles, registered providers must "take reasonable steps to check that the worker has a clearance". Our view is to give them steps 7 and 8 before their first shift: incident reporting, your emergency plan and the participant's plan, with a record of each.
Can a new worker do shifts before their induction is finished?
Yes, alongside an experienced worker, but not alone. The Commission's guide says higher risk support needs "a more formal approach to assessment before working independently". Our view: hold solo shifts with a participant until steps 1 to 10 for that person are signed off, and your state's screening rules allow it.
What if we have no experienced worker or qualified assessor yet?
Then a manager does the buddy shift, and you book an outside assessor. High intensity training comes from a qualified health practitioner or, for most tasks, a person who meets the Commission's skills descriptor. For SIL and medication, our view is an external trainer competent in the task. Book them before the start date, as their diaries fill first.
How long should we keep induction records?
We suggest seven years, to match the screening record. No rule we found sets a period for induction records, but the screening record for each worker in a risk-assessed role is kept for 7 years. Keeping the induction with it means you can show, years later, what a worker was trained in when they started.
Run your next induction from one text
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About the author
Aaron Price founded Wyzed ten years ago and has personally run 300+ training system implementations. Connect on LinkedIn.
Sources
Every rule above is quoted or closely paraphrased from these pages, read on 11 November 2026. "Our view" and the suggested timings are our own judgement, from 300+ training system implementations. We make NDIS training software, so read the Commission's pages too.
NDIS (Quality Indicators for NDIS Practice Standards) Guidelines 2018: induction (section 17(3)), position descriptions (17(1)), pre-employment records (17(2)), training effectiveness (17(4)), supervision (17(5)), infection control (17(9), 24(9) and 24(10)) and the Verification Module (section 74)
Welcome your new worker, NDIS Commission: the five induction points and buddy shifts
Learning and capability development guide, NDIS Commission: check-ins with new workers and assessment before working independently
Training your workers, NDIS Commission
Worker training portal, NDIS Commission: the Worker Orientation Module and its 60-minute estimate
Provision of supports, high intensity and SIL Practice Standards, NDIS Commission
Worker screening for registered providers, NDIS Commission: contractors and the 7-year record
NDIS Code of Conduct, NDIS Commission
Provider and audit figures are Wyzed platform data, October 2026. "About six hours" for policies and role training is from Wyzed's live course library, 20 October 2026
