NDIS Practice Standards: Your Online Compliance Checklist

Your website isn't just a marketing tool — it's a compliance asset. The NDIS Practice Standards set out requirements that directly affect what you need to publish online. During audits, assessors will check whether participants and the public can access key information through your digital presence.

This checklist covers the main areas where your website intersects with compliance. It's not legal advice — always check the current standards and talk to your auditor — but it's a practical starting point for most registered providers.

The checklist

✅ Complaints and feedback process

What the standards require: Under the Complaints Management and Resolution standard, participants must be able to easily find and understand how to make a complaint. The process should be accessible, transparent, and free from reprisal.

What to publish on your website:

• A dedicated complaints page or section
• Clear steps explaining how to lodge a complaint
• Multiple contact methods (phone, email, form)
• Expected response timeframes
• A note that complaints can also be made to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (1800 035 544)

✅ Privacy policy

What the standards require: The Privacy and Dignity standard requires that you protect participants' personal information in line with the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

What to publish on your website:

• A privacy policy that explains what personal information you collect, why, and how it's stored
• How participants can access or correct their information
• Who you may share information with (e.g., the NDIA, plan managers, other providers with consent)
• Your process for handling data breaches
• Contact details for privacy inquiries

✅ Feedback mechanisms

What the standards require: Beyond formal complaints, the standards expect you to actively seek and respond to feedback from participants. This supports continuous improvement.

What to publish on your website:

• A feedback form or clear instructions on how to provide feedback
• Information about how feedback is used to improve services
• Assurance that providing feedback won't affect the participant's services

✅ Service agreements

What the standards require: The Service Agreements with Participants standard requires that participants receive clear information about the services they'll receive, including costs, responsibilities, and cancellation terms — before services begin.

What to publish on your website:

• A summary of what's typically included in your service agreements
• Your cancellation policy (especially relevant given the NDIS cancellation rules)
• An explanation of participants' rights within the agreement
• Optionally, a downloadable template or sample agreement

✅ Accessibility (WCAG 2.1)

What the standards require: The Access to Supports standard requires that information about your services is provided in accessible formats. For your website, this means meeting the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at a minimum Level AA.

Key accessibility requirements:

• Sufficient colour contrast between text and backgrounds (minimum 4.5:1 ratio)
• All images have descriptive alt text
• The site is fully navigable by keyboard alone
• Forms have proper labels and error messages
• Text can be resized up to 200% without breaking the layout
• No content relies solely on colour to convey information
• Videos have captions or transcripts

This isn't just a nice-to-have. Your participants include people with diverse access needs. An inaccessible website is a barrier to service — exactly what the NDIS exists to remove.

✅ Incident management information

What the standards require: Registered providers must have systems for identifying, managing, and resolving incidents — including reportable incidents under the NDIS Commission.

What to consider publishing:

• A brief overview of your incident management process
• How participants or families can report an incident
• A link to the NDIS Commission's reportable incidents information

✅ Clear service descriptions

What the standards require: Participants must be able to make informed choices about their providers. This means your marketing materials — including your website — need to be accurate, not misleading, and written in plain language.

What to publish on your website:

• Accurate descriptions of each service you provide
• The registration groups you're registered under
• Service areas (suburbs, regions, or states you cover)
• Any costs or fees, including gap payments if applicable
• Eligibility criteria or intake requirements

How to use this checklist

Open your website right now and check each item. If you're missing any of these, prioritise them — they're not just best practice, they're audit expectations. Many providers have been flagged for not having a publicly accessible complaints process or an adequate privacy policy.

If you're building a new website or redesigning an existing one, use this list as your requirements spec. Every NDIS provider website should cover these basics before adding testimonials, team photos, or blog posts.

A note on unregistered providers

Even if you're an unregistered provider (serving self-managed or plan-managed participants only), many of these standards reflect good business practice that participants expect. A privacy policy, clear service descriptions, and an accessible complaints process build trust — and trust is what converts visitors into participants.