Providers requiring a verification quality audit usually deliver lower risk/lower complexity supports and services. Many providers requiring a verification audit are already subject to professional regulation as a requirement of doing business, e.g. through the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and other professional bodies, or are not required to be a member of a professional body e.g. domestic or household services.

You can engage us to complete a desktop (no site visit required) review of the required documentary evidence outlined for each profession in the Verification Module.

You must show evidence of:

• Relevant Qualifications
• Expertise and Experience
• HR Management Processes/Policies
• Incident Management Processes/Policies
• Complaints Management Processes/Policies
• Risk Management Processes/Policies

Providers requiring a certification audit provide more complex or higher risk supports and services. In a certification audit, providers are assessed against the NDIS Practice Standards which may include assessment against the core module and any supplementary module relevant to the type of support they deliver.

Assessment includes core capabilities, such as:

• Risk Management;
• Delivery of Supports;
• Delivery Environment; and
• Governance and Operational Management
• NDIS providers that deliver services and supports within the High Intensity Daily Personal Activities registration group (0104) will be assessed against the
• High Intensity Skills Descriptors.

Your certification audit will include document reviews, site visits and interviews with NDIS workers and participants.

In each 3 year audit cycle, registered NDIS Providers (with some limited exceptions) are required to undergo a further MidTerm or surveillance audit within 18 months of the date of registration. The MidTerm audit covers governance and operational management, with file reviews and interviews with NDIS workers and participants, and site visits to Head office and outlets providing highest risk services.

If you have decided to expand your business and want to add more services for your NDIS Participants but you are not due for a scheduled audit, you can apply for an Out of Cycle Variation and this may require an extra audit.

If you were provisionally approved at your first audit, you may have a condition on your registration under s73 to have a follow up Out of Cycle audit for a number of reasons.

You may have received a letter from the NDIS Commission informing you to have an Out of Cycle audit.

The Australian Community Industry Standard (ACIS) is the national quality management standard that specifically addresses the provision of attendant care services. Providers operating in accordance with ACIS can gain ACIA-endorsed certification through Assured Auditing. Achieving certification to ACIS is a rigorous undertaking that requires service providers to achieve demonstrable quality outcomes for service users. The Scheme aligns current contemporaneous and evidenced based guidelines to its processes, embeds leadership, mental health, assistive technology, positive behavioural support, clinical governance, governance and person-centred care into one standard.

The ACIS Standard and application paperwork can be purchased from ACIA.net.au

Surveillance audits are required at twelve-monthly intervals, as a minimum for the first ACIS audit cycle, with an option to request permission for an exceptional move to 18 monthly audits from ACIA.

Surveillance audits must always include governance and clinical governance plus 50% of all other standards, site visits, file reviews, and interviews with staff and clients.

AS/NZS ISO 9001:2015 is the Australian adoption of the international standard for Quality Management Systems (QMS) which demonstrates the ability to consistently provide services or products which meet customer and regulatory requirements.

Formal assessment for ISO is a 2 stage audit with stage 1 consisting of your auditor reviewing your documents, policies and procedures to determine readiness for stage 2, and stage 2 being the assessment of implementation of the procedures reviewed to ensure they are working effectively.

The ISO 9001:2015 Standard can be purchased from the Standards Store