If NDIS funding will pay for help around the home, the questions to ask a cleaning provider are a little different from an ordinary booking. Before the price and the day, you need to know whether the provider can be paid from your plan the way your funding is managed. Here are the questions, and how to check the answers yourself.
This is general information, not advice about your plan. NDIS rules change, so check the official pages listed with this guide, or ask your plan manager, support coordinator or the NDIA.
Start with your plan
The NDIS says funding can only be spent on NDIS supports that are in line with your plan, however it is managed. So before you contact any cleaner, check that help with household cleaning fits your plan and which part of the plan it would come from.
How your funding is managed decides who you can use
| How the funding is managed | Who pays the provider | Providers you can use |
|---|---|---|
| Self-managed | You, your nominee or representative | Registered or unregistered |
| Plan-managed | Your plan manager | Registered or unregistered |
| NDIA-managed | The NDIA, after the provider claims in the provider portal | Registered only |
One plan can combine these options, so check how the part you will use for cleaning is managed, and tell each provider.
1. Are you a registered NDIS provider — and can I check?
Registered providers must meet the NDIS Commission’s conditions for quality and safety. Unregistered providers are not registered with or regulated by the Commission. Both must follow the NDIS Code of Conduct, which includes respecting your privacy, providing supports safely and competently, and acting with integrity, honesty and transparency.
Do not rely on a logo or a website claim. Ask for the provider’s legal business name and ABN, then search the NDIS Provider Register on the NDIS Commission’s website. It lists providers registered with the Commission — including any whose registration has been suspended or revoked — with their suburb, ABN and registration groups, which are the kinds of supports they are registered to deliver. The NDIS website’s provider finder also helps you find registered providers.
An unregistered cleaner can be an option for self-managed or plan-managed funding, but not NDIA-managed funding.
2. How will you invoice, and who receives it?
- Self-managed: you pay the provider and keep the invoices and receipts as evidence.
- Plan-managed: your plan manager pays the provider. Ask whether invoices can go straight to them, and ask your plan manager what details they need on each one.
- NDIA-managed: a registered provider claims against your plan in the provider portal.
3. What will it cost, and does it fit the price limits?
Registered providers cannot charge more than the NDIS price limits. If your funding is NDIA-managed or plan-managed, the NDIS says your provider must follow the pricing arrangements and price limits, so if you have a plan manager, check the price with them before agreeing to it. Self-managed participants are not subject to the pricing arrangements.
Whoever you choose, ask for the price in writing: per visit or per hour, what extras cost, whether anything else is charged, and what happens if a visit is cancelled or moved.
4. What exactly is included?
- The tasks each visit: kitchen, bathrooms, floors, dusting, beds or linen.
- What is not included. A cleaning service is not personal care or support work, so ask where the line is.
- Products and equipment: whether they bring their own, and whether they can use yours.
- Timing: whether visits can fit around your other supports and routines.
5. Who will come to my home?
- Worker screening. Registered providers cannot let a person work in a risk-assessed role without an NDIS Worker Screening clearance. Unregistered providers and their workers are not required to have one, but you can ask them to get one, and self-managed participants can apply for access to the NDIS Worker Screening Database to check a worker’s clearance.
- Consistency. Will the same person usually come, and how will you be told if someone else is coming?
- Access and privacy. How keys and entry codes are stored and who can see them.
6. Will we have a service agreement?
The NDIS describes a service agreement as an agreement between you and your provider that makes clear what you have both agreed to, and says it is covered by Australian Consumer Law. A written agreement is not required for most supports, but the NDIS recommends one. It should cover the supports, the cost, how they will be delivered, your responsibilities and the provider’s, how long the agreement lasts and how it can be changed, and how disputes are resolved. Make sure cancellation and rescheduling are in it too.
7. What happens if something goes wrong?
Ask how to raise a concern and who deals with it. Registered providers must have a complaints system, and unregistered providers must be able to manage complaints effectively. If a problem is not resolved, the NDIS Commission takes complaints from anyone about NDIS supports that were not provided in a safe and respectful way, or not delivered to an appropriate standard.
A checklist for the first call
- How the funding you will use is managed
- The provider’s legal name and ABN, checked on the register
- The price in writing, checked with your plan manager if you have one
- What is included and excluded
- How invoices will be sent
- Who will come, and their screening
- A service agreement, including cancellations
- How complaints are handled
Asking us
Our NDIS cleaning visits are the same as our regular home cleans: kitchens, bathrooms, floors, dusting and tidying, with bed making and linen changes on request. They are not personal care or support work, or clinical cleaning, and home cleaning rates apply. Ask us about registration when you enquire, and tell us how your plan is managed — we confirm whether and how we can invoice it before the first visit. Contact us to start.
Before the first visit, see how to prepare for your first professional home clean. To choose how often, see weekly vs fortnightly house cleaning.
Ready for a price?
See exactly what our ndis cleaning includes, or go straight to the next step.
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Sources
- NDIS — Managing your plan
- NDIS — What is self-managed funding
- NDIS — What is plan-managed funding
- NDIS — What is NDIA-managed funding
- NDIS — What is a provider
- NDIS — Pricing arrangements and price limits (participants)
- NDIS — What is a service agreement?
- NDIS — Provider finder
- NDIS Commission — Find a registered provider
- NDIS Commission — NDIS provider register and compliance and enforcement actions
- NDIS Commission — Unregistered providers
- NDIS Commission — What is the NDIS Code of Conduct?
- NDIS Commission — Worker screening for self-managed participants
- NDIS Commission — How to make a complaint about a provider
Rules change. Check the official source for your situation; this guide is general information, not legal advice.