Work health and safety guidance for NDIS platform providers
Information for NDIS platform providers about their duties and responsibilities under NSW work health and safety (WHS) law.
NDIS platform providers (platforms) operate in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) by connecting NDIS participants (participants) with suitable support workers or NDIS providers. This is through an online platform, usually a website or app.
On this page:
- Types of NDIS platform providers
- WHS and the NDIS
- WHS laws in NSW
- NDIS platform provider responsibilities
- Further guidance and information
Types of NDIS platform providers
There are two types of NDIS platform providers:
- platforms that connect NDIS participants with NDIS providers operating as their own business entity, independent of the platform
- platforms that employ workers directly, under a traditional employer/employee arrangement.
This guidance is for NDIS platform providers outlined in point 1. These platforms do not directly employ workers and serve as a marketplace for NDIS participants, nominees, child representatives or support co-ordinators to select NDIS providers or workers to provide supports.
For platforms that employ workers directly, see Work health and safety guidance for NDIS providers.
Users of platforms include:
- NDIS participants and their nominees
- NDIS support coordinators
- NDIS providers – sole traders or contractors
- NDIS providers with workers.
WHS and the NDIS
In every state and territory across Australia, WHS duties, obligations and responsibilities coexist with the NDIS.
The NDIS Code of Conduct applies to all NDIS providers, registered and unregistered, and all persons employed or otherwise engaged by a NDIS provider. This includes NDIS platform providers.
The Code of Conduct sets clear and enforceable expectations for ethical conduct in the delivery of supports and services.
State and territory based WHS Regulators oversee and enforce WHS legislation to ensure that WHS duties, obligations and responsibilities are being met. In NSW, the WHS Regulator is SafeWork NSW.
Each state and territory may have differences in the application of the WHS legislation. It is the responsibility of the NDIS platform provider to be familiar with the WHS legislation applicable to the state or territory where they operate.
WHS laws in NSW
The legislation (law) that applies in NSW is the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017.
WHS laws aim to protect the physical and psychological health and safety of workers and others in the workplace.
A workplace can be any place where work is being undertaken. When NDIS providers or support workers work in a participant’s home or provide services such as transportation to a participant, these spaces are considered workplaces.
Under WHS law in NSW, everyone in a workplace has a responsibility to keep themselves and others safe, so far as reasonably practicable, which means to the best of their ability and capacity.
The WHS Act places the main responsibility of managing health and safety risks at work on a ‘Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking’ (PCBU). A PCBU is a broad term that includes any person that:
- engages a worker or causes a worker to be engaged to carry out work (including through sub-contracting),
- controls or manages a workplace, or
- directs and influences the work being undertaken.
There are multiple PCBUs involved when work is organised via a platform. NDIS providers (including support coordinators) using the platform under an ABN are considered PCBUs under WHS law.
NDIS participants, their nominees, child representatives may also be considered PCBUs, if they:
- directly employ their own workers or cause a worker to be engaged in work through their NDIS plan, and/or\receive care, support or assistance in an environment that they have management or control of, such as their home, and/or
- are directing the work of a NDIS Provider or worker. This means telling the provider or worker how work tasks or activities are undertaken or completed.
For more information, see Work health and safety guidance for NDIS participants.
The platform is also a PCBU under WHS law and has duties and responsibilities to the users of their platform.
NDIS platform provider responsibilities
Under WHS law, NDIS platform providers have a primary duty of care to the users of their platform. This applies even when NDIS providers are operating with their own ABN and are not direct employees of the platform.
While platforms are not directly involved or have management or control over the work being conducted in the workplace, a duty of care still exists to ensure that the users of the platform are:
- provided with information, training, education and resources in relation to WHS
- aware of their WHS duties and responsibilities and how to fulfill them
- adequately qualified, trained and competent for the work being undertaken
- assisted in notifying SafeWork NSW of notifiable incidents, if required.
This includes:
- identification, management and elimination of WHS hazards and risks
- conducting risk assessments to identify and control safety risks in the workplace
- the safe handling and use of mobility aids or equipment
- promoting a respectful and inclusive environment when organising and undertaking work
- understanding the responsibilities of the participant and provider under WHS law
- guidance on notifying the WHS Regulator of notifiable incidents.
Platforms can do this by ensuring that their website or app has clear and accessible information and education for all users in relation to:
- appropriate behaviours of workers, participants and others in the workplace when work is being undertaken, including what to do and where to go for assistance if an unsafe situation arises.
- consultation and communication between the NDIS provider/worker and participant to address WHS concerns effectively
- guidelines of the work or tasks that a participant or their nominee can and cannot request of workers
- what to do when new risks are identified during the course of work; where and how to capture this information on the platform and take action.
It is important that the platform has a feedback mechanism to identify areas of improvement. This helps to ensure information provided is easily understood and can be practically applied in the working environment.
The platform should ensure that personal information of both support workers and NDIS participants is handled with utmost privacy and confidentiality to protect their rights and safety, in line with The Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) and The National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (NDIS Act).
Further guidance and information
- Disability support – SafeWork NSW
- NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission