NDIS Worker Screening Check: Costs and How to Apply in Every State

Where to apply and what it costs in each state

State and territory screening units run the check for the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (the NDIS Commission), and some give it a different name. Apply in the state or territory where you live or work, and only in one.

Fees are set by each state and generally non-refundable, even if your application is cancelled, so check the amount on the official page before you pay. Times usually start once your employer verifies your application.

Who needs an NDIS worker screening check?

You need a clearance if you work in a risk-assessed role for a registered NDIS provider, whether you're an employee, volunteer, contractor or student. A role is risk-assessed if it:

• is a key personnel role, such as a CEO, board member or manager
• involves directly delivering certain specified supports or services to a person with disability, or
• is likely to need more than incidental contact with people with disability, such as touching them or building rapport as a normal part of the job.

Contact can be in person, by phone, in writing or online. Unregistered providers and self-managed participants aren't legally required to use screened workers, but they can ask you for a clearance, and the NDIS Commission recommends they do. Registered sole traders need one, and so do university and TAFE students on placement.

How to apply for an NDIS worker screening check

1. 1

   Get your employer's Employer ID

   Ask the provider or self-managed participant you'll work for. Registered providers can use their registration ID, and self-managed participants have a Participant Worker Screening ID.

2. 2

   Apply online with your state's screening unit

   Use your state's link in the table above. Have your addresses for the last 5 years and any other names you've used ready.

3. 3

   Prove who you are

   Most states want 3 or 4 identity documents, such as a passport or birth certificate, a driver licence and a Medicare card. Victoria, SA, Queensland and the NT check your ID online. NSW, WA, Tasmania and the ACT usually need a service centre visit.

4. 4

   Pay the fee

   It's $112 to $163 for paid work and generally non-refundable. In some states, such as the NT, your employer can pay it.

5. 5

   Your employer verifies your application

   They get a request through the national NDIS Worker Screening Database to confirm you work, or will work, for them. States give them 30 days, then unverified applications are withdrawn or cancelled.

6. 6

   Get the outcome

   The unit checks your history and tells you the outcome, usually by email. A clearance goes into the national database, where NDIS employers can check it with your Worker Screening ID.

Can I get an NDIS screening check without a job?

Not as a job seeker without an employer. Every application has to name one, and it only goes ahead once they verify you work, or are about to work, for them. NSW, Queensland, Tasmania and the ACT all say you can't apply without one. Your options:

• Get a job offer first. Your new employer gives you their Employer ID and verifies you.
• Work for a self-managed participant. They can give you their Participant Worker Screening ID. The NDIS Commission asks them to do this only if they genuinely intend to employ you.
• Work for yourself. With an ABN and a myID, you can apply to the NDIS Commission for access to the NDIS Worker Screening Database as an unregistered provider, get your own Employer ID and verify your own application. You must be delivering NDIS supports now or within 6 months.

The NDIS Commission's worker screening page has the sole trader steps. Thinking of registering too? See NDIS provider registration.

Can I start work before I'm cleared?

It depends on the state. Some let you work "on application" once your application is complete and verified. Others make you wait for your first clearance.

Where it's allowed, a registered provider must have a written risk management plan and someone with an NDIS clearance supervising you at all times. If you get an interim bar, you must stop that work until a decision is made.

How long does an NDIS worker screening check take?

There's no national timeframe. With no records to assess, you can be cleared quickly. With history to look at, it can take weeks or months. The wait usually starts when your employer verifies your application, so ask them to do it promptly. A common name, old hard-copy police records, information from other states or agencies, and mistakes in your application all slow it down. WA's screening unit stresses that a slow check doesn't mean you have a record or will be refused.

How long does an NDIS clearance last, and how do I renew it?

A clearance lasts up to 5 years from the date it's issued, unless it's cancelled. The first ones, issued from February 2021, began expiring in February 2026.

• When: up to 90 days before expiry (3 months in NSW and SA). You and your linked employers get reminders.
• Where: with the unit in the state or territory where you now live, and only there.
• What you need: your current employer's Employer ID (they verify the renewal) and your identity documents again.

Don't let it lapse. Once it expires you can't work in risk-assessed roles for registered providers, unless your state lets you work on a renewal. Victoria, Queensland, SA (for its own checks) and the ACT do if you meet their conditions, which in Queensland, SA and the ACT include lodging before expiry. NSW has no extensions, so apply as soon as you can.

Can I use my NDIS check in another state?

Yes. Your clearance is recognised in every state and territory, with any NDIS employer and in any NDIS role, until it expires or is cancelled. You don't reapply when you move or change jobs. Don't apply in a second state while you have a current clearance (unless you're renewing) or an application underway, because duplicates are cancelled. In the ACT, NDIS work that needs a clearance also needs Working with Vulnerable People registration.

How to check your NDIS screening status and clearance number

Your state's screening unit can give you your status, expiry date and Worker Screening ID. You can also check your application in the account you applied through, such as MyServiceNSW (on the website, not the app), Queensland's Worker Portal, DoTDirect in WA, Screening SA or your ACT Government Digital Account. In Victoria, you can link your clearance to your Service Victoria dashboard.

Your Worker Screening ID is created when you apply and never changes, but on its own it isn't proof of a clearance. Give it to an employer and they can check your current status in the NDIS Worker Screening Database. They see your status, expiry date and whether you're eligible to work, not your criminal record.

Is there an NDIS worker screening card or certificate?

It depends on the state. NSW and Victoria issue no card or certificate, and the NT issues no card, so keep its clearance email as your record. Queensland posts a physical card, and an ACT WWVP card shows "NDIS ACTIVITIES - Yes". The Worker Orientation Module certificate is a separate thing.

What does an NDIS screening check include?

The screening unit looks at:

• your full national criminal history, including charges that didn't lead to a conviction, spent convictions and juvenile records
• workplace misconduct records held by the NDIS Commission, and any earlier screening outcome
• what you declare in your application, such as overseas charges and child protection matters.

With nothing to assess, you're usually cleared quickly. Some serious offences committed as an adult, such as murder or sexual offences against children, mean an automatic exclusion. Other records lead to a risk assessment, which can end in a clearance or an exclusion. Before refusing you, the unit usually explains why and invites a written submission. An exclusion generally stops you reapplying for 5 years, though you can usually ask for a review.

Once you're cleared, you're monitored for the life of your clearance, and new charges or misconduct findings can lead to a suspension or cancellation. You must also report certain changes, such as a relevant new charge (within 7 days in Victoria).

The NDIS worker screening portal for employers and self-managed participants

A worker's application can't go ahead until you verify it, so you need access to the NDIS Worker Screening Database. From 12 October 2026, registered and deregistered providers use the new NDIS Commission Portal (see our NDIS provider portal guide). Unregistered providers use the Unregistered providers portal and self-managed participants use the Self-managed participants portal.

• Give the worker your Employer ID (or Participant Worker Screening ID) only if you genuinely intend to engage them, because they pay to apply.
• Verify their request promptly. States give you 30 days.
• Link workers to see their status (Clearance, Pending, Interim bar, Exclusion, Suspension or No valid clearance), using their last name and Worker Screening ID or Application ID. You're told when a linked worker's clearance is about to expire.
• Registered providers must keep written records of their risk-assessed roles and the workers in them.

Self-managed participants don't have to use screened workers, but can choose to accept only workers with a current clearance, as the NDIS Commission recommends. Hiring directly? See our support worker interview questions and self-management guide.

The free NDIS Worker Orientation Module and other training

The NDIS Commission's Worker Orientation Module, "Quality, safety and you", is free, online and done at your own pace. It covers how the NDIS works and your obligations under the NDIS Code of Conduct, and you get a certificate of completion for your employer. The NDIS Commission calls it a mandatory course for NDIS providers and workers. Free modules on induction for new workers, effective communication and safe mealtimes are on the same online learning portal, where you can download your certificates again from "My Certificates". Wondering what the work pays? See NDIS support worker rates.

NDIS check vs Working With Children Check

They're separate checks under separate laws, and one doesn't replace the other. If your NDIS work involves children, you'll usually need both: NSW, Victoria and the NT all say so.

Victoria may refund your WWC Check fee if the law requires you to hold one and you already hold an NDIS Check. Queensland offers a combined NDIS and blue card application for $176.30. In the ACT and Tasmania, the NDIS check is part of the vulnerable people registration (WWVP or RWVP), which also covers working with children.

NDIS worker screening check in your state

NDIS worker screening check questions