The EFQC Enquirer: 16 September 2025

In this edition

News

Engels Floyd Quality Consulting NDIS Sector Engagement – State of the Nation Sumit

Important Information

• Why Generic Policies and Copy-Paste Self-Assessments Put Your Registration at Risk
• New NDIS Pricing Framework for Art and Music Therapy: What You Need to Know
• Thriving Kids: What NDIS Providers Need to Know About This New Early Childhood Program
• Time to Get Ready – Worker Screening Renewals Are Coming

Ask the Experts

• Is training competence? An interview with Patty Wassenaar Technical Manager at Engels Floyd Quality Consulting

News

Engels Floyd Quality Consulting: A Month of Insightful NDIS Sector Engagement

Important Information

1. Why Generic Policies and Copy-Paste Self-Assessments Put Your Registration at Risk

The NDIS Commission has made it very clear: duplicated or generic self-assessments and policies will not pass.

The Commission recently identified thousands of applications where the self-assessment responses were identical to those from other providers. Their findings were blunt:

• Outright refusals of registration applications
• Notices of intention to refuse registration issued to dozens of providers
• Warnings that duplicating responses may be deemed false or misleading under s.73D of the NDIS Act—a serious contravention that could lead to penalties or court action

And this isn’t just theory. We’ve spoken directly with providers who have had conditions attached to their registration requiring them to address this issue — re-doing their self-assessment and updating their policies and procedures to accurately reflect their practice.

What Auditors Want to See
When auditors review provider documentation, they are looking for clear evidence that shows:

• An understanding of the NDIS Practice Standards tailored to the provider’s own operations.
• Governance and safeguarding systems that match actual day-to-day service delivery.

What Providers Should Do
To meet registration, requirements providers should:

• Develop tailored policies and procedures aligned to the size, service type, and risks of their business
• Write unique self-assessment responses that demonstrate real compliance and directly link to internal systems

How Engels Floyd Quality Consulting Can Help

At Engels Floyd Quality Consulting, we empower NDIS providers to:

• Replace generic templates with documents that authentically reflect service delivery
• Prepare evidence-based, provider-specific self-assessments
• Build systems that meet both audit requirements and the practical needs of daily service

Don’t risk your registration with cookie-cutter compliance tools. Get ahead by ensuring every document you submit tells your organisation’s true story, and sets your practice apart.

2. New NDIS Pricing Framework for Art and Music Therapy: What You Need to Know

The NDIA has just set new pricing rules for art and music therapy under the NDIS, aiming to balance clinical evidence, transparency, and continued participant access.

What’s Changing for Art and Music Therapy?
After an independent review led by Dr Stephen Duckett, the NDIA has accepted every recommendation. The most prominent shift is the new maximum price for eligible art and music therapy sessions: now set at $156.16 per hour, lower than the previous cap of $193.99 but above the $67.56 initially proposed last year. This means therapy will continue to be funded as a recognised therapeutic support, rather than just a community activity.

Why the Price Drop—And What It Means
Dr Duckett’s review found that although there is solid evidence these therapies can be valuable for certain participant groups, the overall research pool is smaller than for other allied health professions. Therapists must meet rigorous professional standards:

• Art therapists must be ANZACATA members (Master’s degree required).
• Music therapists must hold AMTA registration (also requiring a Master’s).

Without these credentials, sessions are not eligible for therapy funding and should instead fall under community, social, or civic activities.

Improving Oversight and Quality
To guard against misuse, the NDIA will enhance its invoicing verification process, allowing only qualified and registered professionals to bill under the art and music therapy line item. For self-managed participants, only supports provided by therapists meeting NDIS standards are claimable as therapy. Others are classed as recreational activities.

Dr Duckett also recommended more robust data collection on therapy outcomes and the creation of cohort-specific information—helping participants and planners know which therapies are most likely to be effective for particular needs and goals.

What Providers Should Remember

• Only qualified art and music therapists with professional membership are eligible.
• Price cap now set to $156.16 per hour, effective November 2025.
• Sessions must work towards participant goals, not merely be recreational.

3.  Thriving Kids: What NDIS Providers Need to Know About This New Early Childhood Program

The Hon Mark Butler MP, Minister for Health, Ageing, Disability and the NDIS, recently announced Thriving Kids, a new national initiative aimed at supporting children under 8 years with developmental delay and autism who have low to moderate support needs.

This program is designed to complement the NDIS by focusing on earlier intervention and foundational supports outside the traditional NDIS framework, helping children before they may require extensive funding under the Scheme.

What Thriving Kids Means for NDIS Providers:

• New Pathways for Early Support: Thriving Kids builds on existing community and mainstream services—including health, education, and early childhood providers—to offer accessible early help for developmental concerns. This presents new opportunities for collaboration and referrals between NDIS providers and local service networks.
• Focus on Low to Moderate Needs: The program targets children with milder needs, while children with significant disabilities will continue to receive supports through the NDIS. Providers can expect clearer delineation between services funded by Thriving Kids and those managed under NDIS plans.
• Coordinated Service Delivery: Thriving Kids aims to improve coordination across sectors, strengthening the role providers play in ensuring families access timely and appropriate supports. This may involve working more closely with allied health professionals, educators, and family support agencies.
• Long-Term Investment: Funded with $2 billion over five years, Thriving Kids is scheduled to begin phased rollouts from mid-2026, giving providers time to prepare for evolving service landscapes and new partnership opportunities.
• Supporting Access and Inclusion: The program emphasises family-centred care and equity, seeking to boost early identification and intervention particularly in underserved communities.

For NDIS providers, Thriving Kids signals a shift toward more integrated early childhood support systems. Staying informed and engaged with its rollout will be vital for seamless navigation of participant needs and maximising outcomes for children and families. For detailed information, download the Thriving Kids Fact Sheet.

4. Time to Get Ready – Worker Screening Renewals Are Coming

The NDIS Worker Screening Check has now been around for almost five years – which means some of the very first clearances will start expiring from 1 February 2026. If your team has workers in risk‑assessed roles, it’s time to start thinking ahead so renewals run smoothly.

The good news is, nobody needs to panic – workers will get a reminder from their state or territory Screening Unit, and you’ll get one via the NDIS Worker Screening Database (NWSD) too. But here’s the catch: you’ll only receive the right updates if your NWSD records are accurate.

That’s why now is the perfect time to give your worker list a quick tidy‑up:

• Check that everyone currently working with you is linked in the NWSD.
• Unlink anyone who has moved on (so you’re not flooded with reminder emails about people who no longer work with you).

Tip – Confirm the expiry dates so you don’t get caught off guard.

It only takes a few minutes:

• Log in to your NWSD Employer Account
• Click on the ‘My workers’ tab.
• Link in your current staff.

Say goodbye to any old links that are no longer needed. Think of it as a spring clean for your NWSD! A clean database means fewer headaches when February rolls around and peace of mind knowing your workforce stays clearance‑ready.

Helpful resources, including a Quick Reference Guide on how to unlink workers, are available on the NDIS Commission website if you need a hand.

Ask the Experts

Is training competence?: An interview with Patty Wassenaar Technical Manager at Engels Floyd Quality Consulting

We all know training matters – but does attending a training session automatically mean staff are competent?

According to Patty Wassenaar, Technical Manager at EFQC, the answer is a clear NO!. The NDIS Practice Standards requires people to be competent to provide services.

Q: Patty, let’s start with the basics: why isn’t training alone enough to ensure competence?

Patty: Training gives staff the knowledge they need, but competence is about putting that knowledge into action—safely, consistently, and confidently in real situations.

NDIS Practice Standards expect providers not only to train staff, but also to make sure they’re capable and confident, especially where participant safety is on the line.

Q: What mandatory training must every NDIS worker complete?

Patty: Every worker needs to complete the NDIS Worker Orientation Module. They also require training in complaints and feedback, incident management, emergency and disaster management, and regular refresher training for infection control—hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, cough etiquette, and PPE use are musts. This goes for everyone, including Key Personnel.

Q: When do providers need to go further—for instance, what about workers supporting participants with higher needs?

Patty: If a participant’s supports are higher in intensity, training becomes more specialised. That means:

• Reference the High Intensity Support Skills Descriptors – which requires staff to be trained by appropriate healthcare professionals, but also for staff to be competent in providing those supports.
• Implementation of Behaviour Supports requires staff to be trained in the specific participants plan and strategies, and competent (and hopefully also confident in implementing these.
• Training in any specific participant plans and requirements such as mealtime plans, manual handling, or using a specific piece of equipment.

Competence here is more than knowing what to do—it’s being able to do it well.

Q: How do you assess whether staff have moved beyond training and are truly competent?

Patty: Providers need to use several methods, not just rely on a single tick of attendance:

• Knowledge checks after training—quizzes or scenario questions
• Observation in the workplace, ideally by someone competent and current in that skill
• Asking participants whether they think the staff are good at their job (competent), or whether they need more training.  You might be surprised by their answers.
  • I once asked a participant with a behaviour support plan about their workers. Their response “Some are better than others”. It was no surprise that the BEST workers had an excellent awareness of behaviour support strategies, and consistently implemented them. And YES, I did ask what the ‘good’ workers did – not what the not so great ones did.
• Internal audits and reviews, including incident and complaint records
• For hands-on skills, a physical demonstration is essential—this is what auditors expect, especially for tasks like manual handling, medication assistance, PPE use, and behaviour support strategies.

Q: Can you share a story that showed you what real competence looks like?

Patty: Certainly! I once watched a support worker carefully load a participant’s mobility device into a vehicle—completing all safety checks, confirming with the participant before driving.

These real-world interactions prove competence far better than checkboxes. (Tip – these are the types of things auditors look at whilst you think they’re just chatting to staff or doing a site tour).

Q: What about maintaining competence over time? How can providers be sure their staff stay competent after initial training?

Patty: Regular refresher training is an important start, but workplace reassessment is just as critical.

Providers should:

• Use regular practical assessments, ideally annually or when industry practices change
• Monitor staff performance through incidents, complaints, and participant feedback
• Encourage direct supervision and peer reviews, especially for new staff or those in high-risk roles
• Use training needs analyses and gap assessments to stay on top of the evolving requirements.

Q: Final thoughts—what’s the best way for providers to be confident about their workforce’s competence?

Patty: Combine training with practical, real-world assessment and ongoing review.

Competence is active and dynamic—it requires continuous checking in, learning, and support. When in doubt, talk to staff and participants, watch interactions, and encourage honesty about what more training or practice might be needed. That’s how quality and safety are protected.

If you need any help with staff training or want expert guidance on building and maintaining workforce competence, the team at Engels Floyd Quality Consulting is here to support you. With decades of hands-on experience in NDIS compliance, quality management, and practical training, Engels Floyd works closely with providers of all sizes to tailor solutions that fit your unique needs.

Feel free to reach out anytime at info@engelsfloyd.com or call 1300 790 194. We would love to hear from you and help your team stay confident, compliant, and competent!