NDIS Worker Screening Check: Who Needs One and How to Track It

If you are a registered NDIS provider, everyone in a risk-assessed role needs an NDIS Worker Screening Check clearance. Getting the clearance number once is easy. Knowing every clearance is still valid, with written records to prove it, is the hard part.

This post covers who needs the check, what you have to keep on file, and how to set WorkZerk up to track it.

What the NDIS Worker Screening Check is

It is a national check. A state or territory worker screening unit assesses whether a person poses a risk to people with disability, on behalf of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, and decides on a clearance or an exclusion. Workers apply to one unit only, in the state or territory where they live.

State or territory	Apply through
NSW	Office of the Children's Guardian (called the NDIS Worker Check)
Victoria	vic.gov.au NDIS Worker Screening Check
Queensland	Queensland worker screening
Western Australia	Department of Communities
South Australia	DHS Screening Unit
Tasmania	Registration to Work with Vulnerable People
ACT	Access Canberra
Northern Territory	SAFE NT

The worker names you as their employer in the application, and you verify it.

Who needs one

Under the Commission's rules, a check is needed by an employee, volunteer, contractor or student working for a registered provider in a risk-assessed role or a key personnel role.

A risk-assessed role directly delivers specified supports or services, or is likely to need more than incidental contact with people with disability: physical contact, or building a rapport as a normal part of the job. Key personnel (CEO, directors, executives, managers, board members) and registered sole traders need one too.

Some states let a worker start while their application is pending, under supervision and a written risk management plan. Victoria takes a "no clearance, no start" approach instead.

Unregistered providers. The Commission says unregistered providers are not legally required to ask their workers for a clearance, but it recommends that all their workers have one. Self-managed and plan-managed participants can also decide that their workers need one.

Aged care. The Department of Health says an NDIS Worker Screening Check is recognised in aged care: an aged care worker who holds one does not also need a police certificate.

It is not a Working with Children Check. Victoria, for example, says the NDIS check does not replace its WWC Check, so a role that also involves children may need both.

How long it lasts

A clearance is valid for up to 5 years from the date of issue, unless it is cancelled or revoked. Workers can apply to renew up to 90 days before it expires.

It is nationally recognised, so a worker does not reapply when they move interstate or change employers. They give each new employer their worker screening number, and the employer checks its status in the database.

What a registered provider has to do

The Commission sets out the steps for registered providers:

• Link and check each worker. Link them to your organisation in the NDIS Worker Screening Database and check their status is "Clearance", the expiry date is in the future and "Eligible to work" is "Yes". Unlink them when they leave. Since 12 October 2026 this is done in the new NDIS Commission Portal.
• Record your risk-assessed roles. Each role's title, the part of the Worker Screening Rules it falls under, a description, the date it was assessed and who assessed it. Update it within 20 business days of identifying a new one.
• Record each worker in those roles. Full name, date of birth, address, role, application reference number, clearance number and expiry date, plus any interim bar, suspension, exclusion or misconduct allegation and the action you took.
• Keep those records for 7 years, in a form that survives the worker being unlinked in the portal.

A clearance can change after you check it. An interim bar means the person must not work with people with disability while their application is decided, a suspension means the same while their clearance is reassessed, and an exclusion means they must not work in those roles at all. The database statuses show which applies.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check with the Commission and the screening unit in each state you work in.

What WorkZerk does with an NDIS check

WorkZerk keeps the paperwork side in one place:

• Each person uploads their clearance letter or card from a private link on their phone, with no account or password.
• They have to enter the expiry date before they can send it. WorkZerk's AI check reads the date on the document and flags it if it differs from the date they typed.
• You approve each upload, and WorkZerk records who approved it and when.
• The clearance is saved to the person's contact record, so it counts on every portal they are on.
• WorkZerk emails the person before their clearance expires and asks for the renewed one.
• The Document compliance report shows who is covered, across everyone.

What it does not do: WorkZerk does not run the check, connect to the NDIS Worker Screening Database, or link anyone to your organisation in the Commission's portal. It does not keep your record of risk-assessed roles either. Those steps stay with you, and WorkZerk gives you somewhere to record that you did them.

Setting it up in WorkZerk

1. Turn on two-factor authentication

Asking people to upload documents needs two-factor authentication on your account. Set it up first under Account, then Two-factor authentication (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab).

2. Create the fields

Open Fields (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab) in the sidebar. Add a field called NDIS Worker Screening Check, choose the Upload type, and tick Require an expiry date.

Then add the details the Commission expects on your record:

• NDIS clearance number, a Text field.
• NDIS application reference, a Text field.
• Risk-assessed role, a Text field.
• Verified in NDIS database on, a Date field your team fills in after checking the worker's status.

If you also collect date of birth and address as fields, consider marking them Sensitive. See keeping sensitive information private.

3. Create a portal, or use the one you have

Open Portals (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab) and click New portal, such as "Support worker onboarding", or add the check to a portal you already run.

4. Ask for the clearance

On the portal's Requests panel, click + Insert, choose Upload, and name it "NDIS Worker Screening Check". Pick your new field under Document type and make sure Require expiry is on.

Leave Min files at 1 so it is required. Use the description to say what to send, for example: "Upload your clearance letter or card. In NSW this is your NDIS Worker Check."

Then add a Fields request for NDIS clearance number and NDIS application reference.

5. Add your people

Add people to the portal and send each one their private link. For a volunteer intake, turn on the portal's self-registration link and share that instead.

6. Review, verify and approve

Uploaded files wait under Needs review on Requests (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab). For each one:

1. Check the name and expiry date against the document. If the date was typed wrong, click Change date and correct it.
2. Link the worker in the NDIS Worker Screening Database and confirm their status is Clearance.
3. Approve the upload.
4. Enter today's date in Verified in NDIS database on on their contact record.

7. Switch on the expiry reminders

Open Automations (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab). Switch on Document expiring reminder and Document expired reminder. Both start switched off.

The expiring reminder goes 30 days before a document expires. Since workers can renew from 90 days out, consider changing it to 90 days. The reminders stop once the person uploads the new clearance.

8. Check who is covered

Open Requests (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab) and click Document compliance. Each person shows as current, expiring, needs review, expired or missing for their NDIS check.

Tick Only people who aren't compliant for the list to work through, and use Download CSV when an auditor asks for a register. See document compliance.

Getting started

Start a free WorkZerk trial at workzerk.com, then work through the steps above. If you get stuck, the getting started guide walks through a first portal end to end, or email us at [email protected].