When choosing an NDIS provider, it’s natural to focus on the services they offer. But have you ever wondered how the quality of those services is measured?
One of the most important ways quality is assessed in the NDIS is through independent audits against the NDIS Practice Standards.
At Closer Care, we’re proud to consistently achieve Best Practice ratings during our NDIS audits. While we’re incredibly proud of this achievement, we believe it’s important for participants, families, support coordinators, and the wider community to understand what it actually means.
Understanding NDIS Audits
All registered NDIS providers are required to undergo independent audits to assess whether they meet the standards set by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.
These audits examine many areas of a provider’s operations, including:
- Participant rights and choice
- Service delivery and support planning
- Risk management
- Incident management
- Complaints handling
- Workforce capability and training
- Governance and leadership
- Continuous improvement processes
Auditors review documentation, interview staff, and speak with participants to ensure providers are delivering safe, effective, and person-centred supports.
Compliance vs Best Practice
Meeting compliance requirements is important. It ensures providers are operating safely and meeting their obligations under the NDIS Practice Standards.
However, best practice goes beyond simply meeting minimum requirements.
Best practice reflects a commitment to continuous improvement, innovation, participant outcomes, and excellence in service delivery.
It’s the difference between asking:
“Are we meeting the standard?”
and
“How can we continue to improve the experience and outcomes for the people we support?”
What Best Practice Looks Like at Closer Care
At Closer Care, best practice is embedded into everything we do.
- Participant-Centred Support
We believe every participant deserves support that is tailored to their goals, preferences, strengths, and aspirations. This means listening carefully, involving participants in decision-making, and ensuring they maintain genuine choice and control over the supports they receive.
- Strong Systems That Protect Participants
Quality support relies on strong systems operating behind the scenes. Our policies, procedures, risk management processes, and governance systems are designed to create safe and reliable services that participants and families can trust.
- Ongoing Staff Development
The disability sector continues to evolve, and so do we. We invest in training, professional development, supervision, and continuous learning to ensure our team remains skilled, knowledgeable, and capable of providing high-quality support.
- Listening and Learning
Feedback is one of the most valuable tools for improvement. We actively encourage feedback from participants, families, support coordinators, team members, and community partners because every conversation helps us improve.
- Continuous Improvement
Best practice isn’t a destination. It’s an ongoing commitment.
We regularly review our systems, processes, programs, and service delivery to identify opportunities to improve outcomes for the people we support.
Why This Matters for Participants
Choosing an NDIS provider is an important decision.
Providers that demonstrate best practice are often those that prioritise quality, accountability, participant safety, and positive outcomes.
For participants and families, this can provide confidence that supports are being delivered by an organisation that values continuous improvement and is committed to delivering high-quality services.
Raising the Standard Together
At Closer Care, we don’t see compliance as the finish line.
We see it as the foundation upon which we build exceptional support experiences.
Our commitment to best practice reflects our dedication to empowering participants, supporting meaningful outcomes, and continuously raising the standard of disability support.
Thank you to our participants, families, support coordinators, team members, and community partners who continue to trust us with their journey.
Together, we’re creating better tomorrows.
Want to learn more about Closer Care?
📞 (02) 8359 1591
📧 referrals@closercare.com.au
🌐 www.closercare.com.au
Frequently Asked Questions About NDIS Audits and Best Practice
What is an NDIS audit?
An NDIS audit is an independent assessment conducted by an approved quality auditor to determine whether a registered NDIS provider is meeting the requirements of the NDIS Practice Standards and the NDIS Code of Conduct.
Audits help ensure participants receive safe, high-quality, and person-centred supports.
What are the NDIS Practice Standards?
The NDIS Practice Standards are a set of quality benchmarks established by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.
They cover important areas including:
- Participant rights and choice
- Service delivery
- Governance and leadership
- Risk management
- Complaints management
- Incident management
- Workforce capability
- Continuous improvement
These standards help ensure providers deliver quality services that support positive participant outcomes.
What does a Best Practice rating mean?
A Best Practice rating demonstrates that a provider is not only meeting the required standards but is also showing evidence of practices that go beyond minimum compliance requirements.
It reflects a commitment to quality, innovation, continuous improvement, participant safety, and achieving meaningful outcomes for the people receiving support.
Why should participants care about NDIS audit results?
Audit results provide valuable insight into how a provider operates behind the scenes.
A provider with strong audit outcomes is more likely to have:
- Effective systems and processes
- Skilled and supported staff
- Strong risk management practices
- Clear participant safeguards
- A culture of continuous improvement
These factors contribute to safer, more reliable, and higher-quality supports.
How does Closer Care maintain high-quality standards?
At Closer Care, quality is embedded into everything we do.
We maintain strong governance systems, invest in ongoing staff development, actively seek participant feedback, regularly review our services, and focus on delivering supports that are tailored to each participant’s goals and aspirations.
Our commitment to continuous improvement helps us consistently achieve strong audit outcomes while ensuring participants remain at the centre of everything we do.
What is the difference between compliance and quality?
Compliance means meeting the minimum requirements set by the NDIS Practice Standards.
Quality means continuously looking for ways to improve participant experiences, strengthen service delivery, and achieve better outcomes.
At Closer Care, we believe compliance is the foundation, but quality and best practice are what truly make a difference.
Want to learn how to prepare for your next NDIS audit? Watch our video below, where we share our top 4 tips to help NDIS providers achieve best practice, strengthen compliance, and feel more confident during the audit process.
