There has been lots of discussion over the last few days about the timelines for the completion of your NDIS audits. This morning I had a chat with the lovely people at the NDIS Commission and here is what I have for you.
We are developing a Policy to Practice solution that will get you from Registration to Audit. You can register your expression of interest to find out more here.
FIRST – LET’S REVIEW THE PROCESS
The process for renewing your registration has a series of steps. This is outlined clearly in the NDIS Commission Registration Renewal document.
Basically the first thing you need to do is to log into the Commission portal. You can do this directly from the NDIS Portal.
There are also instructions for using the Commission portal available here and this one includes screen shots too.
This is where you will complete your online application and self – assessment. At this stage you can make any changes - remove or add support groups, change your business structure, address details etc. It makes the most sense to make these changes now because if you make significant changes after this (like adding support groups or shifting from a sole trader to a company) it can trigger another audit.
ATTACHMENTS
NOTE: right now you are limited to 7 uploaded attachments of 2MB or less each. The Commission are VERY OK for you to write in the 300 words self assessment boxes ‘relevant documentation will be supplied directly to the auditors’.
Hack: this also means that you will have more time to get your documentation completed if it’s not quite ready.
Once you submit your online application and self – assessment, you will receive a Scope of Audit document which is what you provide to the auditors in order to obtain a quote. Please obtain a quote from ALL auditors as costs are varying enormously. Here is the link where you can find all approved auditors.
We are collecting data about the cost of audit which is being fed back to both the NDIS Commission and the NDIA. You can lodge your audit quote information here.
Once you have chosen and engaged an auditor, you will provide them with a reference number which is on your Scope of Audit document. They will use this to log into the system and connect themselves with your business.
The auditors have 9 months from the expiry date on your Certificate of Registration to complete the audit and get the report back to the Commission.
Once the auditors return their report, the Commission will determine suitability. You will be notified as to the outcome.
Then you need to ensure that you are complying with the Practice Standards in an ongoing way until it’s time to renew your registration or undergo a surveillance audit.
Remember that there are circumstances where the Commission can trigger an unscheduled audit (usually if there has been a serious incident or complaint – see the auditor rules for details here) so you want to make sure that you are engaging with your policies, systems and processes consistently.
FOR RENEWING REGISTRATIONS
Providers who are looking to renew their registration have been sent a Registration Certificate. On that Certificate is an expiry date. You can also see this expiry date inside the NDIS Commission portal.
Providers who are considering renewing their registration must START their online application by the expiry date. Renewing providers ARE NOT subject to the 60 day completion rule as new registrations are (see below) HOWEVER you must have your audit complete and the auditors must have their report back to the Commission by 9 months after that very important expiry date.
Remember (from above) that you can’t get your specific quotes from the auditor until you get your Scope of Audit document from the Commission and you can’t get that until you submit your COMPLETED online application.
The online application is lengthy, especially for those who are completing Certification. I suggest that you do not leave this until the last minute.
If your 9 months after expiry date passes without the auditor report being received your business will be removed from the system.
FOR NEW REGISTRATIONS
For those who are starting up, the process is similar but the timelines are different.
The online application is completed directly from the Commission website. Once started, this MUST be completed within 60 days or the application is deleted and must be started again.
Once the online application is complete, the Scope of Audit document is sent out, as per above. This is then used to gather quotes from the auditors. Again, please ask ALL auditors for quotes as they are varying enormously.
There is NO timeline for new registrations to complete their audit after submitting the online application. However your registration is not complete until it’s done and therefore you can’t claim from the NDIS for any supports delivered.
Once the audit is complete the report is sent to the Commission as above and from there the process is the same as renewing registrations.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?
Having worked through the process with a few people now, here is my take.
VERIFICATION: The self assessment is against 4 limited outcomes of the Practice Standards only. Documents still need to be supplied against each of these units however given we know now that these can be supplied directly to the auditor at a later date it is not essential that they are completed at the time the of the online application, although the application process kind of informs the content of your documentation. New registrations may need some support to understand the language and the landscape, so don’t hesitate to be in touch via the contact option on my page. Allow between 2 and 12 hours for the online application plus the time to develop relevant documentation.
CERTIFICATION: The self assessment will vary depending on any additional high risk groups. The Core part of the application is against 24 outcomes of the Practice Standards. The volume within the high risk modules varies. Depending on how much detail you want to go into in the 300 word boxes this application can take some time. The evidence trail you need to have in place to show an auditor that you are working to the Standards is significant and will vary depending on how much you already have in place and the complexity of the supports that your business offers. I would allow 10 - 20 solid hours for the online application and if you blitz it in less time then happy days :).
I will add a link to this information to the FAQ’s page.