Platform provider is a term used to describe a NDIS provider that uses a profile-based platform to connect participants with workers to deliver NDIS supports, for example an app or website where participants and workers create a ‘profile’. Platform providers may be registered or unregistered NDIS providers.
The NDIS Commission conducted an Own Motion Inquiry to understand the experience of participants that use platform providers.
Inquiry into platform providers
The Own Motion Inquiry into how platform providers operate in the NDIS market was published in 2023 and found the following.
There are many advantages such as:
- platforms offer people with disability choice and control over who they choose to support them
- platform providers can make accessing NDIS supports or services easier.
Using platforms to find workers can be extra work:
- it can be a lot of work to set up profiles and use a platform provider
- participants need to provide personal information to platform providers, and sometimes this information is used in the wrong way.
More needs to be done to improve service quality and safety including:
- platform providers need to make sure there is a clear understanding of the service relationships between participants and the people they find through platforms
- participants want all NDIS providers – including those that use platforms – to know about disability and how to support people with disability
- platform providers need to get better at explaining what they are charging for because fees vary from platform to platform and they aren’t always clear
- platform providers should always check if the workers available on their platform are safe to work with people with disability because sometimes they aren’t checked and participants don’t feel safe.
For more information see:
Using platform providers
These guides are for NDIS participants who want to know more about using platform providers.