Your practical next steps
From a concern to the right place for help
The next step depends on urgency and whether the issue is a service concern or an NDIA decision.
- Check urgencyImmediate danger? Call 000.
- Choose the pathwayService concern or NDIA decision?
- Prepare the factsKeep the facts and desired outcome together.
Open a question to see what to do next. You can add a situation to your conversation summary. Selections stay in this browser tab until you review and choose to send them.
Is someone in immediate danger or at risk of serious injury?
Choose the situation closest to yours
This may be an emergency
Do this next: Call 000 now. Do not wait for a website enquiry or work through the rest of this guide.
Call 000There is no immediate emergency
Do this next: Identify what you want to raise. You can ask a trusted person or independent advocate to help you explain it.
Go to question 2
What is the concern about?
Choose the situation closest to yours
The quality or safety of a provider or worker
Do this next: You can raise a concern with the NDIS Commission. Speaking with the provider may also help if you feel safe and comfortable doing so.
Find the service-concern pathway Go to question 3A decision made by the NDIA
Do this next: Keep the decision letter. Check whether the decision can be reviewed and follow the current official instructions and time limits.
Find the decision-review guidance Go to question 3I am unsure which pathway applies
Do this next: Describe whether you are questioning a service experience or an NDIA decision. Use the two-pathway diagram in our official resources to clarify the difference.
Compare the two pathways Go to question 3
Can you give a short account of what happened and what you want changed?
Choose the situation closest to yours
I have the key details
Do this next: Keep relevant dates, correspondence and the outcome you are asking for together. Use the appropriate official or provider channel and keep a copy.
Make your next action clearI need help preparing
Do this next: Start with what happened, its effect and the change you want. Ask your chosen supporter how to record the concern clearly and how you will hear back.
Make your next action clear
For a non-emergency concern, choose one next contact
Record the pathway, the person or organisation to contact and any deadline that applies. A service complaint and an NDIA decision review are different processes.
- What happened and when
- The change you want
- The correct contact and any deadline
Read the full guide
Open only the explanation you need, or read them all.
Start with the issue and the change you want
For an everyday service issue, note what happened, when, its effect and the change you would like. You might want an explanation, a different appointment arrangement, clearer invoices or an agreed next step.
If you feel comfortable raising it directly, ask the provider about its feedback process. You can choose a trusted person to help you prepare or take part. Keep a copy of what you raised and any response.
Quality or safety of NDIS supports
The NDIS Commission deals with concerns about the quality and safety of NDIS supports and services. Use its current reporting information to understand how to raise your concern. A concern about an unsafe support should not be treated merely as a scheduling inconvenience.
For immediate danger or an emergency, call 000. This website and our enquiry form are not emergency response services.
A decision made by the NDIA
Disagreeing with an NDIA decision is different from complaining about a provider. Check your decision letter for the review pathway, the relevant timeframe and what the NDIA asks you to provide. Use the current official decision-review page.
Keep the decision date, what you disagree with and your questions together. A coordinator can help you organise a conversation, but cannot promise a new decision or substitute for specialist advice.
Choose the people you want involved
You can ask about communication assistance, an accessible format or a trusted person. Clarify any consent or authority needed before someone speaks or exchanges documents on another person’s behalf.
Share only what is relevant through a suitable channel. Avoid putting NDIS numbers or health reports into an initial contact email to us. Agree what information is needed and how it should be shared.
Feedback to us
Use our published phone or email to say what you would like to discuss or change. Ask for the applicable provider’s complaints process before ongoing work, especially where services are delivered under subcontractor arrangements.
You can use an external route where appropriate. An introductory conversation does not remove your choice to seek another provider, a trusted person or independent advice.
Go to the source
General preparation guidance. Use the current official page and the details of your own plan for decisions.