NDIS Practice Standards explained: Core, supplementary modules and 5A (2026)
The NDIS Practice Standards are the quality standards a registered provider is audited against. This page lays out their structure as the Commission publishes it: the Core Module, the seven supplementary modules including the supported independent living module added in 2026, the Verification Module, and how outcomes and quality indicators are used.
Published 25 September 2026. Every statement below was read at its own source on that date; the numbered links take you there.
How the Standards are built
The Standards specify the quality standards registered providers must meet, and they are broken into modules: a Core Module for all registered providers delivering higher-risk supports, supplementary modules that apply depending on the supports delivered, and a Verification Module for providers delivering lower-risk supports. Each module has outcomes, which are high-level and participant-focused, and quality indicators, which auditors use to assess compliance and which indicate how a provider may show it.[1] The Standards are made under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Provider Registration and Practice Standards) Rules 2018; the compilation in force since 1 July 2026 is No. 6.[2]
The Core Module
The Core Module covers four areas: rights and responsibilities for participants; provider governance and operational management; provision of supports; and provision of supports environments.[1] In practice these are where the audit spends most of its time, because the incident, complaints, risk, worker screening and record-keeping evidence sits under governance and provision of supports. Our policy versus evidence guide shows what a record for each area looks like.
The supplementary modules
The Commission names seven, applied depending on the supports and services delivered: high intensity daily personal activities; specialist behaviour support; implementing behaviour support plans; early childhood supports; specialised support coordination; specialist disability accommodation; and supported independent living.[1] In the Rules these are the numbered modules, from Module 1 for high intensity daily personal activities through Module 5 for specialist disability accommodation, Module 5A for supported independent living and Module 6 for verification.[2]
Module 5A, supported independent living
Module 5A was added to the Rules for 1 July 2026, the date SIL registration became mandatory and the new class of support 0138 came in.[5] Its four standards are supported decision-making; safeguarding; practice governance; and agreements about tenancy, housing and support arrangements.[2] Our Module 5A preparation guide takes each of the four in turn, and the 1 October deadline page covers who had to apply.
The Verification Module
For providers delivering lower-risk, lower-complexity supports, the Verification Module covers human resource management, risk management, complaints management and resolution, and incident management.[1] The audit for these providers is a desktop review of required documents by an approved quality auditor.[3]
How auditors use them
An auditor assesses a provider against the Standards relevant to its application, and the Initial scope of audit document lists which ones.[3] The groups you apply for decide the audit type: any certification group means a certification audit, with a Stage 1 desktop review and a Stage 2 onsite visit.[4] The quality indicators are the auditor's checklist; the Commission's account of an audit day is a search for real examples behind each policy, such as incident reports, complaints records, training logs and supervision notes, rather than the policy alone.[3] The Stage 1 evidence checklist lists the records item by item.
Questions providers are asking
What is a quality indicator?
Each module has outcomes, which are high-level and participant-focused, and quality indicators that auditors use to assess compliance and that indicate how a provider may show it.[1]
Does the Core Module apply to everyone?
The Core Module applies to all registered providers delivering higher-risk supports; providers delivering only lower-risk supports are assessed against the Verification Module instead.[1]
What is Module 5A?
The supplementary module for supported independent living, added to the Rules for 1 July 2026 alongside mandatory SIL registration. Its four standards are supported decision-making, safeguarding, practice governance, and agreements about tenancy, housing and support arrangements.[2][5]
Where are the Standards written down?
In the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Provider Registration and Practice Standards) Rules 2018; the current compilation, No. 6, has been in force since 1 July 2026. The Commission publishes them online and as a PDF with the quality indicators.[2][1]
Which modules will my audit cover?
The Initial scope of audit document lists the relevant Practice Standards for your application; the Commission's Registration Requirements by Supports and Services gives the modules per registration group.[3]
What is in the Verification Module?
Human resource management, risk management, complaints management and resolution, and incident management.[1]
Sources
Each numbered line is the page a statement above was taken from, with the date we opened it. Read the source before you act; we summarise, the source decides.
- NDIS Practice Standards, NDIS Commission, last updated 25 June 2026, opened 25 September 2026.
- National Disability Insurance Scheme (Provider Registration and Practice Standards) Rules 2018, Compilation No. 6 (in force 1 July 2026), Federal Register of Legislation, opened 25 September 2026.
- The quality audit process, NDIS Commission, opened 25 September 2026.
- Registration groups or classes of support, NDIS Commission, last updated 3 July 2026, opened 25 September 2026.
- Mandatory registration, NDIS Commission reform hub, last updated 8 September 2026, opened 25 September 2026.