NDIS Terms of Service

Before we start, we put a service agreement in place with you. It's a written record of what we've both agreed to: the supports we'll deliver, how often, what they cost, how we get paid, our cancellation terms, and what happens if either of us needs to change or end the arrangement ³.

The NDIS Practice Standards describe a service agreement as a written agreement between a provider and a participant covering the supports to be provided and the conditions around them ⁵. Under the NDIS, a written agreement isn't compulsory in most cases (specialist disability accommodation is the exception), but it is recommended, and we use one every time ³. Terms written down are easier for everyone than terms remembered differently six months later.

You can ask for your agreement in a format that works for you, and you're welcome to have a family member, carer, support coordinator, nominee or advocate go through it with you. Take it away and read it before you sign if you'd rather. Nothing starts until you've agreed to it.

If our prices change (the NDIS updates its pricing arrangements each year, effective 1 July), we'll talk it through with you first. Changes to an existing service agreement have to be agreed by you before they're made ².

There are three ways an NDIS plan can be managed, and we work with all three ⁴:

• Plan-managed. A registered plan manager pays our invoices from your funding and keeps the records. We invoice your plan manager directly, with the detail they need so the claim goes through first time.
• Self-managed. You or your nominee pay providers and keep the records. We invoice you directly, and you claim it back through the NDIS.
• NDIA-managed (also called agency-managed). The NDIA pays and manages providers and records. We claim through the NDIS portal on your behalf. This is the pathway where provider registration is checked, and we're registered, so it's available to you here.

You can hold different support categories under different management types, and you can ask the NDIA to change how your plan is managed at any time ⁴. Tell us when that happens so our invoicing follows it.

We only claim for supports that sit in your plan, that we've actually delivered, and that your service agreement covers. If you think we've claimed something in error, tell us and we'll sort it out. You can also raise claiming mistakes with the NDIA directly on 1800 800 110 ⁴.

An appointment we hold for you is time set aside for you specifically: a physiotherapist's hour that isn't offered to anyone else. When it's cancelled at short notice, that time usually can't be filled.

Under the NDIS pricing arrangements, a cancellation of a therapy support counts as a short notice cancellation when you give less than two clear business days' notice, or when you don't arrive for a scheduled support within a reasonable time ¹. Where that happens, a provider may claim up to 100% of the agreed fee from the participant's plan, but only where the service agreement sets those terms out ¹. Providers can also waive the fee, or offer better notice terms than the minimum ¹.

Where a short notice cancellation fee is claimed from your plan, it's claimed against the same support item using the NDIS "Cancellation" option. It isn't a separate private bill ¹.

Things happen: illness, transport that doesn't arrive, a support worker who can't make it. Let us know as early as you can and we'll work with you.

As a registered NDIS provider, we're assessed against the NDIS Practice Standards, which set out the quality standards registered providers have to meet: your rights and responsibilities, how the practice is governed and run, how supports are provided and in what environment, and how we manage complaints, incidents, risk and our staff ⁵.

We're also bound by the NDIS Code of Conduct, which applies to us as an organisation and to every person who works here ⁶. In practice, it means we will:

• respect your right to make your own decisions, and to express yourself
• respect your privacy
• deliver supports safely and competently, with care and skill
• act with integrity, honesty and transparency
• raise and act on concerns promptly
• prevent and respond to violence, exploitation, neglect and abuse
• prevent and respond to sexual misconduct
• not charge more, or represent higher prices, for supports to NDIS participants without a reasonable justification ⁶

That last one is worth saying plainly: your plan is not charged a different rate because it's a plan.

If something about your supports hasn't sat right (the treatment, a bill, a booking, or the way someone spoke to you), tell us. You can raise it with your physiotherapist, call us on (02) 8111 5633, or use our Complaints Policy, which sets out how we handle it. Raising a complaint does not change the care you get.

You never have to come to us first. The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission takes complaints about registered providers and their workers, independently of us:

• Phone: 1800 035 544 (free call from landlines)
• TTY: 133 677
• National Relay Service: ask for 1800 035 544
• Online: the Commission's complaint form at ndiscommission.gov.au
• Post: NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, PO Box 210, Penrith NSW 2751
• Open: Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm, closed public holidays ⁷

You can report something anonymously or confidentially, and interpreters are available ⁷.

As a registered provider, we're required to make you feel safe and comfortable raising a concern with us, deal with it quickly and effectively, never threaten you for raising it, and help you report it to the Commission when that's what you want ⁷.

Worth knowing: the Commission handles complaints about supports, services and workers. It can't help with decisions about your plan or your funding, how long the NDIA takes to respond, or provider payment issues: those go to the NDIA on 1800 800 110 ⁷.

Your goals change, and your supports should change with them. You can ask to adjust what we're delivering, how often, or who delivers it, at any point: that's a conversation, not a formal process.

Either of us can end the agreement, with the notice period set out in it. If we can't keep delivering your supports (because what you need sits outside physiotherapy, because we can't deliver them safely, or because your plan or funding changes), we'll tell you, explain why, give you reasonable notice, and help you move to another provider rather than leave you to start again on your own.

Delivering NDIS supports means sharing some information: with your plan manager or the NDIA so we can be paid, and with your support coordinator where they're helping to arrange your supports. We'll only share what's needed for that, or what you've asked us to share, or what the law requires.

How we collect, store and protect your information (health information especially) is set out in our Privacy Policy.

We may update these terms if our services change, if NDIS pricing or rules change, or if the law does. The current version is always the one on this page, dated at the top. Changes here don't override a service agreement already in place with you: those changes are agreed with you directly ².

If anything here is unclear, ask us: that's easier than guessing.

Call (02) 8111 5633 or reach us through our contact page. To read more about the service itself, see NDIS Physiotherapy.