Services Agreements and the NDIS

When you say yes to using your NDIS money to pay for help, you and the person who helps you make a deal together. This deal is called a service agreement. It is covered by a law in Australia that protects people who buy things or get services.

It’s a good idea to write down what you and the person who helps you have agreed to in a service agreement. This makes it clear what you both said you would do. For example, what help you need and how they will help you.
 
You can ask someone you trust, like a family member or friend, to help you make a service agreement. You can use a service agreement that the person who helps you has used before, or you can make your own.
 
The person who helps you should explain things to you in a way you can understand. They should use words and ways of talking that make sense to you.
 
If you need help finding a place to live because of your disability, you must have a written service agreement in place. But for other kinds of help, you don’t need a written service agreement.
 
Sometimes, the people who check that things are going well with the NDIS might look at the service agreement to make sure that everyone is doing what they agreed to do.

When you talk with the person who helps you, you should know what kind of help you need, how much it will cost, and who will do what. This is called negotiating a service agreement.
 
You should also know:

• What the person who helps you will do for you
• How much it will cost
• What you have to do
• How long the agreement will last
• How you can change the agreement if you need to
• What you can do if you don’t agree with something in the agreement

You can use resources like “Things to think about when making a service agreement” and “Making a Service Agreement: Things to think about – Easy Read” to help you think about what you want to include in the agreement.

You can find more information about using service agreements, or you can contact the NDIS.

Other information is also available from these organisations:

NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission

The group that makes sure that the people who help you follow the rules is called the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission). They make sure that the people who help you are doing a good job.

You can find out more about service agreements on the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission website.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has information to help you understand how contracts work and what your rights are as a consumer with a disability. They can help you understand how to make sure that you get what you pay for.

You can find more information about your rights under Australian Consumer Law on the ACCC website.

Australian Taxation Office (ATO)

Some of the supports that you get from the NDIS don’t have GST (Goods and Services Tax) added to the price. This means they are GST-free. However, not all NDIS supports are GST-free.

You can find more information about which NDIS supports are GST-free and how GST works with the NDIS on the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website.

Original source.