Essential Tips for Changing NDIS Providers

January 3, 2026
11:32 am

Changing NDIS Providers is a big deal and a life changing decision. If you’re a loved one of a person with a disability, a support coordinator or a person with disability, ready to change providers, you know this is a huge decision. And likely one you’re not making lightly. After many years of needing service providers in our family, living in south east Queensland. We offer a view from both family and person with disability to help you make a smooth, safe and informed transition. We also offer a fresh perspective for self-reflection and ideas for providing feedback to your current NDIS provider.

This guide supports a safe, informed change of NDIS providers by first clarifying your reasons with trusted stakeholders and using your current provider’s feedback/complaints process. It then helps you weigh pros and cons, define what you want from a new provider, prepare interview questions, and evaluate fit through meet-and-greets and unbiased review. You’re encouraged to reflect on your own role, understand service agreements and notice periods, and convey your requirements for handover with clear timelines, rosters, stakeholders, and feedback. The goal is a smooth transition that aligns with your values and needs.

Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

This guide helps you decide whether and how to change NDIS providers by first clarifying and documenting your reasons with trusted stakeholders and using your current provider’s feedback/complaints process. It then suggests weighing pros and cons, defining exactly what you want from a new provider, preparing interview questions, and assessing fit with an unbiased supporter. You’re encouraged to reflect on your own role in any issues, review service agreements and notice periods, and plan a structured handover with timelines, rosters, key stakeholders, and clear feedback.

Firstly, look at why you are wanting to change, put together a clear list of reasons, in a table with help input from your key stakeholders, such as family and friends, of exactly why or your family you want change providers. This isn’t a light-hearted convo, this is a life changing decision, so sit down and work through your thoughts with someone you value and trust, and where possible, is objective and unbiased.

Secondly, add a column next to this regarding whether these issues have been discussed with the provider, have you put them in writing and told a clear story about why you are frustrated with particular things? This column is a simple yes or no answer. Then for the issues/ concerns that you have answered yes to, what was the result? What was the outcome you wanted? Is there a way to still get the outcome you were looking for? Do you need to change providers to get the changes you want?

For the for the issues/ concerns that you have answered no to, jump onto the providers website and find their feedback page, submit your feedback, and add to your calendar the date they are expected to respond by. Registered NDIS Providers have legal obligation to have a feedback and complaints process, that means that on their website you will find a tab either at the top or bottom that provides a link for you to give feedback or make a complaint, you can see ours here. You can also provide this directly to the NDIS, and you can find more about how to do this here.

You can also provide feedback directly into your service manager, or a contact you trust at your registered NDIS provider, support staff can assist you to provide feedback also. A provider will have a feedback and complaints process that they are obliged to follow within particular timeframes. For severe feedback or complaints that resulted in harm or a breach of human rights to a person with disability, the provider has 24hours to notify the commission and provide a written response to the person making the complaint. You can also make these types of complaints directly to the NDIS here. From there, there will applicable timeframes that they must provide a clear written response with opportunities for discussion, mediation and resolution.

For less severe complaints such as a last-minute change to who will provide a service, or a support worker that wasn’t a right fit timeframes will be closer to 10 days to provide a response to your suggested outcome.

Now that you have established the things that you and your loved ones think can or cannot be resolved. Write a list of pros and cons of staying with your current provider, or moving on. Keep it simple. What do you love about your current provider, what do they do well? What don’t they do well? Have you given them this feedback, has the feedback been actioned? Was it actioned in the way you anticipated it would be? If not have you provided that feedback? Have you been very clear about the outcome you expected? Ask lots of objective questions and work through the answers with someone you trust who will be honest and keep you accountable.

Ask yourself, do the pro’s outweigh the cons? What are the consequences of leaving and staying? What pre conceived ideas might you have about what will happen next?

Once you have done these things, draw a clear picture of exactly what you want from your new service provider. This is key. This is key because your new service provider will not want to make the same mistake. Your picture needs to be explicit, to the point that you can imagine what your life looks like with the new provider in it. It might be, that you have people you can have a laugh with everyday, it might be that they are NDIS registered and everyone who is in your home is safe to be there. Whatever it looks like, have this at the ready for when you get in touch with a new provider.

You might even like to make a list of questions for your new provider, for your first meet and greet. Almost like you’re interviewing them for a job. You can even write a list of suitable answers or responses that you might accept that align with your life. You can find an example of this here.

From there you will likely have a meet and greet with the potential new provider. Remember you might not necessarily love every person you meet. Often the person who does the meet and greet are managers, not support staff or allied health staff necessarily. What needs to be established, is do they uphold the values of their organisation, can they manage their staff, and can those staff provide the services you need aligned with your clear picture of your services? You can find examples of questions to ask at a meet and greet here.

Remember to be prepared for your meet and greet, bring information that will help inform your potential new support provider about your support needs, to this meeting. Come prepared! You can see examples of things to bring to a meet and greet here.

Once you have conducted your meet and greets with your prospective providers, review each of these over a cup of coffee with a person you know and trust. Ideally this is not a support worker or professional working with your current provider or your prospective provider. You need a sounding board that that is unbiased, professional and who can help you come to your own conclusions, not theirs. This is key. You are talking about your life here, you’re making a decision that will change the future of your life. It needs to be made with time and consideration. Keep these records in case you need to re review them in future.

Next, is the hardest point of all! Consider if you have anything to do with why you are leaving, or people are responding in a way that you are unhappy with. This is a very challenging thing to do. It’s not often that we take a look at ourselves and see what we could do differently, but this is a great opportunity. Unfortunately not every person with a disability wants to need the supports they have in their life. And sometimes it’s just bloody frustration that it’s needed. Sometimes that frustration might spew out onto others, such as a loved ones or staff. I say this from lived experience. It comes from a place of love. Sometimes to change the world, we need to start with ourselves. 100% sometimes there are just shitty providers, or shitty pissed off people working in jobs they hate, that make services shit. But sometimes we are shitty and pissed off to. And sometimes both might need work. You can read more about these relationships and working within them here.

Last but not least, when you have perused all of the options available to you, and interviewed your provider ensure that you have reviewed your Service Agreement with your current provider, and the Service Agreement with your new provider. Look at the differences, consider the notice period and ensure that you provide it or you may be invoiced as per the agreement. Service Providers need time to engage staff and shuffle existing staff when you move providers, this can be disruptive to both staff and clients lives, and as such there are periods that providers need to work within to do this. This needs to be understood and respected by both the service provider and the person with disability. There are many peoples lives who will be influenced by this change and to do this well, organisations need time.

Then, agree on clear set timeframes for the handover of your supports. Establish a clear roster of care and how long it will take to have this rolled out. Decide on the people who you would like to be involved with your handover. This might be your support coordinator, loved one, friend, councillor, social worker etc. There might be many or few people who need to be involved in this. These are your key stakeholders, ensure you have a list of these people and their contact details to be clearly involved in the handover. Have a list of what you’re looking for in a support worker to guide the provider to make informed decisions about potentially suitable new staff that will meet your needs. Have a date that you intend to have your new roster of care with your new service provider rolled out and operational and meeting your needs. Arrange a time to review the handover from your old service provider to your new service provider. Cover off on things that went well, who was involved, and how things worked or didn’t. Provide feedback both good and bad, and ensure it gets to the necessary people. Often people provide only negative feedback, but positive feedback can be both inspirational and encouraging to your new provider, and something that they can share with their broader team. You can view an example of Quad Care’s Client Transition documentation here, both your current provider and new provider will need to work together to complete this.

Finally, if after reading this article, you feel that you would like a service provider in south east Queensland that does all of these things, and who’s values are aligned with yours. You can contact us here to see if we might be the right fit for each other.

H2: Frequently Asked Questions

Question: What should I do first when I’m considering changing NDIS providers? Short answer: Start by clarifying exactly why you want to change. Create a simple table of reasons with input from trusted, objective people (family, friends). Add a column noting whether each issue has been discussed with your provider and put in writing. For items you’ve already raised, record the outcome and whether your desired result is still possible without switching. For items you haven’t raised, use the provider’s feedback/complaints pathway, submit your feedback, and add the expected response date to your calendar. Then write a pros-and-cons list for staying vs moving and weigh the consequences of each.

Question: How do I use my current provider’s feedback and complaints process, and what timelines should I expect? Short answer: Registered NDIS providers must have a feedback/complaints process on their website and are obliged to follow set timeframes. For severe complaints (e.g., harm or a breach of human rights), the provider has 24 hours to notify the Commission and provide a written response to you, followed by further timeframes for discussion, mediation, and resolution. For less severe issues (e.g., last-minute staff change or a poor fit), expect a response in roughly 7–10 days. You can also submit feedback to your service manager, and support staff can help you do this. Keep records and calendar follow-ups.

Question: What should I define before contacting new providers, and how do I evaluate them? Short answer: Build a clear, explicit picture of what you want your supports and daily life to look like (e.g., shared values, NDIS registration, safety, the kind of people you want around you). Prepare interview questions and the kinds of answers you’d accept. At the meet-and-greet (often with managers), check whether they uphold their organisation’s values, can manage staff well, and can deliver the services you need in line with your picture. Review each meeting with a trusted, unbiased supporter who’s not linked to your current or prospective providers to help you reach your own conclusions.

Question: Why is self-reflection an important part of this decision? Short answer: It helps you see whether any of your own behaviours, expectations, or frustrations might be contributing to issues. This isn’t about blame—it’s about improving outcomes. Sometimes providers or staff are at fault, sometimes we are, and sometimes both. Honest reflection can clarify expectations, improve communication, and reduce the chance of repeating problems with a new provider.

Question: What practical steps ensure a smooth transition and handover to a new provider? Short answer: Review both service agreements carefully, especially notice periods, and provide the required notice to avoid extra invoices. Acknowledge providers need time to plan staffing changes. Agree on handover timelines, a clear roster of care, and a go-live date. Identify key stakeholders (e.g., support coordinator, loved ones) and share their contact details. Provide a profile of what you need in support workers to guide matching. After the switch, schedule a review of the handover to capture what worked, what didn’t, and give both positive and constructive feedback to the right people.