Guides

Verification and certification

NDIS verification vs certification: costs and evidence

For providers comparing audit types, or getting a registration scope ready.

Short answer: Verification is a desktop audit for lower risk supports. Certification adds an onsite review of how you work. The Commission's scope of audit says which one you need. See the sources.

The scope of audit records the audit type and the registration groups your application needs. We prepare your material. The independent approved quality auditor runs the audit.

How verification and certification differ

Your audit type follows your supports, services, modules and the way you operate. Verification is the approved auditor's desktop review of your documents. Certification adds an onsite review of how you work in practice.

The Commission's application and registration group material sets the starting point. The scope of audit then confirms it. Your auditor confirms what evidence you need.

Household tasks or therapeutic supports may sit in Verification. That applies when the Commission puts you on the simpler pathway. Daily personal activities or community participation may need Certification.

SIL uses the Commission's Certification audit type. For our preparation, SIL and high intensity use the A$3,290 pathway. High intensity work depends on your actual supports and modules. Clinical content stays with your registered health practitioner.

These examples help you plan. The Commission confirms your final scope.

Build your evidence

1. Confirm your scope. Your entity, supports, modules, sites, workers and the pathway you want.
2. Map your controls. Policies, registers, worker screening, HR records and where each file sits.
3. Check what you really do. A policy nobody follows is not proof, because evidence comes from real work.
4. Keep the fees apart. The auditor's quote is separate from preparation, staff time, travel, extra sites and extra modules.

The all-in cost of getting registered

• Our fee. A$790 for Verification, A$1,890 for Certification, or A$3,290 for Certification with SIL or high intensity. These are the amounts you pay. We do not charge GST.
• Your auditor's fee. You contract and pay the approved auditor direct. The auditor sets its own fee. Published ranges for a sole trader or micro provider are A$800 to A$1,500 for a verification audit. A certification audit is A$3,000 to A$5,000 (NDISCompliant, How to Choose an NDIS Approved Quality Auditor, accessed 12 August 2026).
• Commission fees. The Commission states there is no cost to register with the NDIS Commission. It also states that it does not set prices for audit services (NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, The quality audit process, accessed 12 August 2026).

That auditor source says its ranges cover auditor fees only. They exclude document preparation, consultant fees and staff time. Ranges are not quotes.

Worked example. This is an estimate, not a quote. Our A$3,290 fee plus a certification audit of A$3,000 to A$5,000 gives an estimated total of A$6,290 to A$8,290.

Your own clinical practitioner cost and your staff time sit outside that estimate. Your auditor's quote may fall outside the published range.

Get a written auditor quote

You contract and pay the approved auditor separately. Ask for a written quote once the Commission confirms your scope of audit and registration groups. The amount depends on that scope. It may also cover audit stages, travel, extra sites or extra modules.

Our preparation fee is separate from the auditor's fee.

How to compare a quote

• Check whether the amount is the auditor fee only.
• Ask which entity, sites, supports, modules and workers the quote assumes.
• Ask what happens if the auditor needs more evidence, more sampling or another stage.
• Keep any consultant fee separate from the auditor fee.

Common mistakes

• Picking the cheaper audit label before you check what you actually deliver.
• Comparing a template price with an auditor fee as if they were the same thing.
• Treating your own green checklist as proof of what the auditor or Commission will decide.

Sources

• NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, Types of audits, accessed 10 September 2026.
• NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, Registration groups or classes of support, accessed 10 September 2026.
• NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, Apply for registration, accessed 10 September 2026.
• NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, Mandatory registration for SIL, accessed 10 September 2026.
• NDISCompliant, How to Choose an NDIS Approved Quality Auditor, accessed 12 August 2026. Commercial guidance page; the ranges it publishes are approved quality auditor fees only.