Support worker duties, responsibilities — and the Code of Conduct behind them

An NDIS support worker is the person who delivers hands-on, funded support in a participant’s daily life — at home, in the community, and everywhere a plan’s goals actually happen. This guide covers what support workers do day to day, the responsibilities that sit behind the visible work, and the NDIS Code of Conduct — the national rules every worker and provider must follow.

What does an NDIS support worker do?

The core duties fall into four groups:

• Personal care — showering, dressing, grooming, medication prompts, and support with mealtimes.
• Daily living at home — meal preparation, routines, and help with household tasks like laundry and keeping living areas manageable.
• Community access — getting to appointments, shopping, transport and travel training, social outings and group activities.
• Skill building — cooking, budgeting, using public transport confidently, and the routines that build toward independence.

What a particular worker does for a particular participant isn’t a generic checklist — it comes from the participant’s plan, their goals and the service agreement. That is why good support work starts with matching and a proper introduction, not just a roster slot.

Support worker responsibilities: the work behind the work

The duties above are the visible half. The responsibilities that make support work professional are less visible and matter just as much:

• Consistency — turning up as rostered, on time, and staying long enough in a participant’s life for trust to form.
• Case notes — recording each shift accurately so coordinators, families and other workers can see what is actually happening.
• Noticing and raising concerns — changes in health, mood, safety or circumstances get reported early, not sat on.
• Working within the plan — delivering what the service agreement funds, and flagging when needs have outgrown it.
• Privacy and boundaries — a warm working relationship that stays a professional one, with the participant’s information kept confidential.

What is the NDIS Code of Conduct for support workers?

The NDIS Code of Conduct is the national set of rules for how NDIS supports and services must be delivered. There is no separate code of conduct for support workers — one Code covers everyone in the sector: registered and unregistered providers, employees, and independent or platform-based workers. In plain English, the Code’s eight commitments are:

1. Respect each person’s right to make their own decisions — freedom of expression and self-determination come first.
2. Respect people’s privacy.
3. Deliver supports safely and competently, with care and skill.
4. Act with integrity, honesty and transparency.
5. Raise concerns about the quality or safety of supports promptly — and act on them.
6. Take all reasonable steps to prevent and respond to violence, exploitation, neglect and abuse.
7. Take all reasonable steps to prevent and respond to sexual misconduct.
8. Not charge NDIS participants more for goods than other customers pay.

The official wording and guidance live with the regulator: the NDIS Code of Conduct at the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, including its guidance for workers (PDF). Breaches can be reported to the Commission, which can take action against workers and providers — including banning orders.

What a support worker can’t do

Knowing the limits protects participants as much as the duties do. A support worker doesn’t provide therapy or clinical treatment — that is allied health, and a support coordinator can help connect it. They don’t manage your plan funds — that is a plan manager or the NDIA. And they never work around your choices: under the Code, your right to decide comes before anyone’s convenience, including the provider’s.

How Tegrity applies the Code

For us the Code isn’t a poster in a back office. Our workers hold NDIS Worker Screening clearances, you meet your worker before supports start, the same small team stays with you fortnight to fortnight, case notes are available same-day on request, and our conflict-of-interest policy is in writing. When something isn’t working, we say so — the Code’s fifth commitment is the one that keeps the others honest.

If support doesn’t meet this standard

Raise it with the provider first — a decent one treats a complaint as information, not an attack. If nothing changes, switching providers is your right and needs no NDIA approval, and our guide to a provider that has gone quiet covers the awkward middle. Serious concerns can go straight to the NDIS Commission on 1800 035 544 or through the complaints form on their website.

Common questions

Related reading: how to choose an NDIS support worker, support work vs support coordination, and agency vs platform support workers.