NDIS Specialist Registration: Modules, Audits and Restrictive Practices
We break down what changes when NDIS providers register for specialist groups 0104, 0110, 0131 and 0132: the full certification audit, how supplementary modules build on the Core Module, and which standards apply to each group. We also explain why Module 2A depends on whether restrictive practices may be used—and why providers should clarify that scope with their auditor early.
Chapter 1
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Will, EnableUs Community
Last time we looked at scope, and how over registering can create audit risk. Today it's the opposite situation. A provider deliberately goes after the hard groups: 0110, 0132, 0131 and 0104. What actually changes the moment they commit to one of those?
Winter, EnableUs Community
The audit pathway changes first. These specialist groups mandate a full certification audit. That's a desktop review, then an onsite assessment with staff and participant interviews, file sampling and observation of supports. The legal footing matters too. The Practice Standards are made under section 73T of the NDIS Act. The outcomes sit in the 2018 Rules, the quality indicators sit in a separate set of guidelines, and compliance is a condition of registration under section 73F(2)(c). So it's not a one off entrance exam. It follows you for as long as you're registered.
Will, EnableUs Community
I think a lot of people assume a specialist module replaces the general one. Does it?
Winter, EnableUs Community
No. Supplementary modules sit on top of the 24 standards of the Core Module. They don't stand in for them. The one exception is specialist disability accommodation registered on its own, which takes Module 5 alone. Add any other service and the Core Module comes straight back.
Will, EnableUs Community
So which module attaches to which group?
Winter, EnableUs Community
Group 0104, high intensity daily personal activities, triggers Module 1, with eight standards. It covers complex bowel care, enteral feeding, severe dysphagia, tracheostomy, urinary catheter and ventilator management, subcutaneous injections and complex wound care. Group 0110, specialist positive behaviour support, triggers Module 2, with seven standards on behaviour support plans, regulated restrictive practices, implementation, monitoring and reportable incidents. Group 0132 triggers Module 4, three standards, covering high level participant risk, barriers in the support environment and conflict of interest. And 0131 triggers Module 5, five standards, covering participant rights, dwelling enrolment, tenancy management and a strict separation between housing and support.
Will, EnableUs Community
You skipped Module 2A. That one isn't tied to a group, is it?
Winter, EnableUs Community
Right, and that's what catches people. Module 2A, with eight standards, is triggered by practice, not by the group you chose. If you use, or may use, a regulated restrictive practice, it's in your audit scope. That covers chemical, mechanical, physical and environmental restraint, and seclusion.
Will, EnableUs Community
May use. That's a slippery phrase.
Winter, EnableUs Community
It is, and the Rules do use the words possible use. My reading, and this is interpretation, is that you shouldn't answer from your registration certificate. You answer from what your team might realistically be asked to implement. If there's doubt, raise it early with your auditor rather than discovering it mid audit.