Choice and control is not a brochure slogan; it is the design principle of the whole scheme. Your funding follows you, not the provider. Changing support providers is closer to changing hairdressers than to breaking a lease, and once you have done it once, you will wonder why you waited.
Your right to change, no reason needed
You can change providers because the service slipped, because the travel got annoying, because the worker fit never quite landed, or because you simply found someone better. You do not owe the old provider a justification, a debate, or a chance to talk you out of it. A short, polite notice is complete.
The only real obligation is the notice period in your service agreement, which is why our service agreement guide tells you to check that clause before signing anything.
The right order: five steps
- Find the new provider first. Meet them, check screening and insurance, confirm they have capacity and can actually start. Do not give notice into a vacuum.
- Check your notice period. Read the agreement (or ask your plan manager for the copy). Two to four weeks is typical.
- Line up the dates. Aim for the new provider's first shift to land at or just after the end of the notice period. The old provider must keep delivering agreed supports during notice, so a gap only happens if you let the dates drift.
- Give notice in writing. Email is perfect: dated, polite, unambiguous (wording below). Verbal notice becomes "we never received it" surprisingly often.
- Tidy the plumbing. Tell your plan manager about the switch so invoices from the old provider stop being expected, and ask for any final invoice. If you are NDIA-managed, the old service booking may need ending or reducing in the portal so the new provider can claim - the new provider or your LAC can help with this.
What to actually say
The whole letter:
Template. "Hi [name], I am writing to give notice that I will be ending services with [provider] in line with my service agreement. My last day of service will be [date, respecting the notice period]. Please send any final invoice to [me / my plan manager] and confirm receipt of this notice. Thank you for the support to date."
That is it. No reasons, no apology, no negotiation clause. If they reply asking why, you may answer or simply say "it is a decision about fit." Both are complete answers.
The three common snags
1. The guilt wobble
You may like the people even when the service is wrong. Remember the direction of the relationship: they are paid from your plan to serve your goals. Staying out of guilt costs you the exact thing the funding exists for.
2. The handover gap
New providers do better with information: your support plan, routines, preferences, what good shifts look like. You own that information and can hand it over yourself; you do not need the old provider's permission. You can also request copies of your records from them.
3. The therapy waitlist
Support work usually switches in weeks; therapists can have long waitlists. For therapy changes, get a confirmed start date or waitlist position before giving notice, and consider overlapping by one session for handover if funding allows.
If a provider makes it hard
- Exit fees beyond the agreement's reasonable notice terms are not a thing in the NDIS pricing rules. Decline, in writing.
- Ghosting the final weeks. Supports during the notice period are still owed and still billable only if delivered. Document missed shifts; you do not pay for support that did not happen (see how invoicing works).
- Withholding records or "losing" your notice. Put everything in writing and keep copies. Persistent obstruction is exactly what complaints to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission are for, and they apply to registered and unregistered providers alike.
- Retaliation talk ("good luck finding anyone else") says you are leaving the right provider.
Quick answers
Do I need a reason to change providers?
No. Wanting a better fit is reason enough, and you are not required to justify it to the provider you are leaving.
Can a provider charge an exit fee?
Exit fees are not part of the NDIS pricing rules for ordinary supports. Reasonable notice per the agreement, yes; penalty fees, no.
Will there be a gap in my supports?
Not if you confirm the new provider first and time the notice so the start dates meet. The old provider must keep delivering during the notice period.
What happens to unused funding when I leave?
It stays in your plan - it was never the provider's money. NDIA-managed plans may need an old service booking ended so the new provider can claim.