How to choose a disability support worker

People agonise over choosing a phone plan and then accept the first support worker they are sent. It should be the other way around. The good news: you have far more say than most participants realise, whichever way your plan is managed, and a careful hour up front saves months of polite dissatisfaction later.

What actually matters, in order

1. Reliability. A brilliant worker who cancels often is worse than a good worker who always shows up. Support that does not arrive is not support.
2. Fit. You will spend hours together. Shared humour, respect for how you like things done, and the ability to be quietly present without taking over matter more than any certificate.
3. Competence for your needs. Manual handling, meal prep, medication prompting, behaviour support: match skills to your actual support plan, not a generic checklist.
4. Communication habits. Do they confirm shifts? Flag problems early? Write useful notes? Boring habits, enormous difference.

The non-negotiable checks

Before fit comes safety. Whoever supplies the worker, these should exist and you are entitled to ask for evidence:

• NDIS Worker Screening Check - the national clearance for people delivering NDIS supports (run by the NDIS Commission, applied for through the state). Where it does not apply, a recent police check is the minimum.
• Working With Children Check - mandatory if supporting anyone under 18 in NSW.
• First aid / CPR - appropriate to the support being delivered.
• NDIS Worker Orientation Module - a free Commission training module; completing it signals a worker who takes the Code of Conduct seriously.
• Insurance - if you use a provider, ask whether workers are covered by the provider's public liability insurance and workers compensation. If you employ directly, insurance becomes your homework.

Interview questions that reveal fit

Ask open questions about real situations. Rehearsed answers survive yes/no questions; they fall apart on specifics.

• "Tell me about a participant you worked with for a long time. What made it work?" Listen for whether they talk about the person or about themselves.
• "What would you do if you arrived and I was having a really bad day and did not want support?" You are listening for respect for your autonomy, not a script.
• "What is something a participant taught you?" Workers who see the relationship as one-way teaching tend to overstep.
• "How do you handle running late or needing to cancel?" The answer should involve telling you early, every time, no exceptions.
• "What support tasks are you not confident with?" Everyone has some. "None" is the wrong answer; honesty here predicts honesty everywhere.
• For agencies, add: "Who covers shifts if this worker is sick, and will I meet them first?" Backup arrangements are where good providers separate from thin ones.

Meet-and-greets and trial shifts

A short, no-commitment meet-and-greet before any first shift is standard good practice: fifteen minutes, a cuppa, both sides deciding. Good providers offer it unprompted. After that, treat the first few shifts as a working trial on both sides. Notice:

• Did they arrive on time and confirm beforehand?
• Did they follow how you like things done, or default to their way?
• Do you feel more capable around them, or managed?
• Are their shift notes accurate about what actually happened?

If the answer pattern is wrong, say so early. Asking a provider for a different worker is routine, not rude, and any provider worth keeping treats it that way.

Red flags worth acting on

• Boundary creep - asking for loans, oversharing, contacting you outside arranged channels, bringing others to shifts.
• Doing-for instead of doing-with - consistently taking over tasks you want to do or learn yourself.
• Notes that do not match reality - shifts logged longer than worked, or tasks recorded that did not happen. This is a Code of Conduct issue, not a quirk.
• Discouraging you from other providers or from complaining - isolation is a recognised warning sign in disability services, and it starts small.

Concerns about any provider or worker, registered or not, can go to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. You never need anyone's permission to raise one.

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