Do NDIS Support Workers on Mable Need to Be Registered?

Since 1 July 2026, NDIS digital platforms such as Mable have had to be registered with the NDIS Commission, or, if they were already operating, apply for registration by 1 October 2026. The requirement sits with the platform operator. The platform rules don't require an individual worker using a platform to hold their own registration. Separate rules already require registration for some supports, including SIL, specialist behaviour support, the use of regulated restrictive practices, specialist disability accommodation and plan management. NDIA-managed participants can also only use registered providers.

What has changed for workers is what a registered platform has to check about you, from 1 January 2027. Separately, the government plans to expand mandatory registration to higher risk supports from 1 July 2027, and that may include work you find through a platform.

If you're an independent support worker who doesn't use a platform, Do NDIS independent support workers need to be registered? covers your situation.

Platform registration

A provider delivering an "NDIS digital platform service" must now be registered under registration group 0137. The Commission's July 2026 webinar sets out the definition. A platform is an online application, website or system where the operator acts as an intermediary between participants and the people providing their supports, and where the operator (or an associated entity or contractor) processes payments for those supports from participants' NDIS plans. It only counts as an NDIS digital platform if its main purpose is connecting participants with supports from their plan. Registered platforms need certification audits and must comply with the Core Module of the NDIS Practice Standards.

The Commission's explanatory document sets out the dates:

From 1 July 2026: the Commission was to add platform services (registration group 0137) to the registrations of platforms that were already registered.
By 1 October 2026: unregistered platforms had to apply for registration to keep operating while their application is assessed.
New platforms: must be registered before they start.
From 1 January 2027: new conditions of registration apply to registered platforms.

What changes for workers from 1 January 2027

These conditions apply to a platform once it's registered, and set out what it must check about the workers who use it. The Commission's transition pathway pages say:

workers must hold a valid NDIS worker screening clearance before offering supports on the platform, and can't start while their application is still being processed
the platform must check and display whether a banning order is in force against a worker, under NDIS or aged care legislation
the platform must check and display a worker's credentials or qualifications, and general information on how it checks them

If you don't hold an NDIS Worker Screening Check, you won't be able to offer NDIS supports through a registered platform. A platform that's still being assessed on 1 January 2027 isn't bound by these conditions until it's registered, but Mable has said that by 31 December 2026, everyone supporting an NDIS-funded participant on Mable will need to have passed the check. How NDIS worker screening works covers the application process.

How Mable and Hireup differ

Hireup employs its support workers. Hireup's July 2025 submission on the NDIS Supports Rules says it had over 14,400 directly employed workers at that time, and says Hireup is NDIS-registered. If you work through Hireup, my reading is that you're delivering supports under Hireup's registration, for the registration groups Hireup holds. I couldn't find anything from Hireup or the Commission addressing this for platforms specifically.

Mable workers are independent contractors. Mable says workers need an ABN and are not employees of Mable. Its Support Worker Terms say workers contract directly with the client or coordinator, and that Mable is "not a party to any Care Services Agreements". Mable also says it doesn't provide care services. As at 25 September 2026, Mable had applied for registration as an NDIS digital platform under registration group 0137. Platforms that applied by 1 October 2026 can keep operating while their application is assessed.

If you use another platform, check whether it employs you or engages you as a contractor. Your contract or the platform's terms should say.

The 2027 expansion

The government has announced that mandatory registration will expand to all providers delivering higher risk supports. Registration of those providers will be rolled out from 1 July 2027, and all providers in scope will need to be registered by December 2030.

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing says it will publish a list of supports considered high risk. It gives personal care, daily living supports and supports provided in closed settings as examples. Participants receiving higher risk supports will need to use a registered provider for those supports. They can still use unregistered providers for lower risk supports.

In October 2026, the National Indigenous Times reported that First Peoples Disability Network had been engaged by the NDIS Commission to gather feedback through a survey about mandatory registration for providers of High Intensity Daily Personal Activities and Assistance with Daily Personal Activities, beginning 1 July 2027. The article described these supports as including complex care, such as catheter care and tube feeding, and everyday personal care, such as showering, dressing and using the toilet. FPDN said the decision to expand "has already been made by the federal government", and that "consultation focuses on how the changes are introduced and the proposed definitions of the supports covered".

The Commission's FAQ says the expansion "excludes self-directed supports arrangement", and that "further work will be undertaken to implement this exclusion ahead of 1 July 2027."

As at November 2026, none of the following has been published:

the Commission's consultation paper, or a final list and definitions of the supports in scope
a definition of "closed settings"
what counts as a self-directed supports arrangement, including whether it covers a self-managed participant who chooses and directs their own workers through a platform. The Commission's FAQ says the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing is leading this work

The government consulted on registration for participants who self-direct their supports in 2024 and 2025, based on the NDIS Provider and Worker Registration Taskforce's proposed "Service for One/Self-Directed Support Registration" category. That consultation closed in February 2025. The Commission's page on that consultation said outcomes would be shared by mid-2025, and was last updated in February 2025. I couldn't find published outcomes, or anything saying whether the 2027 exclusion will follow that model.

When mandatory registration for SIL and platforms started in July 2026, the ABC reported that the Minister for the NDIS, Jenny McAllister, said high risk providers would broadly be those working in "closed settings and intimate care", and that the full scope of who would be captured was still being worked out.

Personal care conditions for registered providers

If you do register to deliver personal care, registration group 0107 (Assistance with daily personal activities) already carries additional conditions when one worker supports a participant who lives alone. Before a sole support worker provides personal support, the provider must assess the participant's risk factors and either have a written service agreement in place, or have made all reasonable efforts to agree one and given the participant a copy of the proposed agreement. The agreement must include, among other things:

a review process in which someone other than the support worker checks directly with the participant about their satisfaction with the support
how the provider will supervise the worker, including (as far as practicable) supervisor visits to the participant's home
how the provider will communicate face to face with the participant in their home (as far as practicable)

Where risk factors are identified, the provider also needs a documented supervision plan, regular reports to key personnel, and action on any concerns without unreasonable delay. The provider must keep an up-to-date record of all participants supported by a sole worker.

Applying the conditions when you're the only worker

The guidance doesn't address providers where the provider and the support worker are the same person. Here's how I'd approach each requirement. Where it's my view rather than what the condition says, I've said so.

Review by someone other than the support worker. The guidance doesn't specify who this should be. Depending on the participant, a contracted person, their support coordinator, a family member or an advocate could be appropriate.

Supervision and home visits. The condition requires supervisor visits to the participant's home "as far as practicable". Where there's no one else in the business, this could be read as not practicable at all, or as a requirement to find the closest equivalent. The guidance doesn't say which. My recommendation is the second: contract someone to observe your support in the participant's home at a set frequency, and record the arrangement in the service agreement. If you take a different approach, record why, and check it with the Commission.

Risk factor assessment. In my view, a form recording each risk factor, the participant's situation against it, and the date is sufficient. The condition requires you to give the participant a copy, keep one on file, and update it when a change in circumstances may have a significant impact on their support.

Service agreement. Address each of the six items the condition lists specifically. The Commission applies these conditions because the risk of harm, or of a participant not being able to exercise choice, is increased when a participant has had the same individual worker over a long period of time and also lives alone and receives supports at home, has limited face-to-face contact with others, or has mobility or communication support needs. The agreement is where you set out how that risk is managed.

Record of participants. In my view, a list of the participants who live alone and receive personal support from you as their only worker is enough.

Other 2027 changes

The government's September 2026 timeline lists two other changes relevant to workers who aren't registered:

Provider enrolment: a new enrolment system, holding a minimum basic level of identifiable information on most NDIS providers, starts rolling out on 1 July 2027. All providers in scope are to be enrolled by December 2027.
Pricing for unregistered providers: the timeline scheduled consultation on expanding differentiated pricing for unregistered providers to close on 30 September 2026. I couldn't find a published outcome.

What we don't know yet

One question hasn't been answered: if you deliver a higher risk support to a participant you found through a registered platform, will you need your own registration from 2027?

That depends on details that haven't been published:

The final list and definitions of the supports in scope.
Whether a platform's registration covers supports delivered by contractors who use it.
How the self-directed supports exclusion will work.
Whether there will be a different registration pathway for workers who operate on their own.

I'm not going to guess at these. I'll update this article when the Commission publishes the detail. If you need an answer for your own situation before then, contact the NDIS Commission.

What to do now

Some of this is required, and some is my recommendation while the 2027 detail is unknown.

Get your NDIS Worker Screening Check before 31 December 2026 if you don't have one. From 1 January 2027, you'll need one to offer NDIS supports through a registered platform.
Keep your credentials and qualifications current on your platform profile. Registered platforms will be checking and displaying your credentials or qualifications from 1 January 2027.
Complete the NDIS Worker Orientation Module. It isn't a platform condition, but Mable has said its training requirements are likely to include "the NDIS Worker Screening Orientation", which I take to mean this module. Understanding the NDIS Worker Orientation Module explains what's in it.
Write down which supports you deliver. If any of them involve personal care, such as showering, dressing or toileting, or high intensity supports, they're among the supports the National Indigenous Times reported FPDN is gathering feedback on for 1 July 2027.
Read up on registration before you need to decide. The platform rules don't require you to register, but the existing requirements listed at the top of this article still apply. If the final list captures your supports, it's worth knowing what an audit involves before you decide. Certification vs verification and How long does NDIS registration take? are good places to start.