Considering NDIS registration as an exercise physiologist? Here’s what the process involves, including why you have more registration group options than some other allied health professions.
Registration is currently optional (as of April 2026) for exercise physiologists delivering therapeutic supports or physical wellbeing activities, and you can work with self-managed and plan-managed participants without it. However, registration opens the door to working with agency-managed participants, who can only use registered providers. It also signals to potential clients that your practice meets the NDIS Practice Standards.
For exercise physiologists delivering services under 0126 Exercise Physiology & Personal Training or 0128 Therapeutic Supports, you’ll complete a Verification audit as part of your registration process. This includes a desktop review of your evidence and documentation, and is not an in-person or on-site audit.
However, if you also want to deliver early childhood supports, that changes your audit pathway significantly (more on this below).
Registration Groups Available to Exercise Physiologists
Exercise physiologists have access to more registration groups than many allied health professions. It’s worth understanding what each one actually covers before you decide what to include in your registration application.
0126 Exercise Physiology & Personal Training
This registration group sits under the Improved Health and Wellbeing support category and covers physical wellbeing activities (i.e. exercise programs designed to maintain or increase physical mobility and wellbeing). The support items under 0126 are specific to exercise physiologists and personal trainers, and the line items, pricing, and provider travel rules differ from therapeutic supports.
Something worth noting: exercise physiologists are classified as therapy providers under the NDIS travel pricing arrangements, which means the provider travel rules for therapists apply to you. Personal trainers registered under the same group are not classified as therapy providers, so different travel rules apply to them.
Selecting only 0126 will keep you on the Verification audit pathway.
0128 Therapeutic Supports
This is the broader therapeutic supports group that covers assessment, therapy, and capacity building delivered by allied health professionals. Exercise physiologists are included in this group as well as psychologists, OTs, speech pathologists, counsellors, and other therapeutic professions.
If your work involves disability-related health supports, functional capacity assessments, or capacity building for daily living (not purely exercise prescription for physical wellbeing), 0128 may be more appropriate for how you bill. Many exercise physiologists register for both 0126 and 0128 to include the full range of supports they offer.
Selecting 0128 (with or without 0126) will also keep you on the Verification audit pathway.
Choosing Between 0126 and 0128 (or both)
If you’re primarily delivering exercise programs focused on physical health and wellbeing, 0126 fits best. If you’re delivering therapy aimed at functional improvement, capacity building, or disability-related health supports, 0128 is more appropriate. If you deliver both types of services (which many exercise physiologists do) registering for both groups gives you the flexibility to bill accurately.
Adding both 0126 and 0128 doesn’t change your audit pathway or trigger any additional evidence requirements, it will be a Verification audit regardless of your choice here.
What can change your audit pathway
Early Childhood Supports (0118)
If you want to deliver early childhood early intervention services for children younger than 9, you’ll need to include the registration group 0118 Early Childhood Supports. Exercise physiologists are listed as eligible professionals for early childhood support items in the NDIS pricing arrangements.
The 0118 registration group is specifically about the early childhood early intervention service model: working as a key worker with the child and their family across home, community, and early childhood education settings, and building family capacity rather than only working directly with the child.
Adding 0118 triggers a Certification audit against the Core Module plus the Early Childhood Supports supplementary module. If you’re looking at this option, you should budget $8,000 to $12,000 as a starting point.
If you’re unsure whether you need or want this registration group, it’s worth getting clear on what services you actually want to deliver before submitting your application.
If you’re weighing up whether to add this group, our guide on the NDIS Certification vs Verification Audit explains the financial and operational differences between the two pathways.
Verification vs Certification
There are two types of NDIS audits: Verification and Certification.
Certification is for higher-risk services (like personal care, behaviour support, or supported independent living). It involves site visits, record reviews, and interviews with management, workers, and participants. Expect to budget $8,000 to $12,000 as a starting point, and more if you’re adding supplementary modules or have a larger team or participant cohort.
Verification is for lower-risk services (including therapy, exercise physiology, and transport). It’s a desktop audit, which means that the auditor reviews your documents remotely, usually without needing to speak with you directly. Verification audits typically cost between $900 and $1,500.
For exercise physiologists selecting 0126 and/or 0128 without adding 0118 Early Childhood Supports, Verification is the pathway.
The 4 Requirements for Verification
To pass a Verification audit, you need to demonstrate you have appropriate safeguarding processes in place for the NDIS participants you work with. Read more here. The auditor will assess four areas:
Human Resource Management: Evidence of your qualifications, ESSA accreditation, NDIS Worker Screening Check, and right-to-work documentation. For exercise physiologists, this means not just your degree certificate, but evidence that your accreditation with ESSA is active and current. Auditors will also want to see evidence of continuing professional development as required by ESSA.
Incident Management: A process for responding when something goes wrong. For an exercise physiology practice, this should reflect the kinds of incidents that are actually likely to occur in your work, like a participant injury during an exercise session, an adverse event related to an underlying health condition, a fall during a functional assessment, equipment failure, or a safeguarding concern. Your incident management documentation shouldn’t read like it was written for a counselling practice or a SIL provider.
Complaints Management: A clear, accessible process for NDIS participants to raise concerns and evidence of how you resolve them. ESSA has its own complaints and disciplinary process, but this doesn’t replace the requirement for a separate complaints process that meets the NDIS Practice Standards.
Risk Management: How you identify and manage risks in your practice. For exercise physiologists, this should reflect the actual risk profile of your services (e.g. exercise-related adverse events for participants with complex medical conditions, managing participants with cardiovascular or neurological conditions during physical activity, manual handling during assessments, infection control in shared gym or clinic environments, and equipment safety).
NDIS Registration for Exercise Physiologists: Required Documents and Checks
You’ll need to have the following evidence. It’s easiest if you collect this prior to completing your registration application, as you can attach it directly to your application instead of waiting to provide it to your auditor later.
ESSA Accreditation: Current accreditation as an Accredited Exercise Physiologist with Exercise and Sports Science Australia. If your accreditation has lapsed or you haven’t obtained it yet, you won’t be able to demonstrate that you meet the NDIS qualification requirements. ESSA maintains a public register where your accreditation status can be verified, which adds a helpful verification option for auditors, but you should still have your own evidence ready.
Qualifications: Your ESSA accreditation demonstrates that your qualification meets the required standard, but auditors may still want to sight the underlying qualification.
Continuing Professional Development: Evidence that you’re meeting ESSA’s CPD requirements. ESSA requires accredited exercise physiologists to complete continuing professional development to maintain accreditation, and CPD logs/records can help evidence your compliance here.
Insurance: Professional indemnity insurance is essential. Public liability insurance is also required unless you are delivering services entirely virtually and never see participants in person (though for exercise physiologists, who are typically delivering hands-on or in-person exercise programs, this is unlikely to apply). Check with your insurer that your cover is appropriate for NDIS service delivery, including any gym, clinic, or community-based settings where you work.
NDIS Worker Screening Check: Required for all exercise physiologists delivering NDIS services, regardless of your ESSA accreditation.
NDIS Worker Orientation Module: Certificate of completion for you and any staff.
Infection Control and PPE Training: Particularly relevant for exercise physiologists working in gym or clinic environments with shared equipment. You need evidence that you’ve considered infection control in your service environment, such as cleaning protocols for equipment, hygiene procedures, and how you manage communicable illness.
Operational Documents: Policies and procedures covering the four Verification areas above. These should describe how your exercise physiology practice actually operates.
Common Mistakes Exercise Physiologists Make
Policies that don’t reflect exercise-based services
Most NDIS policy template packs available for purchase are written with personal care or office-based therapy in mind. If your incident management procedure covers medication administration errors and your risk register is full of risks about about delivering personal care in a group home setting, it doesn’t match what you actually do. Your documentation should reflect the realities of delivering exercise programs to participants with complex health conditions, such as exercise-related adverse events, managing medical risks during physical activity, equipment safety, and working across different environments.
Overlooking the difference between 0126 and 0128
Registering for the wrong group, or only one when you need both, can create problems later. If you’re delivering exercise programs for physical wellbeing, that’s 0126. If you’re delivering therapy aimed at functional improvement and capacity building, that’s 0128. Many exercise physiologists need both and its not a problem to have them both on your application. Getting clear on which support items you’ll be billing under before you apply saves confusion down the track.
Not having evidence of ESSA accreditation ready
Your ESSA accreditation is your key credential. ESSA does maintain a searchable register, which helps, but you should have your own documentation ready, including your accreditation certificate, evidence of current status, and CPD records.
Service agreements that miss NDIS-specific requirements
If you’re coming from Medicare, DVA, or private practice, your existing intake and consent documents may not cover everything needed for an NDIS service agreement. You’ll need to address NDIS-specific elements: how pricing works under the NDIS Price Guide, your cancellation policy, how you manage different plan management types (agency-managed, plan-managed, self-managed), and what happens when a participant’s plan is reviewed or their funding changes.
The Registration Process
Step 1: Start Your Application
Log in to the NDIS Commission Portal and start a New Application. Enter your business details and select your registration groups (0126 Exercise Physiology & Personal Training, 0128 Therapeutic Supports, or both). You’ll complete a self-assessment against the relevant NDIS Practice Standards and may be prompted to upload your evidence documentation.
Step 2: Receive Your Initial Scope of Audit
Once you submit your application, the system generates an Initial Scope of Audit. This confirms whether you require a Verification or Certification audit. If you’ve selected only 0126 and/or 0128, you’ll be on the Verification pathway.
Step 3: Engage an Approved Quality Auditor
You must engage an independent Approved Quality Auditor (AQA) from the list published by the NDIS Commission. Send them your Initial Scope of Audit and request a quote for a Verification audit.
Verification audits typically cost between $900 and $1,500 depending on the auditor. If you’re in a hurry for any reason, be sure to ask about current availability and timeframes before signing anything.
Step 4: Submit Your Documents
Your auditor will request your policies, insurance, ESSA accreditation evidence, screening checks, and other documentation. They’ll review everything against the NDIS Practice Standards and identify any gaps. If a major non-conformity is found, you’ll have up to 3 months to provide additional evidence before the auditor can finalise your report.
Step 5: The Decision
Once the auditor completes your report, they can submit their recommendation regarding your registration to the NDIS Commission. The Commission assesses your application and audit result, then makes the final decision on your registration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need additional qualifications beyond my ESSA accreditation?
No. Your current accreditation as an Accredited Exercise Physiologist with ESSA demonstrates you’re qualified to deliver services under 0126 and 0128. You don’t need any additional NDIS-specific qualifications to register.
What about accredited exercise scientists — can they register?
The NDIS qualification requirements specify Accredited Exercise Physiologist, not Accredited Exercise Scientist. Exercise scientists are not listed as eligible professionals under the NDIS pricing arrangements for therapeutic supports or exercise physiology support items. If you however also hold a personal training qualification, you may be eligible for 0126.
Can I charge more if I’m registered?
No, because the NDIS Price Guide sets maximum prices for exercise physiology services. Registration doesn’t change what you can charge, but it does expand your potential client base to include agency-managed participants. Make sure you understand the different price limits and support item numbers for 0126 versus 0128, as they’re not the same.
What about personal trainers, is it the same process?
Personal trainers register under 0126 Exercise Physiology & Personal Training, with a Certificate III, IV, or Diploma in Fitness (or equivalent) as the qualification requirement. The Verification audit process is the same, but the qualification evidence is slightly different, and personal trainers are not classified as therapy providers under the NDIS pricing arrangements, which affects provider travel rules.
How long does it take?
The Verification audit itself can usually be completed within a few days once you submit your documents. If the auditor identifies gaps, you may need to provide further evidence. Once your audit report is finalised, NDIS Commission processing can take several weeks or months depending on their current backlog.
