This article breaks down the realistic costs for a small SIL provider registering for the first time, including the audit, insurance, worker screening, documentation, and ongoing costs after registration.
For more information about mandatory registration for SIL providers, see here.
At a glance
For a small SIL provider (one or two homes, a handful of participants, a small team) registering for the first time against the Core Module and the SIL supplementary module:
| Cost | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Certification audit (Stage 1 + Stage 2) | $7,000+ |
| SIL supplementary module (estimate) | $1,000 to $2,000 |
| Additional supplementary modules (if applicable) | $1,000 to $2,000 each |
| Insurance (first year) | Varies, get broker advice |
| Worker screening | $1,000 to $2,500 |
| Documentation and audit prep | Free to $10,000 |
| Business setup (if needed) | $500 to $1,500 |
Realistic minimum total for a small SIL provider: $12,000 to $15,000, not including insurance or software. With a consultant and appropriate insurance, the total can reach $25,000 or more.
This is the minimum cost of entry, and the ongoing cost of maintaining registration (mid-term audits, renewal audits, insurance, screening, systems) is a permanent part of operating as a registered provider.
The audit
SIL providers go through the Certification pathway. This involves a two-stage audit: a Stage 1 document review followed by a Stage 2 on-site assessment with site visits, participant interviews, worker interviews, and file reviews.
SIL providers will be assessed against the Core Module of the NDIS Practice Standards plus the new SIL supplementary module, which takes effect from 1 July 2026. If you apply after 1 July, your audit will include the new module. If you apply before, it may not be included in the initial audit, but you may receive conditions of registration requiring further assessment later.
The likely cost of a Certification audit is driven by the size and complexity of your organisation. The audit methodology is set in legislation and requires minimum sample sizes for participant interviews, worker interviews, and file reviews, calculated using a formula based on your numbers, so your auditor doesn’t have personal discretion to just look at fewer files.
For a small SIL provider (one or two homes, a handful of participants, a small team), assessed against the Core Module only: budget a minimum of $7,000 for Stage 1 and Stage 2.
The new SIL supplementary module will add to this, however the detail of the new standards hasn’t been published yet, so we don’t know exactly how extensive the assessment will be. Based on how other supplementary modules are structured, an additional $1k to $2k is a reasonable starting estimate, but this could be higher depending on what the standards require.
What pushes the cost higher
SIL audits tend to cost more than other Certification audits because of the nature of the service, due to the rules for site sampling.
Your audit cost will scale with:
- More participants (larger minimum sample for interviews and file reviews)
- More homes or sites (more visits required)
- More staff (more worker file reviews and interviews)
- Additional supplementary modules
Additional supplementary modules
Some SIL providers also deliver supports that trigger other supplementary modules, such as High Intensity Daily Personal Activities (Module 1) or Implementing Behaviour Support Plans (Module 2A). Each additional module adds to the audit scope and cost. Budget $1,000 to $2,000 per module at a minimum, and potentially more depending on the number of participants receiving those services.
High Intensity Daily Personal Activities can only be audited by a registered nurse, which may mean your audit team is three people instead of two.
Whether you need these modules depends on what you deliver.
Insurance
NDIS providers must hold current insurance, including public liability insurance, professional indemnity insurance, and personal accident or workers’ compensation insurance. Your auditor will ask to see certificates of currency.
The Commission doesn’t specify minimum coverage amounts, but your coverage needs to be appropriate for the scale and scope of the services you deliver. SIL involves 24/7 supports in participants’ homes, often for people with complex needs, and your insurance needs to reflect that risk profile. I’d recommend speaking to an insurance broker who specialises in disability services to make sure your coverage is appropriate.
Worker screening
Every worker in a risk-assessed role must hold a current NDIS Worker Screening clearance. Screening fees vary by state and territory but currently sit between $100 and $160 per worker.
Clearances are portable, so workers who already hold one from a previous employer don’t need a new one. But if you’re building a team from scratch and paying for the worker screening, you should include this cost in your budget. A small SIL provider with 10 to 15 support workers should budget a few thousand dollars for initial screening, depending on how many workers already hold clearances.
Documentation
Your audit assesses whether your policies, procedures, and supporting documents reflect how your service actually operates. For SIL providers, this includes (among other things) incident management, complaints handling, human resource management, risk management, governance, participant rights, and the specific requirements of the SIL supplementary module once published.
Auditors are experienced at identifying documentation that describes a generic business rather than the provider in front of them. Your documentation needs to reflect your actual service model, your actual participant cohort, and your actual operating environment.
The cost of this is going to depend on your approach.
- Writing your own documentation from scratch can be time-consuming but will generally provide a more accurate result than generic document packs.
- Purchasing templates and rewriting them to fit your service starts from around $1,000, but takes significant time and many providers underestimate how much rewriting and copying and pasting of your business details is involved.
- Engaging a consultant to help build your quality management system can cost $5,000 to $10,000, but a good consultant can be well worth the cost. They can be helpful in reviewing your operations, identifying genuine gaps in how you deliver supports, and helping you build systems that keep your participants safe. For a SIL provider, this can be a solid investment in the quality of your service, not just a compliance cost.
Don’t leave documentation until after your audit scope arrives, as it takes longer to build than most providers expect, and an audit with incomplete documentation will result in non-conformances that cost additional time and money to resolve.
Other setup costs
If you’re not already operating as a registered business, factor in:
- Business registration (company setup is typically $500 to $1,500, sole trader is minimal)
- NDIS software for rostering, shift notes, invoicing, and claiming (ranges from free basic options to a few hundred dollars per month)
- The NDIS Worker Orientation Module is free, but every worker needs to complete it
After registration: ongoing costs
Once registered, you’re on a three-year registration cycle with audits throughout.
Mid-term audit. Due approximately 18 months after your registration is approved. Mid-term audits use reduced sampling requirements, but generally still involve site visits and participant contact. Budget a minimum of $5,000 to $6,000 for a small provider, and expect it to be higher if you had non-conformances at your initial audit (these are all reviewed again at mid-term).
Renewal audit. Due before your registration expires (three years from Commission approval, not from your audit date). This is a full Certification audit at similar cost to your initial one.
Insurance renewals. Annual.
Worker screening renewals. Clearances are valid for five years, but staff turnover may mean youre paying for new checks regularly.
Ongoing documentation maintenance. Policies need to be reviewed, incidents recorded, complaints tracked, risk registers updated. These aren’t direct costs in the way an audit invoice is, but they require real time and systems or software to manage.
Getting audit quotes
When you submit your registration application, the Commission will send you an Initial Scope of Audit and this is what you take to Approved Quality Auditors to request quotes.
Get at least three quotes. Price variation across auditors is real, and so is variation in quality (i.e. cheaper is not always better, and the cheapest will probably be that way for a reason). Ask each auditor how they determine audit duration, how many auditors will be on your team, and how they handle non-conformances. A proper audit that finds real gaps is worth more than a fast and cheap one that says you’re fine but leaves you susceptible.
Auditor availability is going to tighten as we move closer to the different transition deadlines, so contact auditors as soon as you can.
