NDIS Practice Standard 1.1: Person-Centred Supports — What Providers Must Do

What Outcome 1.1 Actually Requires

The NDIS Practice Standards are structured around outcomes — what a provider must demonstrably achieve for participants, not just what policies they have on paper. Outcome 1.1 sits within Quality Indicator Group 1: Rights and Responsibility, and it sets the philosophical and practical foundation for every other standard in the Core Module.

The quality indicators under Outcome 1.1 require that providers demonstrate:

• Participants are supported to understand their rights and responsibilities under their NDIS plan
• Each participant's support is tailored to their individual goals, needs, preferences, and cultural background
• Participants are supported to make decisions about their own lives, including decisions that carry some risk
• Participants are supported to develop and maintain relationships and community connections
• Support is flexible and adapts as participant needs and preferences change over time
• Participants are not subject to practices that diminish their dignity or autonomy

The legislation underpinning this outcome includes the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth), particularly Section 4 (General principles guiding actions under the Act), and the NDIS (Provider Registration and Practice Standards) Rules 2018. The principles of self-determination, informed choice, and dignity of risk run through all of these instruments.

Importantly, Outcome 1.1 is not satisfied by having a person-centred support policy alone. The policy must be implemented — and that implementation must be evidenced in participant records, support plans, and shift documentation.

What Auditors Look For

NDIS certification auditors are required to assess providers against the quality indicators under each outcome. Under Outcome 1.1, auditors are specifically trained to look beyond policy documents to the evidence of actual practice.

Document Review

During a certification audit, the auditor will typically request:

• A sample of participant support plans (usually 3–5 files, sometimes more for larger providers)
• The organisation's Person-Centred Support Policy
• Evidence of participant consent to the support plan (signed consent forms or meeting records)
• Progress notes/shift notes from the past 3–6 months
• Records of support plan reviews
• Evidence of how staff are trained in person-centred approaches

What Auditors Check in Support Plans

Worker Interviews

Auditors routinely interview support workers as part of a certification audit. Under Outcome 1.1, they typically ask workers questions such as:

• "How do you find out what is important to this participant?"
• "What would you do if a participant wanted to do something you felt was risky?"
• "Can you tell me about the goals you are working toward with one of your participants?"
• "How does the organisation ensure participants have a say in how their supports are delivered?"

If workers cannot answer these questions with reference to specific participant goals and plans, this is strong evidence of a systemic non-conformance — even if the documentation looks adequate on paper.

How to Document Person-Centred Support Plans

The participant support plan is the primary evidence document for Outcome 1.1. A compliant support plan is not a schedule of tasks — it is a living document that describes the whole person and guides every worker who supports them.

Required Elements of a Compliant Support Plan

A person-centred support plan for an NDIS participant must include the following elements to satisfy Outcome 1.1 requirements:

• Participant profile: Who the person is — their background, communication style, important relationships, cultural identity, and what they value most in their life
• NDIS plan goals: The specific goals from the participant's current NDIS plan, copied accurately and cited with the NDIS plan dates
• Provider-specific goals: How the provider will work toward those NDIS goals — broken into achievable steps with timeframes
• Support strategies: Specific approaches that work for this participant — what to do and what not to do
• Preferences and routines: When, where, and how the participant wants to receive support
• Cultural considerations: Any cultural, linguistic, or religious factors that affect how support is delivered
• Risk information: Known risks and agreed management strategies (not a full risk assessment — that is a separate document)
• Communication requirements: How the participant communicates and any communication aids they use
• Review schedule: When the plan will next be reviewed and who will be involved
• Participant acknowledgement: Dated signature or notation confirming participant involvement in developing the plan

Writing Goals in the Participant's Voice

One of the most reliable indicators of a genuine person-centred approach — and something auditors notice immediately — is whether the goals in a support plan read as if they were written by or with the participant, or written by an administrator filling in a template.

A generic goal: "Increase independence in daily living tasks."

A person-centred goal: "Sarah wants to be able to catch the bus to the shopping centre on her own by June 2026, so she can buy her own groceries without needing staff to drive her."

The second version reflects a real person with a real aspiration. It gives every support worker who reads it a clear understanding of what they are working toward and why it matters to the participant.

Documenting Participant Involvement

Auditors specifically check for evidence that the participant was involved in developing their support plan — not just that the plan was presented to them for signature. Acceptable evidence includes:

• A dated meeting record noting who attended, what was discussed, and what decisions were made
• A participant signature on the support plan itself, with the date
• A note explaining how the plan was developed if the participant lacks the capacity to sign (e.g., involvement of a guardian, nominee, or advocate)
• Evidence that the participant's preferences were incorporated where they differed from the initial draft

Cultural Safety in Practice

Outcome 1.1 explicitly requires that supports are tailored to a participant's cultural and linguistic background. This is not merely about ticking a box in a support plan — it requires genuine responsiveness to cultural needs.

Cultural safety under the NDIS Practice Standards means:

• Asking participants about their cultural background and what it means for how they want to receive support
• Respecting gender preferences for support workers where this is culturally significant
• Accommodating cultural practices, dietary requirements, and religious observances in service delivery
• Not making assumptions about a participant's cultural needs based on their appearance or surname
• For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants — applying the specific cultural safety requirements outlined in the NDIS Commission's Cultural Safety Framework
• Providing information in the participant's preferred language, and arranging interpreters when required

Auditors will look for at least one of the following: cultural considerations documented in the support plan; evidence of interpreter use where required; or documentation of how cultural preferences were respected in practice.

Common Compliance Failures Under Outcome 1.1

Based on NDIS Commission audit findings and post-audit reports, these are the most frequently cited non-conformances under Outcome 1.1:

1. Support Plans That Are Not Person-Centred

The most common failure is support plans that are effectively identical for all participants — the same structure, the same generic goals, the same strategies. Auditors can identify this immediately by comparing plans across a sample.

2. No Evidence of Participant Involvement

Plans that are signed only by a service coordinator or manager, with no evidence that the participant or their representative was involved in developing the plan, consistently attract non-conformance findings.

3. Goals Not Linked to the NDIS Plan

Provider support plans must reflect the goals in the participant's current NDIS plan. If a participant's NDIS plan lists "improving social connection" as a goal, the support plan should describe how the provider is working toward that specific goal.

4. Outdated Support Plans

Support plans that have not been reviewed following a significant change (a health event, a change in living situation, a new NDIS plan) are a consistent finding. Providers must have a documented process for triggering plan reviews.

5. Progress Notes That Don't Reflect Goals

Shift notes that describe only tasks ("assisted with showering, prepared lunch") without any reference to participant goals or outcomes do not demonstrate a person-centred approach. Notes should connect daily activities to the goals being worked toward.

6. Staff Unfamiliar with Individual Plans

If support workers cannot articulate the goals and preferences of their participants when interviewed, it suggests that support plans exist on paper but are not used to guide practice. This is a systemic finding — not just a documentation problem.

Policy and Document Requirements

To satisfy Outcome 1.1 at audit, you need more than good practice — you need documented systems that demonstrate your approach is consistent and governed. The key documents required are:

Person-Centred Support Policy

Your Person-Centred Support Policy must describe your organisation's approach to delivering supports that are tailored to individual participants. It should reference the NDIS Practice Standards (specifically Outcome 1.1), the NDIS Act 2013, and the NDIS Code of Conduct. The policy must include:

• The principles underpinning the organisation's approach to person-centred support
• Roles and responsibilities for support planning
• The process for developing, implementing, and reviewing support plans
• How participant involvement in planning is documented
• How cultural and linguistic needs are identified and accommodated
• The review cycle and triggers for unplanned reviews

Participant Support Plan Template

A documented template ensures consistency across all support plans. The template itself should be structured to prompt staff to capture individual, person-specific information — not to produce generic plans. The template must include all elements listed in the documentation section above.

Audit Readiness Checklist for Outcome 1.1

Use this checklist to self-assess your readiness before a certification audit:

• Person-Centred Support Policy is current, version-controlled, and approved by a director or manager
• All active participants have a current, signed support plan
• Support plans contain individual, participant-specific goals linked to the NDIS plan
• Each support plan documents the participant's preferences, routines, and communication style
• Cultural considerations are documented for all participants
• Each support plan has evidence of participant involvement (signature, meeting record, or nominated representative involvement)
• Support plans have been reviewed in the past 12 months, or since the last significant change in the participant's circumstances
• Progress notes reference participant goals, not just tasks completed
• Support workers can describe the goals of their participants when asked
• Staff training records show workers have been trained in person-centred approaches