NDIS Registration Groups Explained: Which Group Do You Need?

What Are Registration Groups?

NDIS registration groups are categories of support that a registered NDIS provider is approved to deliver. They were previously referred to as "support categories" in earlier iterations of the NDIS framework, though the term "registration groups" is now the correct terminology used by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.

Registration groups serve two functions in the NDIS provider framework:

1. They define your service scope. You can only deliver NDIS-funded supports and claim against the NDIS price guide for the registration groups you hold. Delivering services outside your registered groups is a compliance breach.
2. They determine your audit pathway. Each registration group is assigned to either the verification or certification audit pathway. If any of your registration groups require certification, your entire registration must be certified.

Registration groups are established under the NDIS (Provider Registration and Practice Standards) Rules 2018 and are managed by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. The Commission's registration group schedule is periodically updated, so it is important to check the current schedule when applying or varying your registration.

How Registration Groups Map to the Support Catalogue

The NDIS Support Catalogue (formerly the NDIS Price Guide) lists hundreds of individual support line items, each with a support number, description, and price limit. These line items are grouped under broader categories in the support catalogue (Core Supports, Capital Supports, Capacity Building Supports), but they are also mapped to registration groups for provider registration purposes.

For example, Registration Group 0107 (Assistance with Daily Life) covers a large number of individual support items including personal care, domestic assistance, community nursing, and various daily living supports across the Core Supports — Daily Activities budget category. By registering for Group 0107, you are authorised to deliver and claim against all support items mapped to that group.

This means you do not need to register for individual support items — you register for the group, and the group authorises you to deliver all items within it. The practical implication is that you need to understand which items your intended services fall under, and therefore which registration group covers them.

The NDIS Commission publishes a document mapping registration groups to support catalogue items. Reviewing this document before selecting your registration groups is an important preparatory step — don't rely on assumptions about which group covers which service.

How to Select the Right Groups When Applying

When completing your NDIS registration application, you will be prompted to select the registration groups that apply to your organisation. Here is a systematic approach to making this selection correctly:

Step 1: List Every Support You Intend to Deliver

Before opening the application, write a clear list of every type of support your organisation will deliver for NDIS participants. Be specific — not just "personal care" but the nature of that care, the setting (in-home, group home, community), and the intensity (standard vs high intensity).

Step 2: Map Each Service to a Support Catalogue Item

Using the NDIS Support Catalogue and the Commission's mapping document, identify the specific support item number(s) that correspond to each service you've listed. This tells you which registration group you need.

Step 3: Identify All Relevant Registration Groups

Compile the list of registration groups that cover all your mapped support items. This is your minimum required set of registration groups.

Step 4: Consider Future Services

If you intend to expand your services within the next 3 years (the registration period), consider whether adding additional groups now (rather than applying for a variation later) is administratively and commercially sensible. However, balance this against the audit scope implications — adding groups that require certification-level evidence you don't yet have creates unnecessary risk.

Step 5: Check the Audit Implications

For each registration group you are considering, verify whether it requires a verification or certification audit. If you're adding any certification-required group, ensure you are prepared for the full certification audit process, including the on-site visit.

Comprehensive Reference Table of Key Registration Groups

Common Registration Group Mistakes

Mistake 1: Selecting Too Few Groups

Selecting insufficient registration groups is a direct service delivery problem. If you deliver a support that falls under a registration group you haven't registered for, you are not authorised to claim NDIS funding for it. You may also be operating outside your registration conditions, which is a compliance breach.

The most common version of this mistake: a provider registering only for SIL (0115) without realising that the community access and social participation supports they also deliver require Registration Group 0136 or 0125. When a participant wants to use their Core Supports budget to fund a community access activity, the provider cannot claim for it.

Mistake 2: Selecting Too Many Groups

Adding registration groups you don't need — or aren't yet capable of delivering — inflates your audit scope unnecessarily. If you select Registration Group 0104 (High Intensity Daily Activities) but don't currently employ qualified high-intensity support staff or have the relevant clinical procedures in place, you will face an audit against the High Intensity Support Skills Module without the capability to demonstrate compliance.

More broadly, each additional certification-required group adds time and cost to your audit. A tightly scoped registration with only the groups you need is far preferable to a sprawling registration that creates compliance obligations you can't meet.

Mistake 3: Confusing Support Coordination and Specialised Support Coordination

Support Coordination (0106) requires only a verification audit. Specialised Support Coordination (0132) requires certification. Many providers intending to deliver specialist support coordination only register for 0106, then find they cannot deliver the higher-intensity coordination their participants need. Equally, some providers register for 0132 expecting the same process as 0106, and are surprised by the certification audit requirement.

Mistake 4: Assuming SIL Registration Covers SDA

SIL (Registration Group 0115) and SDA (Registration Group 0116) are separate registration groups for a reason. SIL is about delivering the support — the human assistance provided to people living in a shared or supported arrangement. SDA is about the dwelling itself — the physical housing. A provider delivering SIL in SDA-funded housing needs both registrations if they own or manage the SDA property. If they are purely a support provider in a property owned by someone else, they typically need SIL only.

Registration Groups and Supplementary Practice Standard Modules

Certain registration groups require compliance with supplementary modules of the NDIS Practice Standards, in addition to the Core Module. These supplementary modules set additional, more specific requirements for high-risk supports.

High Intensity Support Skills Module: Required for Registration Groups 0104 (High Intensity Daily Activities) and high-intensity community participation. This module sets requirements for staff qualifications, clinical oversight, and specific clinical procedures including complex bowel care, enteral feeding, tracheostomy management, and ventilator-assisted breathing.

Behaviour Support Module: Required for Registration Group 0110 (Specialised Behaviour Support). This module requires PBS practitioners to hold relevant qualifications, sets requirements for behaviour support plan development, and imposes specific obligations around the use and reporting of regulated restrictive practices under the NDIS (Restrictive Practices and Behaviour Support) Rules 2018.

If you hold a registration group requiring a supplementary module, your self-assessment must cover that module's outcomes in addition to all Core Module outcomes, and your auditor will assess you against both.

Varying Your Registration Groups After Registration

Your registration groups are not fixed forever. You can apply to the NDIS Commission to vary your registration at any time to add or remove registration groups. The process involves:

1. Logging into the NDIS Commission's provider portal and initiating a variation application
2. Completing a self-assessment against the Practice Standards outcomes for the new groups
3. Undergoing an audit for the new groups — the type of audit depends on what is being added
4. The Commission reviewing the variation and, if satisfied, updating your registration

Adding a certification-required group when you currently hold only verification registration is effectively the same as a new certification audit — with full desktop review and on-site visit. Budget 10–20 weeks for this process and allocate it the same preparation effort as an initial registration.