What it is and who needs it
A participant risk assessment records the risks in one person's supports, what you will do about each, and when you will look again. Any provider delivering supports that could harm someone needs one, and a certification audit samples them from participant files. It is a different document from the organisation-wide risk register described in our risk management guide.
What it provides evidence for
The Core Module outcome on support planning expects risk assessments to be regularly undertaken with each participant and documented in their support plans, with strategies planned and implemented to treat the known risks. It also expects periodic reviews of whether those strategies work. The wider outcome on risk management in the governance section expects risks to participants, workers and the provider to be identified, analysed, prioritised and treated.
What auditors check
Auditors choose a few participant files and compare the assessment with the support plan, the progress notes and what workers say. They ask whether the participant took part, whether the risks match the person, whether each risk has a treatment that is being carried out, and whether anything has been reviewed since a change in the person's situation.
Must-include checklist
- Participant details, consent and who contributed, including family or advocates if they wish.
- Risk areas relevant to this person, such as health, medication, home environment, communication and community access.
- For each risk: what could happen, how likely it is, how serious it would be, and the resulting rating.
- Existing controls, then additional treatments, each with an owner and a date.
- How much the participant relies on your services for daily living, and what would happen to their health and safety if those services stopped.
- The participant's own preferences and any dignity of risk choices, in their words where possible.
- Emergency and disaster considerations for this person.
- Review date, reason for review, and the version history.
- How workers are told about the risks before they support the person.
Common mistakes
- The same assessment for everyone. Identical risks and ratings across files tell an auditor nobody thought about the person.
- Risks without treatments. A list of hazards is not a plan to manage them.
- Filed away from the support plan. Workers never see it, so it cannot shape their practice.
- Done to the participant, not with them. There is no sign of consultation or consent.
- Dependence left out. The Core Module specifically expects you to consider how much the participant relies on you and what a disruption would mean.
How to adapt it to your organisation
Use the same rating scale as your organisational register so a high participant risk can be traced upward. Cut the risk areas down to those your supports create, and add prompts for anything unusual in your service, such as transport or supports in a shared home. Write the treatments as actions a worker can carry out on shift, not as policy statements. Decide who completes the assessment, who approves it, and how a worker raises a change in circumstances between reviews, then write that into your procedure. If you deliver supports with specialist requirements, such as high intensity supports, add the clinical risks your module requires.
How the package covers it
The package includes participant risk assessment templates alongside the risk management policy and framework, an organisational risk register with a matrix, and work health and safety forms. Browse the full contents or see pricing. As the Commission expects documents to describe your real practice, edit every assessment to the person it is for.
This page is general information based on NDIS Commission and government sources at the date shown. It is not legal or professional advice, and the rules can change. Check the NDIS Commission's current requirements and read our disclaimer. The checklists on this page describe good practice, not an official list of requirements, and our documents do not guarantee registration.