Changing NDIS providers without losing support
The short answer
You can change NDIS providers at any time, for any reason. You do not need permission from the NDIA or from your current provider. Do it in this order: check how much notice your service agreement asks for, line up the new provider first, let the two overlap for a week or two so your support never stops, then give notice in writing. Ask for your care plan, risk assessments and medication charts to be sent across. If the NDIA pays your providers directly, your new provider must also be registered.
Participants stay too long with providers that are not working, usually for one of three reasons: they think they need a reason to leave, they are worried about a gap in support, or they are not sure how to raise it. Only the second is a real problem, and it is solvable.
You do not need permission or a reason
Choice and control is a founding principle of the NDIS. You can change provider at any time. You do not need to justify the decision, the NDIA does not need to approve it, and your current provider cannot refuse to release you.
You can also use more than one provider at once — which is often the easiest way to test a new one before committing.
The steps, in the order that avoids a gap
1. Read your service agreement first
Before you tell anyone anything, find the notice period. It is commonly two to four weeks. This is a contractual term you agreed to, not an NDIS rule — but if you signed it, it applies. Note also any exit conditions or final invoicing terms.
2. Line up the new provider before giving notice
This is the step people get wrong. Giving notice first and then looking creates exactly the gap everyone fears. Confirm with the new provider:
- A firm start date, not an estimate
- That they have capacity in your suburb for the hours you need
- That they are registered for your supports, if you are agency-managed
- Rates and notice terms, in writing
3. Overlap the two
Where funding allows, run a short overlap — a week or two where the new provider starts before the old one finishes. It costs a little more for that fortnight and it removes the risk almost entirely. For personal care and high intensity supports especially, an overlap also lets a new worker shadow the routine rather than learn it cold.
4. Give notice in writing
Email is fine, and it gives you a record. It can be short:
"I am ending our service agreement, effective [date], in line with the [X] week notice period. Please confirm receipt and send any final invoices. Please also forward my care plan and related documents to [new provider]."
You do not owe an explanation. If you want to give feedback, give it separately.
5. Transfer the documents that matter
This is the step that most affects whether the first month with the new provider goes smoothly. Ask for:
- Care and support plans
- Risk assessments
- Medication charts and administration records
- For high intensity supports: the clinical plan and worker competency sign-offs
- Behaviour support plans, if any
- Recent progress or incident reports
You have a right to your own records. Under the NDIS Practice Standards providers must have processes for transferring or sharing them when supports end.
6. Tell the people who need to know
- Your plan manager, if plan-managed — so invoices from the new provider are expected
- Your support coordinator, if you have one
- The NDIA, only if the change affects a stated support or a SIL arrangement
For agency-managed participants, no portal action is needed for most supports — the new provider simply claims instead. SIL and other stated supports are the exception and need the NDIA involved.
Two things that catch people out
Cancellation charges during the notice period. If you stop using the old provider's shifts before the notice period ends, those shifts may still be chargeable as short-notice cancellations. Either keep using them or agree in writing that they will not be claimed.
Registration and plan management. If you are agency-managed you must move to another registered provider. Plan-managed and self-managed participants have a wider choice.
If you are leaving because something went wrong
Changing provider and making a complaint are separate things, and doing one does not require the other. You can raise a concern with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission on 1800 035 544 whether or not you stay, and whether or not you have used the provider's internal process first.
Switching to VSG Home Care
We are used to mid-plan transfers, including overlapping with an outgoing provider so support never stops. We will ask for your existing care plan and risk assessments rather than starting your paperwork from scratch, and we will not ask you to explain why you are leaving.
Send a referral or call and tell us the date you want support to start — the handover works backwards from there.
Common questions
No. Choice and control is a core principle of the NDIS. You do not have to justify the decision to your current provider, to the NDIA, or to anyone else, and a provider cannot refuse to release you.
Whatever your signed service agreement says — commonly two to four weeks, though it varies. The notice period is a contractual term, not an NDIS rule. If you have not signed an agreement, or it does not specify one, there is no fixed period to observe.
No. Your plan and its funding belong to you, not to the provider. Changing providers does not alter your budget, your goals or your plan dates. If you are plan-managed, tell your plan manager so invoices from the new provider are expected.
Looking for an NDIS provider?
VSG Home Care is a registered NDIS provider in Craigieburn serving Melbourne's northern suburbs. The first conversation is free and commits you to nothing.