Screening sits inside WWVP. Provider registration is national, so we haven't repeated it here: our main NDIS providers page explains how registered and unregistered providers should describe themselves, and what changed on 1 July 2026. Worker screening is where the ACT does things its own way. The NDIS check is folded into the territory's Working with Vulnerable People scheme, which Access Canberra runs under the Working with Vulnerable People (Background Checking) Act 2011. Registered providers must make sure key personnel and workers in risk-assessed roles hold an NDIS clearance, and a self-employed registered provider counts as both. Access Canberra also says that anyone providing NDIS services in the ACT whose job needs an NDIS clearance must hold a WWVP registration. On top of that, the scheme lists disability services, including NDIS-funded ones, as a regulated activity in their own right, so whether a worker needs a WWVP card isn't settled just by whether your business is registered. Access Canberra's WWVP and the NDIS page is the place to confirm who in your team needs what.
Where participants live. The NDIS has run in the ACT since its trial began on 1 July 2014. The NDIA's figures for 30 June 2026 put about 12,700 participants in the territory. By statistical area, Belconnen had 3,204, Tuggeranong 2,968 and Gungahlin 2,430, just over two thirds of the total between them. North Canberra had 1,311, Woden Valley 1,022, Weston Creek 721, South Canberra 577 and Molonglo 371. Across the border, the NDIA's Queanbeyan area had another 1,694. A provider based in Belconnen and one based in Tuggeranong can both say "Canberra" and still cover quite different parts of the city, which is why the district list matters more than the city name.
Who coordinates where. Feros Care delivers local area coordination in the ACT as an NDIS partner in the community, from an office in Phillip. EACH runs its early childhood approach service from Kingston, for children younger than 6 with developmental concerns or younger than 9 with a diagnosed disability. Over the border, Queanbeyan-Palerang and Yass Valley belong to the NDIA's Southern NSW district, one of the districts where Uniting delivers local area coordination, and NSW runs its NDIS Worker Check through Service NSW and the Office of the Children's Guardian, as our Sydney NDIS provider page explains. An NDIS clearance is a national check, recognised across Australia, so a worker cleared through NSW doesn't need a second NDIS clearance for Canberra shifts. Access Canberra still says that anyone providing NDIS services in the ACT whose job requires a clearance must hold a WWVP registration; a card reading "NDIS ACTIVITIES - No" can be used alongside a valid interstate clearance.
Restrictive practices and the Senior Practitioner. The ACT has its own regulator for restrictive practices. The Office of the Senior Practitioner works under the Senior Practitioner Act 2018 across disability services, schools, early childhood centres and out-of-home care. According to the ACT Government's guidance, a positive behaviour support plan that includes a restrictive practice has to be approved and registered, a changed plan must be approved and registered again, every use is reported to the Senior Practitioner, and the NDIS Commission may also need to be told if the person is an NDIS participant. A behaviour support practice's website doesn't have to restate any of this. A link to the Office of the Senior Practitioner and a sentence on how you work within its process is enough.
Working with an Adelaide team. We're at Ste 3/110 Hutt St, Adelaide, and work with Canberra providers by phone and email. Adelaide runs half an hour behind Canberra all year, because both change their clocks for daylight saving on the same dates, so a morning call suits both ends. We haven't built for an ACT business yet, or for a business whose main work is NDIS supports. The two projects below show the parts that carry over.