NDIS providers are marketing under three rulebooks simultaneously, and most provider websites breach at least one of them.
There is the NDIS Code of Conduct, enforced by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. There are the NDIA brand and logo guidelines, protecting the NDIS name and trade marks. And there is Australian Consumer Law, enforced by the ACCC like any other business.
The Code of Conduct applies to registered and unregistered providers alike. A common assumption among unregistered providers is that the rules are lighter for them. They are not.
This guide covers what you can say, what you cannot, and how to build visibility that reaches the people who actually make referral decisions.
The claims that will get you in trouble
“Registered NDIS provider” when you are not registered. You may describe your business as a registered provider only if you are registered with the NDIS Commission. Nor can you use anything that implies it, such as “official NDIS provider” or “NDIS accredited”.
“NDIS approved”. The NDIA does not approve goods or services. The phrase is misleading by definition, and it is on a great many provider websites.
“100% NDIS funded”. Same problem. Funding depends on a participant’s plan and their goals, not on your service.
The NDIS logo. No provider, person or business may use the NDIS logo without written consent from the NDIA. That covers websites, advertising, vehicles, buildings, email signatures, stationery and business cards. Providers put it on vans constantly and it is not permitted.
Inflated outcomes and urgency. The Code of Conduct requires honesty, integrity and transparency, and respect for each participant’s choice and control. Claims about results you cannot substantiate, and pressure tactics aimed at people choosing supports, cut against both the Code and Australian Consumer Law.
What unregistered providers can say. You can state the truth: that you support plan managed and self managed participants. That is accurate, useful to the reader, and permitted. What you cannot do is claim registration, use registered provider logos, or imply NDIA endorsement.
Check the current position with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and the NDIS logo guidelines before publishing, since guidance is updated periodically.
You are marketing to four audiences, not one
This is the strategic point most NDIS providers miss. Participants are not the only decision makers, and often not the main ones.
|
Audience |
What they need from your site |
Where they find you |
|
Support coordinators |
Capacity, specialisations, intake speed, reliability |
Referral networks, direct search, provider lists |
|
Plan managers |
Invoicing process, pricing compliance, admin ease |
Direct relationships |
|
Participants |
Plain language, what the service feels like, accessibility |
Google, social, word of mouth |
|
Families and carers |
Trust, safety, staff screening, communication |
Google, community groups, Facebook groups |
Support coordinators are the highest value audience and the most neglected. A single coordinator manages a caseload and refers continuously. Winning one coordinator can be worth more than a hundred participant enquiries, and almost no provider website speaks to them directly.
Build a page specifically for support coordinators covering current capacity and waitlist, the exact referral process, your intake turnaround, geographic coverage, specialisations and complexity you can handle, staff qualifications and screening, and a direct contact for referrals. Keep the capacity information current, because a coordinator who refers to a provider with no availability will not refer again.
Accessibility is not optional here
If your service is for people with disability and your website cannot be used by people with disability, that is a credibility problem before it is a compliance one. It is also a ranking factor, because many accessibility improvements overlap with what search engines reward.
The essentials:
- Colour contrast meeting WCAG AA at minimum. This is the most commonly failed item and the easiest to fix
- Full keyboard navigation, with a visible focus indicator
- Alt text on every meaningful image, written descriptively
- Proper heading hierarchy, one H1 then nested H2s and H3s in order, which screen readers use to navigate
- Captions on video and transcripts where practical
- Text that resizes to 200% without breaking layout
- Forms with real labels, not placeholder text standing in for labels
- Plain language, short sentences, no jargon
Add an Easy Read version of your key pages. Easy Read uses simple language with supporting images and is widely used across the disability sector. Very few provider websites offer it, and for participants with intellectual disability it is the difference between understanding your service and leaving.
Fast, simple pages also help. Many participants browse on older devices or limited data. Our guide to Core Web Vitals covers the performance side, and responsive web design best practices covers building layouts that hold up at large text sizes and on small screens.
The search demand
|
Search term |
Monthly searches (AU) |
Difficulty |
|
ndis providers near me |
800 |
Moderate |
|
ndis marketing |
250 |
Very low |
|
seo for ndis providers |
150 |
Very low |
The volumes look modest, and that is because most of the real demand sits in service and location specific searches rather than generic ones. “Support coordination Geelong”, “SIL vacancies Brisbane”, “NDIS occupational therapy Parramatta”, “NDIS plan management Perth” are where participants and coordinators actually search.
That fragmentation is good news. Each of those is winnable with a properly built page, and few providers build them. Our guide to keyword mapping covers assigning one service and region per page so they do not compete, and what local SEO is covers the fundamentals behind regional visibility.
The pages an NDIS provider should build
- One page per service you deliver. Support coordination, SIL, SDA, community participation, therapeutic supports, plan management, respite. Each with what it involves, who it suits, and how it is funded in a plan.
- A support coordinator referral page. Covered above. Highest leverage page on the site.
- Location pages for each region you genuinely service, with real capacity information.
- “How NDIS funding works” content for each service, explaining which budget category it falls under and what a participant needs in their plan. This is the content participants and families actually search for and it builds trust before contact.
- A vacancies page if you deliver SIL or SDA. Coordinators search these constantly and they need to be current.
- Staff and safeguarding page. Screening checks, qualifications, training, supervision. Families want this and few providers publish it.
- Easy Read versions of your main service pages.
Keep the enquiry path short on every one of them. Families and coordinators often make contact from a phone, so a four field form and a visible phone number beat a long intake questionnaire. Our conversion rate optimisation checklist and guide to calls to action cover the detail.
Google Business Profile
Set the primary category to the most specific match available, such as “Disability services and support organisation” or a therapy specific category if that is your main service. Complete the services list, keep hours accurate, and add photos of your actual spaces so participants can see whether they are accessible.
If you deliver services in participants’ homes rather than at your premises, set it up as a service area business and hide the address. Our Google Business Profile optimisation checklist covers the setup.
Reviews are permitted, unlike in AHPRA regulated health services, but be thoughtful. Soliciting reviews from participants carries a power imbalance the Code of Conduct is concerned with. Ask families and coordinators, keep the request neutral, and never make it a condition of anything.
Schema markup
{
“@context”: “https://schema.org”,
“@type”: “LocalBusiness”,
“additionalType”: “https://schema.org/SocialService”,
“name”: “Your NDIS Provider”,
“telephone”: “+61-3-XXXX-XXXX”,
“areaServed”: [
{ “@type”: “City”, “name”: “Geelong” },
{ “@type”: “City”, “name”: “Ballarat” }
],
“hasOfferCatalog”: {
“@type”: “OfferCatalog”,
“name”: “Disability Support Services”,
“itemListElement”: [
{ “@type”: “Offer”, “itemOffered”: { “@type”: “Service”, “name”: “Support Coordination” } },
{ “@type”: “Offer”, “itemOffered”: { “@type”: “Service”, “name”: “Supported Independent Living” } }
]
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Can unregistered NDIS providers advertise?
Yes, within the rules. You can state that you support plan managed and self managed participants. You cannot describe yourself as registered, use registered provider logos, or imply NDIA endorsement. The Code of Conduct applies to you regardless of registration status.
Can NDIS providers use the NDIS logo?
Not without written consent from the NDIA. This applies to websites, vehicles, buildings, business cards and advertising.
Why can’t I say “NDIS approved”?
The NDIA does not approve goods or services, so the claim is misleading by definition and creates exposure under Australian Consumer Law.
Should NDIS providers market to participants or support coordinators?
Both, with different content. Coordinators refer continuously and are the higher value audience, yet almost no provider site has a page built for them.
Can NDIS providers ask for reviews?
There is no equivalent of the AHPRA testimonial prohibition, so reviews are permitted. Be careful about soliciting them from participants given the power imbalance, and keep any request neutral.
Where to start
Audit your website for the four claims above. “NDIS approved”, “100% funded”, any implication of registration you do not hold, and the NDIS logo. Those are the urgent fixes.
Then build the support coordinator page, because it is the highest return page on an NDIS provider website and hardly anyone has one.
Our SEO and web design teams work with Australian service providers on compliant, accessible sites. Contact us for a review of your current site.
