What evidence might an auditor look for?

Auditors look at two kinds of things: documents that describe what you intend to do, and evidence that you actually did it. Small providers usually have the first and are short on the second.

Documents

Policies, procedures, blank templates and registers. At Stage 1 these are reviewed on their own. Good ones are short, specific to your business, versioned and dated, and free of placeholders or another provider's name.

Implementation evidence

Records created by running your business. Examples:

• A completed incident record with the follow-up and the change that came from it
• A complaints register entry showing what the person was told and when
• A risk register with dated updates, not just a creation date
• A continuous improvement entry that started with feedback and ended with a change
• Signed service agreements, support plans and progress notes that line up with each other
• A worker's induction record, training record and policy acknowledgement
• Evidence you verified a worker screening clearance, with the number and expiry recorded

How auditors sample

They rarely read everything. They pick a participant or a worker and follow the trail across your records, checking that the story is consistent. If a support plan says one thing and the notes say another, that is what gets discussed.

If you have not started delivering supports yet

You will not have historical records, and auditors know that. What helps:

• Blank templates that are genuinely ready to use
• Registers set up and ready, even if empty
• Your own training and induction records — a sole trader can complete these for themselves
• Clear answers about what you would do, using your own documents

A note about privacy

You do not have to upload sensitive records into this product to prepare well. For identity documents, behaviour support plans, health information and participant files, record that you hold the document and where it is kept. Auditors sight originals in your own systems.