Your audit
What is Stage 2 of a certification audit?
The implementation audit: records, interviews with workers and participants, and observation.
Stage 2 is where your auditor checks whether your documents describe what really happens. Stage 1 asks "do you have a system?" Stage 2 asks "do you use it?"
What happens
Your auditor samples your records, talks with you and your workers, and — with consent — talks with participants. Depending on the supports you deliver, they may visit a site, such as a home you support under Supported Independent Living. Some Stage 2 activity can be done remotely; some is done in person.
What they look at
- Records — participant files, signed service agreements, support plans, risk assessments, progress notes, incident and complaint records, registers and training records
- Interviews with you — how you make decisions, manage risk, respond to incidents and improve
- Interviews with workers — often the most revealing part. Auditors ask a worker what they would do if something went wrong, and whether it matches your policy
- Interviews with participants — usually voluntary and arranged with consent. Auditors ask whether people feel safe, listened to and able to complain
- Observation — how supports are delivered, and whether the environment is safe
How to prepare
Tell participants early that an auditor may wish to speak with them, that it is their choice, and that their supports will not change either way. Record that conversation. Make sure your workers — even if that is only you — can describe your incident and complaint processes without reading them out.
Check that one participant's file tells a consistent story: the service agreement, support plan, risk assessment, notes and invoices should line up.
If you have no participants yet
That is common for new providers. Auditors will ask what you would do, using your own forms and templates, and will look at how ready your systems are. Answer honestly using your own documents rather than inventing history.
Easy Compliance is independent of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. This is preparation material, not a prediction of your result.
