Most of the work in buying an NDIS provider happens after you sign a heads of agreement: the full due diligence, the contract, the handover. But a handful of questions should be answered before you put a number on paper, because they decide whether the deal can be done at all, how it has to be structured, and what the business is really worth to you. Get them wrong and you can end up paying for a registration you cannot keep or participants who were never going to stay.
This article covers those pre-offer checks. It assumes you have found a provider you like and have signed a confidentiality agreement with the seller or their broker.
1. Pin down exactly what you are buying
Start with the basics, in writing:
- Registered or unregistered. Registered providers can support participants whose plans are managed by the NDIA. Unregistered providers can only work with participants who self-manage or use a plan manager. The difference changes who the business can serve and what you will have to maintain after settlement.
- Registration groups and conditions. Ask for the certificate of registration. It lists the registration groups the provider is approved to deliver and any extra conditions attached to its registration.
- The entity and its ABN. Find out which legal entity holds the registration and under which ABN.
That last point matters more than most first-time buyers expect. The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission's guidance on buying or selling a registered NDIS business says a registration is linked to a single ABN and cannot be transferred to a different one. If the business will need a different ABN after the sale, a new registration application is required. Some structures, such as a sole trader, may not allow the ABN to pass to a buyer at all.
In practice this means buying the shares in a company that holds the registration is a very different proposition from buying the business assets into your own company. Decide which you are offering on before you make the offer, with advice from a solicitor and accountant, because it affects the price, the timeline and the risk.
2. Search the public record before you spend money on advisers
Some checks cost nothing and can end a deal early. The Commission's Find a registered provider search lets you look up providers that are currently registered, and those whose registration has been suspended or revoked. Compliance decisions such as banning orders are listed separately. Search the business name, the ABN and the names of the key people involved.
Then ask the seller for:
- the most recent audit report, including any non-conformities and how each was closed;
- when the next audit is due, and whether a mid-term audit applies;
- the incident and complaints registers, with participant details removed;
- any correspondence with the Commission in the last few years.
A seller who is slow to share these is telling you something. A clean record is not a guarantee, but an open one is a good sign.
3. Cost what you will have to do after settlement
A change of ownership comes with obligations, and they belong in your budget and your timeline, not in a surprise after settlement.
- Notification. The Commission must be told about a change of ownership as soon as possible after the buyer becomes aware it will happen, or after it happens, whichever comes first. The notification covers the new owner's qualifications and experience, the number of participants, how they were told about the change and supported to choose, and whether a consultant or broker was involved.
- A condition audit. For changes of ownership from 1 July 2026, a buyer of a provider with a registration group that needs a certification audit must start a condition audit no later than three months after the purchase, where the sale causes a significant change to the organisation or its governance. Get a quote from an approved quality auditor before you offer.
- Key personnel and screening. New owners, directors and managers become key personnel. They need NDIS worker screening clearances and their details must be updated with the Commission.
- Portal access. Agree that the seller will give you access to the Commission's portal before their own access ends, so you can manage the registration from day one.
4. Test the revenue before you price it
An NDIS provider's income comes from the supports funded in participants' plans, billed within the NDIA's price limits. That makes revenue quality the centre of any valuation. Before you offer, ask for de-identified data showing:
- the number of active participants and how long each has been with the provider;
- revenue by support type and by how each participant's plan is managed;
- revenue from the largest five participants as a share of the total;
- hours delivered and billed each month for the last year or two.
Two things deserve a hard look. First, concentration: if a few participants provide most of the income, losing one changes everything. Second, the owner's role: if the seller personally delivers supports, participants may follow them rather than stay. Remember too that the Commission says participants must be told about the sale and must not be moved automatically to the new owner. They are relationships you will need to earn, not an asset that transfers on settlement.
5. Check the workforce can carry the registration
The Commission expects a buyer to make sure the workforce has the right qualifications and experience to deliver the supports on the certificate of registration. Before you offer, find out:
- who holds the qualifications the registration groups depend on, and whether they are staying;
- whether every worker in a risk-assessed role has a current screening clearance;
- which staff are employees and which are contractors, and which award applies;
- whether pay rates have been checked recently against that award.
An underpayment found after settlement, or a key clinician who resigns the week you take over, can wipe out a year of profit.
6. Protect participant privacy from the start
The Commission says participant privacy must be maintained during a change of ownership. Ask only for de-identified information until you have a signed agreement and legal advice on what can be shared, when, and with whose consent. Agree early with the seller how participants and their families will be told, because how that conversation goes will affect how many stay.
7. Write the answers into your offer
Once you have the answers, use them. A well-built offer on an NDIS provider usually spells out:
- whether it is a share sale or an asset sale, and what that means for the registration;
- a due diligence period long enough to review audits, registers, payroll and de-identified participant data;
- conditions covering finance, the lease, key staff staying on, and the Commission matters above;
- a handover period with the seller, and how participants will be informed;
- a restraint on the seller setting up nearby or approaching participants and staff.
Your solicitor will draft the detail, but the commercial terms are yours to decide, and they are much easier to agree before the offer than after it.
Where to go next
For a fuller checklist that covers SIL housing, vehicles, awards and the questions to put to the seller, read BizExchange's guide to buying an NDIS provider. Read it alongside the Commission's own guidance, which changes often as the scheme is reformed, and talk to an accountant and solicitor who know the NDIS before you sign anything.
Buying an established provider can be a faster and lower-risk path than registering a new one, but only if the registration, the people and the participants are still there after you take over. The checks above are how you find out before you commit.