A stage 1 audit is sometimes called a desktop audit and it usually takes place off-site. It includes a review of your completed self-assessment responses in your application and associated policies and procedures. The auditor may ask you for any outstanding documents (for example, policies, procedures which haven’t already been uploaded). If you are eligible for a modified NDIS RAC audit, the auditor may ask for your aged care audit documents.
- Make sure you provide ALL of your existing policies and procedures relevant to the NDIS Practice Standards, as the audit team need to decide whether your service is suitably prepared for Stage 2 audit.
- Be clear about how you are implementing these policies and procedures – this will be closely looked at in Stage 2. Do you have required forms, registers, minutes, files, plans in place and being implemented? You could use the Concordance Table (Part H) to document this evidence.
- Stage 2 audit should take place within three months of completion of Stage 1. The audit team will be looking for evidence of how you are implementing your policies and procedures in Stage 2, so make sure your policies and procedures reflect NDIS requirements and are tailored to your own processes. Refer to the Evidence Guide (Part I) if required.
The NDIS Commission has published NDIS (Approved Quality Auditors Scheme) Guidelines 2018 that set out how approved quality auditors must scope and undertake an audit.