How to write NDIS progress notes

To write NDIS progress notes well, record what support you delivered, what the participant did and said, how it connects to their goals, and anything that needs follow-up, in plain, factual language, as soon as practical after the shift. A good note lets someone who wasn't there understand exactly what happened, supports your claim for payment, and stands up if an auditor, the participant or the NDIS Commission reads it.

What NDIS progress notes are for#

Progress notes (also called case notes or shift notes) do several jobs at once:

• Evidence for claims. The NDIA says providers must keep complete and accurate records of the supports they deliver, and lists case notes alongside invoices, support logs, rosters and service agreements. Under its Provider Payment Assurance Program, failing to provide complete and accurate records during a review may mean funds have to be repaid.
• Continuity of support. The next worker needs to know what happened and what is outstanding.
• Goal tracking. The NDIA describes case notes as outlining the activities a participant engaged in and how they relate to the support item and the participant's goals, and says they may include progress and plans for future sessions.
• Safeguarding. Notes are often the first record of an injury or concern that becomes an incident.

What the rules say about record keeping#

There is no single mandated progress note format. The obligations come from several places:

The practical message: write a note for every support, write it promptly, and make it make sense to an auditor months later.

What a good progress note contains#

Use this as a checklist. Not every item applies to every shift, but your notes should cover each one when it's relevant.

• Date, start time, finish time and total hours
• Participant identifiers your system requires, and your name and role
• Support type, matching the service agreement
• Where the support happened
• What you did and what the participant did, in time order
• The goal the activity relates to, and what progress you saw
• The participant's choices, preferences and own words
• Observed health, wellbeing or mood (what you saw or were told, not a diagnosis)
• Incidents, risks or concerns, what you did and who you told
• Follow-up actions for the next shift or session
• Your signature and the time you wrote the note

Objective language: write what you saw and heard#

Subjective notes ("good shift", "he was difficult") tell the reader how you felt, not what happened. They can't be used as evidence and they can be unfair to the participant, who may read them.

A few rules make the difference:

1. Describe behaviour, don't label it. Write what the person did and said.
2. Quote the participant. Their own words are the most accurate record of their view.
3. Separate fact from interpretation. If you add your view, mark it: "I think Sam may have been in pain because he held his side."
4. Be specific. Times, numbers, distances and the level of prompting ("one verbal prompt") show progress over time.
5. No diagnoses. Record observations and who you reported them to.
6. Be respectful. Use person-first, plain language and record the participant's choices, not just the tasks.
7. Correct errors properly. Follow your system's process for amending notes rather than deleting text.

Three worked examples (before and after)#

The participants below are fictional.

Example 1: Community access

Before: Took Sam shopping. He was good and had a great time. No issues.

After: 10:00–12:00. Supported Sam to do his weekly shop (goal: build confidence managing his own shopping). Sam wrote a six-item list at home with one verbal prompt. At the supermarket he found five items without help and asked a staff member where to find the sixth. He paid by card and checked his receipt. Sam said, "I want to use the self-checkout next time." No incidents. Next session: practise the self-checkout, as Sam asked.

Example 2: In-home support with an incident

Before: Mia was in a bad mood and fell in the bathroom. She was fine.

After: 07:00–09:00. Morning personal care. Mia spoke little before breakfast and said she had slept badly. At about 07:40 she slipped stepping out of the shower and sat down on the floor. She said she did not hit her head and that her left hip was sore. When she said she was ready, I helped her up using the transfer method in her support plan, and she walked to the kitchen with her walker. The bath mat was wet; I replaced it with a dry one. I phoned the team leader at 07:50 and completed an incident report at 08:30. Mia declined a GP visit. The team leader will phone her at 12:00 to check on her hip.

Example 3: Building daily living skills

Before: Cooking with Alex. Lazy about cleaning up. Progressing well.

After: 14:00–16:00. Cooking session (goal: prepare two simple meals a week independently). Alex chose pasta. He read the recipe card and gathered the ingredients without prompts, a first. He needed physical help to drain the pot safely, as in the last three sessions. After eating he said he was tired; after a five-minute break he wiped the bench with one verbal prompt. Next session: Alex wants to try a pot with a strainer lid. I will raise this with the team leader so it can be discussed with Alex and his OT.

Each "after" version shows the goal, the level of support, the participant's voice and the follow-up.

NDIS progress notes template#

Copy this into your notes system and adjust the headings to match your organisation's policy.

NDIS PROGRESS NOTE

Date:            Start:          Finish:          Total hours:
Participant:                     NDIS number (if required):
Worker (name and role):
Support type (as per service agreement):
Location:

1. Purpose of the session
   Planned activity and the goal it relates to.

2. What happened
   Factual account in time order: support provided, what the
   participant did and said (quote them where useful).

3. Progress toward goals
   Goal:
   Observed today (steps completed, level of prompting):

4. Health and wellbeing (observed)
   What you saw or were told, and by whom. No diagnoses.

5. Incidents, risks or concerns
   None / describe the facts. Incident report completed? Yes/No.
   Who was notified and when.

6. Participant choices and feedback
   Choices made, preferences expressed, feedback given.

7. Follow-up and handover
   Actions for the next shift or session, and who is responsible.

Written by:                      Date and time written:

Using AI to draft progress notes safely#

AI can turn rushed dot points into a clear, objective note in seconds. It can also leak participant information or invent details. Both risks are manageable with clear rules.

What regulators have said. In February 2026 the NDIS Commission published a position statement on using AI to develop behaviour support plans. It does not endorse AI tools for that work but does not prohibit AI either. It expects that, if a provider uses AI, all information is appropriately de-identified and no personal information of participants is disclosed to AI systems, and it warns that putting sensitive personal information into a third-party AI platform such as ChatGPT without appropriate safeguards may breach section 6(b) of the NDIS Code of Conduct, which requires providers to respect participants' privacy. The statement is about behaviour support plans, but the same risks apply to progress notes. The OAIC also recommends against entering personal information, particularly sensitive information, into publicly available AI tools.

A safe workflow:

1. Use only an AI tool your organisation has approved, after checking where data is stored and processed, whether inputs are used for training, and who can access them.
2. De-identify first. Replace the participant's name with "P", and remove NDIS numbers, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers, family members' names and anything else that identifies them.
3. Give the AI your facts only. Your rough notes are the source of truth.
4. Ask it to restructure, not to add. Use a standard prompt (below) so everyone works the same way.
5. Check every line against what actually happened and delete anything you didn't observe.
6. Add identifiers back in your client management system, not in the AI tool.
7. Write incident facts yourself. Use AI for spelling and structure only, and follow your incident procedure.
8. Sign the note as your own. You are accountable for its content.

A prompt your team can share:

You are helping an NDIS support worker tidy a progress note.

Rules:
- Use only the facts in my notes. Do not add, guess or embellish.
- Keep the participant's own words in quotation marks.
- Use objective, respectful, person-first language. No diagnoses or labels.
- Use these headings: Purpose, What happened, Progress toward goals,
  Wellbeing (observed), Incidents or concerns, Follow-up.
- If something is unclear or missing, list it as a question at the end
  instead of filling the gap.

My notes (de-identified, participant shown as "P"):
[paste your notes here]

If your organisation wants a workspace for this, look for Australian processing and no training on your data. AusGPT runs Claude in AWS Sydney and Melbourne, does not use your prompts to train AI models, and lets you save approved prompts like the one above in a shared prompt library so every worker uses the same rules. That makes privacy assessments simpler, but it doesn't replace de-identification or a worker's review. See how providers use it on our NDIS page and security page.

Common mistakes to avoid#

• Writing notes days later from memory, or copying the last shift's note
• Recording opinions ("non-compliant", "attention-seeking") instead of observations
• Leaving out the goal link, so the note doesn't show why the support was funded
• Mentioning an injury or concern without recording what you did and who you told
• Naming other participants in a note about one person

If you also write reports for the NDIA, see our guide to AI for occupational therapists, which covers plan reassessment and assistive technology reports.