1800 556 777Your own clients only.
You find participants yourself and invoice them or their plan manager, who pays your invoices out of the participant's NDIS plan. Every cover you need is yours to arrange.
Who we cover: independent support workers
Independent support worker insurance for sole traders
Independent support worker insurance is the cover you hold yourself when you invoice under your own ABN (Australian Business Number). With no employer to insure you, you arrange your own.
Get a quote
We're insurance brokers. We ask how you work, then arrange cover in your own name with insurers.
Reviewed by Frans du Plessis, founder of Grace Insurance
Diploma in Broking, Fellow CIP · Last reviewed 30 October 2026
Which of these sounds like you?
Pick the one that sounds most like how you work.
A platform only.
You take all your shifts through a platform such as Mable. The platform may have its own cover for those shifts, so check what it pays for before you buy more.
A platform and your own clients.
Some shifts come through a platform and some you arrange yourself. Ask the platform whether its cover reaches the shifts you arrange yourself. The shifts it doesn't reach need cover in your own name.
You've started taking on staff.
Once you employ other workers, ask us about workers compensation as well, which covers a worker's wages and medical bills after an injury at work. Tell us about your staff when you ask for a quote.
Getting cover before your first booking
Sort your insurance out before you say yes to a participant. Here's the order we suggest.
Write down the work you'll do.
List every kind of support, such as personal care, community access, cleaning or driving participants. Insurers set the price and what's covered from the work you tell them about.
Check what you've been asked for.
Read any service agreement (what you and a participant agreed in writing about your support) or platform rules you've signed up to. Note any cover or amount of cover they ask you to hold.
Get quotes for cover in your own name.
Ask for the covers your work needs, with the work described the way you wrote it down.
Get your certificate of currency.
It's the document from your insurer that proves your cover is active. Save it on your phone.
Send it before you start.
Give a copy to each participant, plan manager or platform that asks, and send a new one when you renew.
What insurance does an independent support worker need?
On your own ABN, begin with professional indemnity, public liability and cover for your own injuries. Add car insurance for driving participants, and workers compensation, which covers injured employees, if you take on staff.
The NDIS Practice Standards, the rules registered providers are audited against, include this line:
“Appropriate insurance is in place, including professional indemnity, public liability and accident insurance.”NDIS Practice Standards
Public liability
Public liability pays for claims against you if a participant trips over your bag, or you break something while cleaning their home.
Registered or not, we'd start with those three.
For what each one pays for, see professional indemnity, personal accident and income protection and public liability.
To see what changes the price, read what support worker insurance costs.
Professional indemnity
Professional indemnity pays for claims that your support or advice hurt someone or cost them money. For example, a family might say you missed a step in their son's care plan.
Personal accident and income protection
If you're hurt or sick and can't take shifts for a while, this cover pays part of your income. On an ABN there's no employer paying sick leave, so ask us about this one early.
Commercial motor
Commercial motor is car insurance for a car you use in your work, such as driving participants to appointments. Your private car policy may not cover work driving, so check with your car insurer before you take a participant anywhere.
Workers compensation
If you take on staff, we can arrange workers compensation for them. The rules differ from state to state, so tell us where you work.
When you also work through a platform
Mable's insurance page, read on 29 October 2026, says it offers coverage
for approved support sessions booked and invoiced through Mable
.
Before you rely on a platform's cover, check these four things:
- Shifts you arrange yourself. A participant you met on the platform and now see privately may not count as a platform booking. Ask the platform whether those shifts are covered.
- Other platforms. Each platform sets its own terms, so read the insurance page of each one you work through.
- The support you're approved for. For a claim on Mable's cover, you must have
been approved by Mable to provide the type of service
. Check you're approved for each kind of support you give there. - Who the cover is for. Read whether the policy covers you, and for which claims.
If any of your work falls outside a platform's cover, tell us about that work when you ask for a quote.
What participants and plan managers may ask to see
Before you start, a participant, plan manager or platform may ask you to prove you're insured. Have these ready:
- your certificate of currency
- the covers you hold, such as public liability and professional indemnity
- the amount of each cover, if an agreement asked for a set amount
- the dates your cover runs
- how the policy describes your work
If you're a participant hiring an independent worker, these are the things to ask for.
What we'll need for a quote
Get a quote for independent support worker insurance
Tell us how you work on your ABN and we'll come back with cover options in your own name.
When you ask for a quote, we'll want to know:
- what you do on a shift, such as personal care, cleaning or driving participants
- whether you work through a platform, with your own clients, or both
- which state you're based in
- whether a participant or platform wants you to hold a set amount of cover
- any insurance you already have
An insurance broker that arranges cover for NDIS support workers and providers, Australia-wide.
Independent support worker questions
Get a quoteWhat insurance should an independent support worker have?
We'd start with the three covers the NDIS Practice Standards name for registered providers: public liability, professional indemnity and accident insurance. Add commercial motor if you drive participants, and check any service agreement or platform rules for covers they ask you to hold.
Is a disability support worker a sole trader?
Some are. If you invoice for your own work on an ABN in your own name, you're working for yourself and we arrange cover in your name. If you're not sure whether you count as a sole trader, ask your accountant.
Do I need insurance if I'm not registered with the NDIS Commission?
The NDIS Practice Standards set the insurance rule for registered providers. If you're not registered, the people you work with can still ask for it. A participant, their plan manager or a platform may want to see your certificate of currency before your first shift.
Does a platform's insurance cover my private clients?
Check the platform's own terms. Mable's page says it “offers coverage” for approved support sessions “booked and invoiced through Mable”. For private clients, ask the platform whether you're covered, and if you're not, ask us to quote cover for that work.