Onboarding and Training Plans for New Staff

Some checks must be complete before a new worker has contact with any participant. This lesson covers the core pre start checks: an NDIS Worker Screening Check clearance for risk assessed roles, any aged care screening our policy requires, a Working with Children Check where the role involves children, right to work, qualifications and licences, and completion of the NDIS Worker Orientation Module, Quality, Safety and You. Key points: verify every document yourself rather than accepting copies at face value, record what you checked and when, and never roster a worker until all required checks are confirmed.

A good first impression depends on preparation. This lesson covers what to organise before a new worker arrives: the employment contract and induction paperwork, system logins, a phone or device, uniform and identification, a first week roster that includes induction and shadow shifts, and a named buddy. Key points: send a clear welcome message with start details; make sure paperwork, including the NDIS Code of Conduct acknowledgement, bank, tax and superannuation details, is ready to complete; prepare equipment and access in advance; and tell the team and, where appropriate, participants and families who is joining.

Induction introduces a new worker to our organisation, our values and the rules that guide safe support. This lesson covers what a strong first day and first week include: a personal welcome, our purpose and values, key policies such as incident management, privacy, infection control and complaints, work health and safety, how to use our systems, and who to call for help. Key points: spread information over several days rather than one long session, check understanding rather than just ticking boxes, and make sure every new worker knows how to report an incident before they work alone.

Buddy and shadow shifts let new workers learn real support safely, alongside an experienced colleague, before working alone. This lesson explains the difference between shadowing and buddy support, how to choose and brief a buddy, how shadow shifts progress from watching to doing with support, and how to decide when someone is ready to work independently. Key points: introduce new workers to participants with consent, pace shadow shifts to the complexity of the support, gather feedback from the buddy and the participant, and never shorten shadowing because of roster pressure.

Every new worker arrives with different experience, so their training should be planned individually. This lesson explains how to build an individual training plan that combines our required courses, role specific training and participant specific learning, with clear due dates and responsibilities. Key points: start with a conversation about the worker's experience and goals; separate mandatory items from development; set realistic timeframes, with safety critical training first; include practical learning, not only online courses; and review the plan regularly and update it when the worker's roster or participants change.

Knowing general support skills is not the same as being competent to support a particular participant. This lesson explains participant specific competency: learning a person's support plan, communication, risks and preferences, and being assessed before working alone. For high intensity supports, such as enteral feeding, complex bowel care or catheter care, workers must be trained and assessed as competent for that participant by a suitably qualified health practitioner and follow the participant's support plan. Key points: online courses build knowledge only, competency must be assessed and recorded, and sign off must be refreshed when needs change.

If training is not recorded, an auditor will treat it as not done. This lesson explains what training and onboarding records we keep, including screening and orientation evidence, induction checklists, course completions, shadow shift records and competency sign offs. Key points: records must show who completed what, when, and who assessed it; they must be easy to retrieve for each worker; expiry dates must be tracked so refreshers happen on time; and records must be stored securely. Good records demonstrate that our workers are suitable and competent, as the NDIS Practice Standards and the Aged Care Quality Standards expect.

Probation is a two way period for the new worker and for us to confirm the role is a good fit. This lesson explains how to run regular, structured check ins, often around the end of the first week, the first month and before probation ends. Key points: ask how the worker is going and what support they need; review the training plan and feedback from buddies and participants; raise any concerns early and specifically; record each check in; involve HR before any decision about the outcome; and confirm successful completion in writing.

This case study follows Kiri, a new support worker joining a team that supports people with complex needs. In her first week, a rostering coordinator under pressure wants to cut her shadow shifts short to cover a gap. The lesson looks at how her manager protects a structured, progressive induction, why shadowing should never be cut short to fill a roster, and how feedback from the buddy and participant shapes the next steps. Key points: plan the first weeks, progress shadow shifts from watching to leading, and hold the line on safety.

This case study follows Priyanka, an operations manager preparing for a certification audit. While checking files, she finds that a worker who has supported a participant with a catheter for months has no record of a practitioner sign off, although everyone remembers it happening. The lesson explores the temptation to fix records after the event, why records must never be backdated, what to do instead, and how to fix the system so gaps are caught early. It finishes by bringing together the key messages of the whole course.