How Stage 2 interviews work
Interviews are one part of the process described in our audit preparation checklist. The Commission's quality audit process page says a Stage 2 onsite audit may include viewing records, visiting your sites, interviewing staff and participants, and observing supports. The audit rules, in Annex B of the Approved Quality Auditors Scheme Guidelines 2018, say auditors use interviews to gather new evidence and to confirm other evidence, such as how processes are implemented and how well they work. Auditors:
- interview workers who directly provide supports, and not only the board, managers and team leaders;
- interview people individually and not only in groups;
- seek consent, use a private setting, avoid jargon and explain that the interview is confidential;
- start with a standard set of questions and use a mix of open and closed questions; and
- talk face to face where possible, guided by the preference of the person.
Participants are sampled on an opt-out basis. You must tell all participants they are automatically included, and if one does not want to take part, you respect and document the decision and tell the auditor. A participant can bring a support person to the conversation. Families, friends, carers and nominees can also be interviewed or surveyed.
Topics for staff interviews
The questions below are examples we wrote to illustrate topics. They are not real auditor scripts. Each topic maps to a Practice Standards outcome you can read on the Commission's governance and operational management and rights and responsibilities pages.
Incident management
Outcome: incident management. Example questions: If a participant fell during your shift, what would you do first? Who would you tell, and how? Where do you record it? How would you know whether it had to be reported to the Commission? Our guide to incident management covers the system behind the answers.
Complaints and feedback
Outcome: feedback and complaints management. Example questions: What would you do if a participant told you they were unhappy with a worker? How do participants learn how to complain, including outside our organisation? What happens to the complaint afterwards? See complaints management.
Participant rights, privacy and choice
Outcomes: person-centred supports, privacy and dignity, independence and informed choice. Example questions: How do you find out what a participant wants from their support? How do you protect their privacy when you write notes or share information? What do you do if a participant wants to make a choice you are worried about?
The Code of Conduct and safeguarding
Outcome: violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation and discrimination. Example questions: What does the NDIS Code of Conduct mean in your daily work? What signs would make you worry about a participant's safety, and what would you do? See worker screening and the Code of Conduct.
Risk and emergencies
Outcomes: risk management, and emergency and disaster management. Example questions: Where would you find a participant's risk assessment? What would you do if a storm cut power and a participant relied on equipment? Who makes decisions in an emergency?
Where relevant: medication and restrictive practices
Outcomes: management of medication in the Core Module, and the restrictive practices outcomes in Module 2a. Example questions: What do you do if you realise a dose was missed? How do you know what you are allowed to do when a participant has a behaviour support plan? What would you report if a restrictive practice was used outside the plan?
Topics for participant conversations
The Commission says auditors may ask simple questions about whether a participant feels safe, whether staff treat them with respect and listen to them, and whether they know how to make a complaint. They may also quietly watch how supports are provided. Participants can choose not to speak with an auditor, and the Commission stresses that the audit is about protecting participants' rights, not getting anyone in trouble. Your job is to make sure participants know about the audit and what it means for them, using the Commission's factsheets, and that they know how to raise concerns with you every day, not only during an audit.
Preparing staff without coaching them
Preparation is fair. Scripting is not, and it rarely works, because auditors ask follow-up questions that expose rehearsed answers. A sound approach:
- Give each worker the procedures that apply to their role, and explain them in plain language.
- Tell workers what the audit is for and that auditors are testing your system, not them.
- Practise with realistic scenarios in team meetings, asking "what would you do?" and checking the answer against the procedure. This builds habit and also finds weak spots in your system.
- Tell workers it is fine to say "I would check the procedure" or "I would ask my supervisor".
- If workers describe a different practice to your documents, fix the document or the practice, not the answer.
- Do not choose which participants are interviewed, and do not coach participants on what to say.
Some gaps show up in interviews that documents alone hide, and our guide to audit non-conformities explains how findings are rated. Our package of 220+ editable Word documents covers the Core Module and Modules 1 to 5, but only your team can show the practice behind them.
This page is general information based on NDIS Commission and government sources at the date shown. It is not legal or professional advice, and the rules can change. Check the NDIS Commission's current requirements and read our disclaimer.