What an NDIS virtual assistant does and what it costs

Here’s what an NDIS virtual assistant does: they’re a remote administrator who handles the back office of a provider under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), covering intake paperwork, support worker rosters, service agreement drafts, payment request data, rejected claim follow-up and worker screening records. Through Tarino, a full time NDIS admin assistant based in the Philippines typically earns around $1,300 a month. Your support workers and coordinators keep the participant-facing work; the assistant clears the admin that keeps them at their desks.

This guide covers what an NDIS virtual assistant does, what it costs compared with the alternatives, and the screening and privacy rules you need to plan for. For the role itself, including software and screening questions, see our NDIS admin assistant role page.

What is an NDIS administration assistant?

An NDIS administration assistant, or NDIS virtual assistant when they work remotely, is an admin support officer for a disability provider. An admin support officer is the person responsible for the paperwork behind the services: records, rosters, invoices, claims and documentation. In the disability sector, that work has to follow NDIS processes, so the role needs someone who can understand NDIS processes such as service bookings, support items and plan management types, not just general office admin.

Good NDIS administration plays a vital role in service quality. When rosters, agreements and claims are correct, support workers turn up to the right shifts, participants get the supports in their plan, and fewer errors reach the payment stage.

What does an NDIS virtual assistant do?

Most providers hire for the same four areas of NDIS admin, plus some general support for day to day operations.

Intake and participant records

• Logging referrals and enquiries and requesting what your intake checklist needs
• Setting up participant records in your client management system, including each participant’s preferences and contact details
• Data entry and filing plans, consents and reports with consistent naming

Rostering and scheduling

• Entering roster changes and worker availability, and building each week’s schedule for your coordinators to approve
• Sending approved shift updates to support workers
• Checking time tracking, timesheets and shift notes against the roster and flagging gaps

Service agreements

• Drafting service agreements from your approved templates for your team to review and send
• Tracking signed agreements, review dates and expiries

The NDIS describes a good service agreement as covering the supports being provided, how they’re provided, what they cost, how the provider gets paid, important dates and reviews, and what to do when something goes wrong. It also notes that providers can’t use a service agreement to contract out of their responsibilities under the NDIS Code of Conduct or Australian Consumer Law. Your assistant can fill in the template; the content and sign-off stay with your team.

Claims, invoices and accounts

• Preparing payment request data against service bookings and agreements
• Reconciling invoices and payments, and following up rejected or unpaid claims
• Chasing plan managers and self-managed participants for unpaid invoices, and keeping accounts receivable up to date

Compliance and audit documentation

• Tracking worker screening clearances, training and induction records against expiry dates
• Keeping incident, complaints and training registers filed and up to date for your team to review

That last group matters at audit time. The NDIS Commission says a quality audit can include reviewing documents and information about your business, and that auditors check worker screening clearances, qualifications, induction records and evidence of ongoing training and supervision. An assistant who keeps that documentation organised all year makes audit preparation a matter of pulling files rather than finding them. Consistent records reduce compliance risk and free your coordinators’ hours for participants. Compliance decisions still sit with your onshore team.

What is the best rostering software in Australia?

There isn’t one best option; it depends on your size, services and claiming workflow. Providers commonly use platforms such as ShiftCare, Lumary, Brevity and CareMaster, which typically cover rostering and claiming. An NDIS virtual assistant works inside whatever tools you already use, so pick the system first and hire someone with experience in it.

Modern rostering software does a lot of the heavy lifting. ShiftCare, for example, says you can drag and drop shifts to create and manage rosters, send instant alerts to your team, and have support workers clock in and out in its app, with the phone reporting GPS location coordinates against the shift address. Your assistant uses those tools day to day: building the roster, watching for no-shows and late clock-ins, filling gaps with available workers, and sending a weekly report on roster gaps, unapproved timesheets and rejected claims to your managers.

How do NDIS claims work in the provider portals?

The NDIS currently runs two provider portals. The my NDIS provider portal is for participants on the NDIA’s new computer system, and the myplace provider portal is for participants on the old one. According to the NDIS, claims and payments are submitted through the myplace provider portal for all participants, while claim and payment enquiries go through the my NDIS provider portal. In myplace, providers create and manage service bookings and create and check payment requests.

Access has changed. You may still see older guides and software lists refer to PRODA, but the NDIS now says providers log in with myID, the Australian Government’s Digital ID, linked to the business in Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM). It also says all provider employees who use the portals need their own myID, and that your principal authority links first and then manages authorisations for everyone else.

That matters for an offshore hire. Check with the NDIA whether a staff member based in the Philippines can set up a myID and be authorised in RAM. If they can’t, split the job: your assistant prepares and checks the payment request data (including any bulk upload file) and an authorised person in Australia submits it. Either way, never share a login. Each person needs their own access and control of their own credentials.

Will an NDIS virtual assistant work Australian business hours?

Yes, if you set the role up that way. The Philippines runs on UTC+8 with no daylight saving, so it’s two hours behind Sydney and Melbourne in winter and three hours behind in summer. A 9am start in Sydney is 7am in Manila for most of the year. Agree the shift before you hire so your assistant is online when rosters change and support workers call in.

Does an NDIS virtual assistant need a worker screening check?

It depends on the role, and you need to decide before you hire.

For registered providers, the NDIS Commission says people in risk-assessed roles, including key personnel, need an NDIS worker screening clearance. A risk-assessed role includes one that’s likely to require “more than incidental contact” with people with disability, which covers building rapport with a person with disability as an ordinary part of the job. Importantly, the Commission says that contact can be physical, face to face, oral, written or electronic.

So a back-office assistant who never speaks to participants is in a different position from one who rings participants each week to confirm shifts. Registered providers must keep a written record of their risk-assessed roles, including how each was assessed, who assessed it and when. Workers apply for a clearance through the worker screening unit in their state or territory, and the Commission lists the screening units by state.

Practical steps:

1. Write the role’s duties down before you advertise.
2. Assess it against the risk-assessed role definition and record your decision.
3. If participant contact is part of the job, get advice on whether and how a clearance can be obtained for someone based overseas, or redesign the role so contact stays onshore.

This is general information. Confirm your obligations with the NDIS Commission or a qualified adviser.

What privacy rules apply to participant information?

The OAIC treats health information as sensitive information under the Privacy Act, with stricter handling rules. Its definition of a health service includes activities intended to assess, maintain, improve or manage a person’s health, or to diagnose or treat an illness, disability or injury. The OAIC also says the Privacy Act covers health service providers regardless of turnover. Many NDIS providers will fall within that, so plan as if you’re covered.

If participant information is disclosed to someone overseas, APP 8 applies. The OAIC says you’re generally expected to take reasonable steps, usually an enforceable contract, so the overseas recipient handles it in line with the Australian Privacy Principles. Whether giving access to your own overseas staff is a use or a disclosure depends on whether you keep effective control of the information.

In practice: a written employment contract with confidentiality and data-handling clauses, access to participant records only where the role needs it, individual logins with multi-factor authentication, and no downloading to personal devices. Our offshore staff security checklist and data privacy checklist cover the setup. Confirm your position with a privacy adviser.

How much does an NDIS virtual assistant cost?

Tarino’s typical salary for a Philippines-based NDIS admin assistant is around $1,300 a month, about $15,600 a year. On top of salary you’ll budget for Philippine employer costs such as 13th month pay and statutory contributions. The cost calculator gives typical all-in totals.

For comparison, Tarino’s typical Australian salary for an NDIS admin assistant is around $80,000 a year, plus superannuation at the 12% guarantee rate. On salary alone that’s roughly 80% less ($15,600 against about $89,600 with super), before Philippine employer costs and recruitment fees. That gap is the main benefit of outsourcing the role offshore, and it’s why many providers hire a full time assistant rather than adding admin hours to coordinators’ weeks.

Route	Monthly salary	Fees on top
Direct hire through Tarino	Around $1,300	One-time $5,000 excl. GST, nothing monthly
Direct hire, with Tarino EOR running payroll	Around $1,300	One-time $5,000, plus $387 per employee per month
Managed offshore agency (outsourcing provider)	Salary set by the agency	One published rate is A$1,099 per person per month plus A$1,200 per hire (Staff Domain)
In-house in Australia	Around $80,000 a year plus super	Recruitment, office and equipment costs

Over a first year, the managed-agency rate above adds about $14,388 in fees for one person; the Tarino fee is $5,000 once. If you’d rather not run Philippine payroll yourself, Tarino EOR (powered by Deel) handles contracts, payroll and leave.

Can I find a virtual assistant in Australia?

Yes. Some NDIS virtual assistants are based in Australia, usually freelancing at Australian rates. Many providers hire from the Philippines instead, where the time difference is small and the salary is a fraction of a local hire.

What should stay with your onshore team?

Keep these onshore and with the right people:

• Direct support and anything involving physical or face-to-face contact
• Support coordination decisions and plan implementation advice
• Incident management, reportable incident decisions and complaints
• Final approval and submission of payment requests, if your assistant can’t be authorised in the portals
• Anything a participant or nominee needs to discuss with a decision-maker

Your assistant prepares, checks, chases and records. Your team decides and signs. Our NDIS providers page explains how this split works for different provider types.

What skills should an NDIS admin assistant have?

Look for NDIS knowledge first, then general admin skills:

• NDIS knowledge: service bookings, support items, plan-managed versus self-managed participants, and how rejected claims are fixed.
• Excellent communication: clear written communications with support workers, plan managers and clients.
• Time management skills: the ability to handle multiple tasks, keep focus on accuracy, and see each job through to completion.
• Software: experience in your rostering and claiming tools, plus spreadsheets.

Someone trained on your templates can be contributing within weeks, and ongoing support from a named person on your team keeps their work correct as rules change.

How do you hire an NDIS virtual assistant?

1. List the admin. Two weeks of intake, roster and claims tasks, with the hours each takes.
2. Decide the boundaries. Which tasks involve participant contact, which portals they’ll use, and who submits payment requests.
3. Screen for NDIS experience. Candidates who’ve worked in ShiftCare, Lumary, Brevity or CareMaster and understand service bookings and support items come up to speed faster.
4. Test with a practical task. Give a sample roster change and a rejected claim to work through.
5. Onboard in stages. Start with data entry and reconciliations, then add claims preparation once their work is accurate.

Tarino sources 1,000+ candidates per role and sends a shortlist of 3–4 in about 2 weeks. You hire and pay your assistant directly, and our 6-month replacement cover applies for the same role. See how it works or book a 30-minute call.