How to Find NDIS Clients as an Independent Support Worker (2026)
Looking for clients? 597 care requests a support worker could take on came through Carevo in the last 90 days.
To find NDIS clients as an independent support worker, look for self-managed and plan-managed participants, because NDIA-managed participants must use a registered provider. Have your ABN, NDIS Worker Screening Check, insurance, service agreement and rates ready, then work several channels at once: a worker platform, local support coordinators, word of mouth and your own profile.
This guide is for a sole trader with an ABN who has no clients yet, or wants more. See what people near you are asking for on support worker jobs, or register a free worker profile on Carevo.
Not a sole trader? To hire a worker, go to find a support worker. Provider businesses should read how to find NDIS clients as a provider.
About this guide: Carevo publishes it and sells a subscription that lets support workers contact care requests. What that costs is set out below.
The short version
- An unregistered sole trader can work with self-managed and plan-managed NDIS participants only.
- No channel is reliable alone. Use two or three, with your documents and rates ready before the first enquiry.
- Never share a participant’s details, approach participants uninvited, or take clients from an employer in breach of your contract.
Who can hire you?
The NDIS Commission puts it in one line: “Only self-managed or plan-managed NDIS participants can choose to get supports and services from unregistered providers” (NDIS Commission). A sole trader who has not registered with the Commission is an unregistered provider, so that sentence defines your market.
The NDIA says the same to participants. They “must use a registered provider for NDIA-managed funding”, and can “usually choose to use either registered or unregistered providers” when the plan is self-managed or plan-managed (NDIA). Some supports, including specialist behaviour supports and specialist disability accommodation, need a registered provider whatever the plan type.
Private NDIS clients. Workers say “private clients” for participants who engage them directly on their ABN, with no agency or platform in between. Under the NDIS those are the same two groups, and there is no list of them to look up or buy.
What you can charge. NDIS maximum prices “only apply to NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants” (NDIA pricing arrangements). For plan-managed work the maximum is $73.58 an hour for standard weekday support in 2026-27. A self-managed participant can agree a different rate with you. See independent support worker pay rates.
The channels compared
Six general channels, plus Carevo because we publish this guide. Speed, control and downside are our editorial read of each channel, not measured results.
| Channel | Cost to you | Speed | Your control | Typical downside |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worker platforms | A fee on each hour. Mable publishes 10% of your agreed rate. For others, check their current terms | Can start once your profile is live | Rates set inside the platform’s rules | The fee applies to every hour |
| Support coordinators and plan managers | Your time | Slow to start | None. The participant chooses | Nobody owes you a referral |
| Local community and word of mouth | Your time | Slowest to start | High | Hard to predict |
| Facebook groups | Free | Unpredictable | Low. Group rules apply | Privacy mistakes are easy |
| Your own profile and Google Business Profile | Your time, plus website hosting | Slow | Full | Little traffic at first |
| Existing clients and referrals | Nothing | Needs clients first | High | Relies on others |
| Carevo worker profile | Profile is free. Contacting requests needs the Support Worker Plan: $99 a month ex GST, up to 5 contacts a month, 7 day free trial. No commission | Depends on requests within 30 km of you | You choose which requests to contact | Up to two workers can contact each request and providers receive the same requests. No guarantee of clients |
Worker platforms
On a marketplace such as Mable you stay an independent contractor, and bookings and payment run through the platform. Mable’s pricing page lists a support engagement fee of 10% of the agreed rate, taken from the worker, and a client platform fee of 7.95% added on top (checked 10 October 2026; detail in our Mable guide).
Hireup employs its support workers, as our Hireup guide explains, so it is a job with a wage, not a source of clients for your own business. For any other platform, check their current terms. Fees, pay and joining requirements for the three are side by side in Mable vs Hireup vs Carevo for support workers.
Support coordinators and plan managers
The NDIA tells participants their “my NDIS contact, support coordinator or recovery coach can help you find the right providers”. Send local coordinators and plan managers a short introduction: your supports, suburbs, free days and times, ABN and checks. The provider guide has an email template you can cut down.
Do not pay or reward anyone for referrals. The NDIS Commission lists “inappropriate inducements” among the conduct it is targeting in 2026-27 (regulatory priorities).
Word of mouth and referrals
Tell disability and carer groups, community centres, clubs and neighbours what you do. Tell current participants and their families when you have hours free. Passing your name on is their choice. Do not reward them for it or ask for anyone else’s contact details.
Facebook groups and their limits
In local NDIS and disability groups, a family or coordinator may post that they are looking for a worker. Reply where the group’s rules allow it, and move to private messages only when the person asks.
The NDIS Code of Conduct applies to unregistered providers and workers, and requires you to “respect the privacy of people with disability”. Never name, describe or post a photo of a participant.
Your own profile and Google listing
A one-page profile or website gives coordinators and families something to check: your supports, suburbs, availability, ABN and checks. Google treats a business that visits its customers as a service-area business, which lists the areas it covers and not a street address, so a Google Business Profile does not have to show your home address.
What to have ready first
- ABN. Registering is free through the Australian Business Register, and a successful application gets its number immediately.
- NDIS Worker Screening Check. Unregistered providers “aren’t legally required” to ask workers for a clearance, but the NDIS Commission recommends it and says self-managed and plan-managed participants “can decide if the workers that support them must have a worker screening clearance” (NDIS Commission). It costs $112 to $163 depending on your state and lasts up to 5 years (worker screening guide).
- Insurance. Public liability and professional indemnity. See the insurance guide.
- A service agreement. The NDIA recommends participants have one with each provider, covering the supports, the cost of each and how the provider is paid. The service agreement builder makes a draft.
- Rates. A written rate for each shift type, at or under the NDIS maximum price for plan-managed work.
Answering an enquiry
Reply the same day if you can, with the supports you can and cannot do, when you are free, your rate and the checks you hold. Then ask how the plan is managed.
Hi [name], I’m [your name], an independent support worker in [suburb] with an ABN. I can help with [supports] and have [days and times] free. My weekday rate is [rate] an hour. I hold an NDIS Worker Screening Check, first aid and insurance. Can I ask how the plan is managed? Happy to meet first, with no obligation.
Follow up once. If they say no or stay quiet, stop.
Running a meet and greet
The NDIA tells participants “it’s a good idea to meet with new providers before you start working with them”, so suggest it if they do not.
- Agree beforehand where it is, how long it runs, who else will be there and whether you charge for it.
- Bring photo ID, your worker screening details, first aid certificate and insurance certificate.
- Let the participant lead. Ask about routines and goals, and say plainly what you do not do.
- Do not ask for a decision on the spot. Send a draft service agreement afterwards.
How many clients fill a week?
Count billable hours, not clients. Our becoming guide uses about 30 billable hours a week as a full schedule.
| If each participant books | Hours each a week | Participants for 30 hours |
|---|---|---|
| One 2 hour shift | 2 | 15 |
| Two 3 hour shifts | 6 | 5 |
| Three 4 hour shifts | 12 | 2 to 3 |
These rows are arithmetic, not data on what participants book. Many small bookings mean more travel. Two or three large ones mean a hospital stay or a plan change can remove a third or more of your income in a week.
What not to do
- Do not poach from an employer in breach of your contract. If you work or worked for a provider, read your employment contract before you approach anyone you supported there. If it restricts you from taking the employer’s clients, approaching them can put you in breach. Contact details you saw in that job are not yours to use. Get legal advice if you are unsure.
- Do not share participant details in groups. Not names, not photos, not “my Tuesday client”, and not in a closed group either.
- Do not cold contact participants. Respond when a person or their representative asks for a worker. Do not message, call or visit someone because you saw their name. The NDIS Commission’s 2026-27 priorities name “sharp or predatory conduct” and “false or misleading representations” among the behaviour it will act on, for registered and unregistered providers alike.
How Carevo fits
- Registering a worker profile is free.
- With a profile you see care requests within 30 km of you that match the services and funding types you selected.
- A request shows the person’s contact details when you choose to contact it.
- Contacting requests needs the Support Worker Plan: $99 a month ex GST for up to 5 contacts a month, with a 7 day free trial. A payment card is needed to start the trial, and the plan begins when the trial ends unless you cancel (terms).
- Up to two workers can contact each request, and providers (agencies) receive the same requests, so you are not the only one who can respond.
- Carevo takes no commission and no cut of your pay.
- Carevo does not employ workers, does not vouch for workers or clients, and does not guarantee clients.
Carevo is a connection platform. It does not deliver care, employ support workers, or manage NDIS or aged care funding. What you put on your profile is shown as self-declared.
What Carevo’s records show. Up to the last site build on 2026-08-26, Carevo had recorded 1,405 requests with a suburb for personal care, a support worker or community access (a request naming two is counted twice), against 444 registered worker profiles. Of the 123 provider connections on requests asking for a support worker, half came within 3 minutes of the provider being notified. These are all-time platform counts, not Australian demand or a forecast. How we calculate these numbers.
Frequently asked questions
How do support workers get clients?
From several channels used together: a worker platform, local support coordinators and plan managers, word of mouth, their own profile and referrals from existing clients. Only self-managed and plan-managed NDIS participants can hire an unregistered sole trader.
How do I find self-managed NDIS clients?
There is no list of self-managed participants to look up or buy. You reach them through the same channels as anyone else, then ask how the plan is managed at the first enquiry. A self-managed participant can agree a rate with you outside the NDIS maximum prices.
What are private NDIS clients?
Participants who engage a worker directly on the worker’s ABN, with no agency or platform in between. Under the NDIS those are self-managed and plan-managed participants.
Can I take clients with me when I leave an agency?
Read your employment contract first. If it restricts you from taking the employer’s clients, approaching them can put you in breach. A participant can choose to change provider, but that is their decision to start.
Next step
See what is being asked for near you on support worker jobs, then register a free worker profile.
Customer Lead
Gemma is Carevo's Customer Lead. She spent several years working as a support worker before moving into concierge and partnerships roles, so she writes from the frontline of care.
