Community Check-In Program: an advocate will check in after Commission visits

A new Community Check-In Program has started in the Northern Territory. It is a 12-month pilot funded by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, and DAS is the lead agency delivering it.

The program began on 1 September 2026 and was announced publicly on 30 September 2026 by the Minister for the NDIS, Senator Jenny McAllister, alongside the Commission's new First Nations resources hub.

What the program is

The NDIS Commission is the regulator. It checks that NDIS providers and workers follow the rules and treat people safely and with respect.

When the Commission carries out a compliance visit in a community, a local disability advocate will now follow up and offer a check-in to NDIS participants, their families and carers, and community leaders.

The advocate is independent. They do not work for the NDIS, the Commission or any provider. Their job is to listen to you and act on what you want.

What a check-in looks like

A check-in is a conversation. It can happen in person, by phone or online, whichever suits you.

The advocate will ask how your NDIS supports are going and whether anything is worrying you. You can:

• say how you are feeling about your supports
• raise a concern about a provider or worker
• ask for help to make a complaint or a report
• ask for advocacy on any other NDIS problem
• say that everything is fine

You do not need to have a problem to take part, and you can say no. Advocacy from DAS is free and confidential. You can have a family member or someone you trust with you, and you can ask for an interpreter.

If you want something done, the advocate can advocate for you with the provider, help you make a complaint to the Commission, or connect you with other services.

Who is delivering it

The program is delivered by the Northern Territory Disability Advocacy Consortium. The consortium is:

• Disability Advocacy Service (DAS), Alice Springs, lead agency
• Darwin Community Legal Service
• Integrated Disability Action

DAS CEO Scott Richardson told the Daily Telegraph: “We welcome this opportunity to influence real change for communities in the NT.”

Scott said DAS understands it is the first independent disability advocacy agency to be formally named as a partner of the NDIS Commission.

Why it matters

The Commission says the check-ins will help it see problems earlier, support people to reach advocacy and referral pathways, and give it local insight into what is happening on the ground, particularly in remote and very remote communities.

For people in Central Australia and the Barkly, it means that after a Commission visit there is a local, independent person you can talk to about your supports.

Talk to an advocate

You do not have to wait for a check-in. DAS advocates are available now.

• Phone: (08) 8953 1422
• Email: admin@das.org.au
• Office: 12 Gregory Terrace, Alice Springs NT 0870