What can a support worker refuse to do, and what can they not?
A support worker can refuse work that would expose them to a serious risk from an immediate or imminent hazard, and should decline tasks they are not trained or authorised to do, including high intensity supports without the required competency. They cannot refuse reasonable safety instructions, refuse to report concerns, or leave a participant unsafe. The limits come from work health and safety law, the NDIS Code of Conduct and the worker's employment terms.
Model Work Health and Safety Act, sections 28, 84, 86 and 87, as adopted in each state and territory except Victoria
National Disability Insurance Scheme (Code of Conduct) Rules 2018 (Cth), section 6
NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, The NDIS Code of Conduct: Guidance for NDIS Providers (April 2024)
NDIS Practice Standards, Module 1: High intensity daily personal activities
Unsafe work
Under the model work health and safety laws, section 84 allows a worker to cease, or refuse to carry out, work if they have a reasonable concern that it would expose them to a serious risk to their health or safety from an immediate or imminent exposure to a hazard. In disability support this might be violence or threats of violence, or a home with a serious hazard such as exposed electrical wiring. The worker must tell the business as soon as practicable and remain available for suitable alternative work, which the business can direct them to do until normal duties resume (sections 86 and 87). Victoria has its own occupational health and safety law with different provisions.
Tasks outside your training
The Code of Conduct requires supports to be provided in a safe and competent manner, with care and skill, and NDIS Commission guidance says providers should not direct workers to deliver supports they are not trained for. High intensity daily personal activities, such as complex bowel care, enteral feeding or subcutaneous injections, need specific training and demonstrated competency under the Practice Standards module for those supports. If you are asked to do one without that training, decline and tell your supervisor. Medication assistance is covered in a separate guide on medication management in a support worker's role.
Tasks outside the role or agreement
A worker can usually decline work that is outside what they are employed to do, or outside what the participant's service agreement and support plan cover. Examples include cleaning for other people in the household or handling a participant's money in a way the provider's policy does not allow. Raise these requests with your supervisor rather than arguing on the spot, so the provider can talk with the participant and family about what is agreed and safe.
What a worker cannot refuse
Under section 28 of the model work health and safety laws, workers must comply, so far as they are reasonably able, with reasonable safety instructions from the business they work for, and cooperate with its reasonable health and safety policies. Workers cannot opt out of raising concerns about the quality and safety of supports, or out of taking reasonable steps to prevent and respond to abuse, neglect, violence or sexual misconduct, because these are elements of the Code. If you need to stop work, tell your supervisor so cover can be arranged rather than leaving a participant at risk. Refusing to support someone because of a protected attribute such as race or sex can breach anti-discrimination law and the Code's requirement to respect individual rights.
Respecting the participant's choices
A worker also cannot override a participant's own lawful decisions because they disagree with them. The Code requires respect for the person's right to self-determination and decision-making, and the separate guide on what to do if a participant refuses support explains how choice and duty of care fit together. If a situation feels unsafe or unclear, make sure the participant is safe and contact your supervisor. Serious concerns can be raised with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, and safety issues with your state or territory work health and safety regulator.
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