I meet so many people who have spent years caring for their families and think "that's not a real qualification." Let me tell you right now: it is. It's the most important one.
But there are some practical things you need in place before you start getting paid for it. Here's the honest, no-faff list.
The practical checklist
1. The "university of life" (your real qualification)
No nursing degree. Everyday support — the help people need to stay at home — is built on caring, patience, common sense and reliability. The years you've spent looking after your kids, your parents, your family? That's what this work actually is. You're not starting from nothing.
2. A police check (make it work twice)
You'll need a police check. Portability tip: if you're registering with a support platform, do it through their preferred provider so one check serves both your records and the registration — don't pay twice. (A police certificate is portable, so keep it for your own file too.)
3. The right safety checks (this one matters)
The NDIS Worker Screening Check is the national requirement — needed in every state and territory, and portable, so one clearance works anywhere in Australia for five years. In Tasmania and the ACT it comes bundled into your RWVP / WWVP card, so one card covers it. Check the current requirements with the NDIS Commission and justice.tas.gov.au, because they change.
How you apply depends on where you live: NSW, VIC, QLD, WA, SA and the NT each run their own application process and set their own fee (roughly $112–$163 for paid workers, free or reduced for volunteers). Always check your own state's current requirements.
4. First aid
A current first aid certificate is becoming a hard requirement, especially for aged care support. Get one — it's a small step and it's genuinely useful.
5. The free NDIS training
The NDIS Worker Orientation Module ("Quality, Safety and You") is free, online, about 90 minutes, and covers the basics of working safely and ethically. Do it early.
6. An ABN (free)
Your Australian Business Number is free to get and it's your key to invoicing. Get one — it's the first step to being your own boss.
7. Aged care training — becoming mandatory
If you want to work in aged care (Support at Home), the aged care competency training is now becoming a requirement before providers will place you. Don't panic: it's cheap or often free through support platforms (e.g. Mable's Learning Hub does the aged-care competency training free), and it's a genuine doorway into aged-care funding.
8. The business-structure decision — sole trader or a platform contractor?
This is one of the first choices you'll make, and it changes your paperwork:
- Sole trader — you're your own business with your ABN, and you invoice clients directly (e.g. NDIS self-managed or plan-managed participants). Simplest to start, you keep the full rate.
- Register with a platform like Mable — you become a contractor, not their employee. That's the key point: because you're not on their payroll, you still need your own ABN. You set your own rate, Mable takes a platform fee (~10% worker fee, plus a small client fee), and in return you get the platform, insurance cover, the aged-care competency training, and access to aged-care (and NDIS) clients. It's the fastest way into aged-care funding without being a registered aged care provider.
Tax and paperwork (whether sole trader or contractor): you need your ABN, you're responsible for your own super, you'll want insurance, and you must keep field notes — a short record of the support you provided for each visit. Field notes are how you (and the provider) show the work was done, how you get paid, and how you stay compliant — they matter more than people realise.
(VA/DVA is a third stream through approved providers — covered in more depth in the training.)
The one thing no one can teach you — but you already have it
This is the honest core of it. The thing that makes the biggest difference isn't on any checklist. It's whether you genuinely care about people, whether you'll show up reliably, and whether you can be trusted in someone's home.
You can't teach that. But if you've been quietly helping your family for years, you already have it. That's exactly why I tell people: you've been studying for this your whole life.
Why the checklist matters more than you'd think
I know the paperwork feels like the boring part. But it's what protects you and the people you care for, and it's what makes you a professional rather than just someone helping. Doing it properly is the difference between an ad-hoc gig and a real, trusted business. And it's the reason families feel safe choosing you.
Your next step
I've turned all of this into a clear, honest starting guide — the first three steps and the money map, with no jargon.
Download my free training — I'll walk you through the real path to a part-time care business that fits your life.
This is general information, not legal or compliance advice. Requirements change — always verify current official information with the NDIS Commission, My Aged Care, your state's screening unit and the ATO.