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This guide explains what the NDIS Practice Standards expect, the difference between assisting with and administering medication, and how to choose the right medication training for your role or your team.
Key takeaways
- The NDIS Practice Standards require providers to administer, store and monitor medication safely, and to train every worker responsible for administering it.
- Workers need to understand the effects and side effects of each medication they support, and what to do if something goes wrong.
- Assisting with medication and administering medication are different tasks, and your training should match the one you do.
- Medication errors, adverse reactions and the use of medication as a restrictive practice all have reporting obligations.
What do the NDIS Practice Standards say about medication?
Medication is covered by the Management of Medication outcome in the NDIS Practice Standards. It says each participant who needs medication should be confident their provider "administers, stores and monitors the effects of their medication and works to prevent errors or incidents".
To meet it, registered providers need to show that:
- records clearly identify the medication and dosage each participant needs, with enough detail to identify the participant and administer the medication safely
- every worker responsible for administering medication understands its effects and side effects, and the steps to take if there's an incident
- all medication is stored safely and securely, is easy to identify, and is only accessed by appropriately trained workers
You can read the full wording in the NDIS Commission's NDIS Practice Standards and Quality Indicators. For workers, the practical point is simple: you should only support someone with medication you've been trained and authorised to handle.
What's the difference between assisting with and administering medication?
The two terms are often used interchangeably, but most medication policies treat them as different levels of support.
- Assisting with medication usually means helping a person who manages their own medication, for example reminding them it's time, opening a blister pack, or handing them a glass of water. The person stays in control of taking it.
- Administering medication usually means the worker gives the medication to the person, following their medication chart. The worker is responsible for checking it's the right medication, dose and time.
Definitions vary between states, territories and providers, so always follow your organisation's medication policy and the participant's plan. If you're not sure which one you're being asked to do, ask your team leader before you start.
Which medication tasks need extra training?
Some medication supports are classed as high intensity daily personal activities under the NDIS Practice Standards. These include subcutaneous injections, and medication given as part of enteral feeding (through a feeding tube). Providers need to be registered for these supports, and workers need specific training and documented orders from a health practitioner before they can deliver them.
Epilepsy rescue medication, such as midazolam, is another area where workers need dedicated training before they support a participant. etrainu's Epilepsy and Midazolam course covers it.
What are the Rights of Medication?
The Rights of Medication are the checks a worker makes every time they support someone with medication. They're most often taught as six rights:
- Right person: confirm the identity of the person against their medication chart.
- Right medication: check the name on the packaging matches the chart.
- Right dose: check the amount, and how to measure it.
- Right time: check when it's due and when the last dose was given.
- Right route: check how it's taken, such as by mouth, on the skin or inhaled.
- Right documentation: record it straight away, including any refusal.
Many providers add more, such as the person's right to refuse and the right to information about their medication. Use the list in your organisation's policy.
What should you do if something goes wrong with medication?
Medication incidents include a missed or wrong dose, the wrong medication, an adverse reaction, or medication that's lost or can't be accounted for. If one happens:
- Make sure the person is safe, and call emergency services if they're unwell.
- Tell your supervisor straight away and follow your organisation's incident procedure.
- Record what happened, when, and what you did.
Some medication incidents are also reportable incidents to the NDIS Commission, for example when one leads to serious injury. Using medication to influence a person's behaviour is a chemical restraint, which is a regulated restrictive practice. Using it without authorisation, or outside a behaviour support plan, is a reportable incident. Our guide to restrictive practices explains this in more detail, and etrainu's Understanding Restrictive Practices course includes a module on chemical restraint.
How should medication be recorded?
Good medication records protect the person, the worker and the provider. Each entry should show the medication, dose, time, route and who gave or assisted with it, plus any refusal, side effects or changes you noticed. Write it at the time, not at the end of the shift, and never sign for medication you didn't see taken. etrainu's Writing Progress Notes and Keeping Records course covers record keeping more broadly.
Which medication training do you need?
etrainu has two medication courses, both included in Disability Essentials and both mapped to the Management of Medication indicator (4.3) in the NDIS Practice Standards. Teams should choose the one that matches what each worker does on shift.
Medication Basics
Best for: Workers who supervise or physically help a person take their own medication
Length: 105 minutes, 3 modules
What it covers: Medication types, side effects and polypharmacy; reading a dose; the Rights of Medication; privacy, consent and refusal; responding to risks and incidents; reportable incidents; medication records
Good to know: Doesn't cover administering medication
Assisting with Medication
Best for: Workers who administer medication as part of an authorised role
Length: 90 minutes, 1 module
What it covers: Medication laws, standards and scope of practice; names, forms, routes and doses; observing the person before and after a dose; dose administration aids; PRN; supporting self-administration; high intensity supports; adverse reactions, incidents and chemical restraint
Good to know: Aligned to the national unit HLTHPS006, and assumes workers have completed foundational medication training
A simple way to choose: if the person takes their own medication and the worker supervises or helps, choose Medication Basics. If the worker gives the medication, choose Assisting with Medication.
Both courses build knowledge rather than certify competence. They don't assess practical skills, so your organisation still needs to check each worker's competency and authorise them before they support anyone with medication.
How do providers keep medication training up to date?
The Practice Standards require providers to have a system to plan, record and evaluate worker training, and medication is one of the areas auditors look at closely. In etrainu, you can assign the right medication course to each role with Playlists, send reminders before training expires, and export completion records for your audit.
If you're choosing medication training for your team, talk to us about Disability Essentials.
Frequently asked questions
Can NDIS support workers administer medication?
Yes, if they’ve been trained, assessed as competent and authorised by their provider, and the person (or their substitute decision-maker) has given consent. The support also needs to be in the person’s medication or support plan. Tasks such as subcutaneous injections or medication through a feeding tube are high intensity supports that need extra training, and state and territory medicines laws also apply.
Can support workers give PRN (as needed) medication?
Only when the person’s plan includes a PRN protocol that sets out when and how it can be given, the worker has been assessed as competent and authorised to follow it, and the person has given consent. If the protocol isn’t clear, check with your supervisor before giving it.
How often should medication training be refreshed?
The NDIS doesn't set one interval for medication training. Providers set it in their training policy, and many also require a refresher when a participant's medication changes or after an incident.
Does an online course make a worker competent to administer medication?
No. An online course builds the knowledge workers need, but competency has to be assessed in practice. Providers are responsible for checking each worker's competency and authorising them before they administer medication.
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