AI
NDIS support workers do complex, documentation-heavy work under significant time pressure. AI tools can genuinely help, if you know which ones to use and how.
Support work is one of the most human jobs there is. You are present with people in their most vulnerable moments. You are building relationships that make a genuine difference to quality of life. And you are also, alongside all of that, doing enormous amounts of documentation, note-writing, report preparation, and administrative work that takes time away from the actual support you are there to provide.
AI tools are not going to do the support work. They are not going to build the relationship. But they can meaningfully reduce the administrative load, which gives you more time and energy for the parts that actually require you. Here is what is worth using.
Shift note and progress note writing
The most time-consuming documentation task for most support workers is shift notes and progress notes. AI tools can help in two ways: drafting from dot points you provide, and improving the structure and clarity of notes you have already written.
You can give ChatGPT or Claude a brief summary of the shift, 'walked to the shops, had difficulty at the checkout, recovered well, did 20 minutes of preferred activity, mood overall positive', and ask it to write a professional shift note. The output will need checking and adjusting, but it is faster than writing from scratch. You can also ask the AI to help you improve the language of notes you have written, particularly for formal progress reports.
Understanding a participant's diagnosis or plan
NDIS participants have diverse conditions and the documentation can be dense. If you are starting with a new participant and need to quickly understand their diagnosis, their plan, or the therapeutic approaches being used, AI tools can help you make sense of clinical language.
- Paste a section of a clinical report into ChatGPT and ask for a plain-English explanation of what it means for daily support
- Ask for an explanation of a specific diagnosis and its common functional implications in a support context
- Ask for common communication strategies for specific conditions, augmentative and alternative communication approaches, for example
- Ask what questions to ask in a handover or intake conversation to make sure you have the information you need
Goal tracking and NDIS language
NDIS plans are written in specific language around goals and supports. When you are documenting progress toward goals, using the language of the plan is important for compliance and for the participant's review. AI tools can help you write goal-relevant notes that connect what happened in a shift to the specific language of the participant's plan.
“The best use of AI in support work is not replacing documentation, it is reducing the time it takes, so more of your energy goes to the person in front of you.”
Preparing for challenging support situations
If you are about to start supporting someone with a complex profile, a PDA presentation, a history of trauma, significant communication differences, you can use AI to research and think through your approach. Ask for strategies relevant to the specific profile, for common triggers and how to avoid them, for communication approaches that fit the person's needs.
This is research support, not a replacement for supervision and training. Always combine AI research with guidance from your organisation's clinical team, the participant's therapists, and the participant themselves.
What to be careful about
- Never put identifying participant information into public AI tools. Use initials or placeholders for names and identifying details
- AI-generated notes still need to be reviewed, the tool does not know your participant or what actually happened. Check everything
- AI can be confidently wrong about NDIS-specific rules and processes. Always verify regulatory information with your organisation or the NDIA directly
- Do not use AI as a replacement for clinical supervision or professional training in complex support situations
- Check your organisation's policy on AI tools before using them for work documentation
AI
A note on accuracy:While every effort has been made to ensure the information in this article is accurate at the time of writing, facts, policies and research can change. We're human, and sometimes we get things wrong. If you spot something that needs updating, we'd genuinely love to hear from you.
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Dave Harrison
ESW · Neurodiversity Advocate · Podcast Host
Dave Harrison is currently working in Australian schools as an Education Support Worker. He's the founder of THRVHUB, host of the Different Is Normal podcast, and a parent of a neurodivergent teenager, writing from both sides of the classroom.
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