Guides · Checked against the ABR, the ATO, the NDIS Commission and the NDIS · Updated 13 Oct 2026
Getting an ABN as a support worker
When a support worker is entitled to an ABN, how to apply for free, what having one doesn't change, and what to sort out once you've got it.
The short answer
You can get an ABN if you're running your own support work business, and applying on the Australian Business Register is free. An ABN doesn't make you a contractor: if a job is really employment, you're an employee for it, ABN or not. Once you have one, put it on every invoice and report the income in your tax return.
Are you entitled to one?
An ABN is for people running a business. The Australian Business Register's entitlement page for sole traders says individuals carrying on an enterprise are entitled to an ABN, but not for activities they've been engaged to carry out as an employee. Having an ABN doesn't turn employment into contracting either. If you're not sure which side a job falls on, take it to a registered tax agent with your agreement in hand.
Your own business
You can have an ABN
- You're running your own business, not working as someone's employee.
- Your business income goes in your individual tax return.
- You don't pay super guarantee for yourself, though a business paying you mainly for your labour may have to pay it for you.
An employee
No ABN for this work
- A provider, or a participant who self-manages their plan, employs you and pays you wages.
- Tax is taken out of your pay.
- Your employer generally has to pay super for you.
You can be both: an employee in one job and running your own business in another. Whether you're an employee is worked out job by job, from the arrangement itself. Having an ABN doesn't decide it.
How to get one, and use it
- Check you're running a businessThe Australian Business Register's entitlement page for sole traders gives the rule: individuals carrying on an enterprise are entitled to an ABN, but not for work they've been engaged to do as an employee.
- Apply on the Australian Business RegisterOnline at abr.gov.au. The ABR charges nothing to apply, so there's no need to pay a website to do it for you.
- Use your own tax file numberA sole trader uses their individual TFN for the business. There's no separate business TFN.
- Put the ABN on every invoiceInvoices to a plan manager must include a valid ABN, and a self-managed participant needs it, or a reason, to claim. Without it, a business paying you more than $75 (excluding GST) generally has to withhold 47%.
- Report the income in your tax returnAll your business income goes in your individual return, in the section for business items. If more than half of what you're paid under a contract is for your own effort and skills, that contract's income is personal services income, which has its own section (the tax deductions guide explains).
What comes with it
From the first invoice, put part of every payment aside for tax. The set-aside guide shows how much, and what changes after your first year. Keep most of your tax records, including your income and costs, for 5 years. The NDIA says the new NDIS laws will make providers keep records of supports and payments for 7 years, but it hasn't said when that starts (the notes guide explains).
Watch your GST turnover: your total business income (not profit), less GST and a few other exclusions, for the current month and the previous 11 months, and what you expect it to be for the current month and the next 11. Once it reaches $75,000 you have 21 days to register for GST. NDIS income counts toward it, because GST-free sales aren't among the exclusions.
As a sole trader you don't have to pay the super guarantee for yourself, so super from your own business is up to you. But the ATO says contractors paid mainly for their labour are eligible for super guarantee on the labour part of their invoice, even if they quote an ABN, so a provider that contracts you that way may have to pay it. A participant who self-manages their plan and uses it to hire a carer may have to pay super guarantee too.
The NDIS side: the Code of Conduct and screening
The NDIS Code of Conduct applies to every NDIS provider and worker, registered or not, sole traders included. It has eight parts: respect people's rights to freedom of expression, self-determination and decision-making; respect their privacy; provide supports safely and competently, with care and skill; act with integrity, honesty and transparency; promptly raise and act on concerns about the quality and safety of supports; take all reasonable steps to prevent and respond to violence, exploitation, neglect and abuse; take all reasonable steps to prevent and respond to sexual misconduct; and don't charge NDIS participants higher prices without a reasonable justification. The NDIS Commission calls that last one fair pricing: no major difference between what a participant pays and what other customers pay.
A worker screening clearance is required for registered providers' workers in risk-assessed or key personnel roles, and a sole trader who registers as a provider needs one. As at October 2026, an unregistered sole trader doesn't legally need one unless a self-managed participant they support has decided all their workers must have one. The NDIS Commission recommends it anyway, and self-managed and plan-managed participants have the right to only accept workers with a current clearance. From July 2027 the NDIA says it will expand mandatory registration for some providers, including those who deliver personal care and daily living supports, so check this again before then.
If you apply as a sole trader, the NDIS Commission treats you as both the worker and the provider. You first get access to the NDIS worker screening database through its unregistered providers portal, which gives you your Employer ID; then you apply with your state or territory's worker screening unit, and verify your own application within 28 days. A clearance is valid for up to 5 years.
Sources: abr.gov.au/business-super-funds-charities/applying-abn/abn-entitlement/sole-trader · abr.gov.au/business-super-funds-charities/applying-other-registrations/apply-tfn-business · https://abr.business.gov.au/FAQ/ABNBasics · ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/hiring-and-paying-your-workers/employee-or-independent-contractor/myths-and-facts · ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/starting-registering-or-closing-a-business/starting-your-own-business/business-structures-key-tax-obligations · ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/hiring-and-paying-your-workers/payg-withholding/payments-you-need-to-withhold-from/withholding-from-suppliers/withholding-if-abn-not-provided · ato.gov.au/forms-and-instructions/statement-by-supplier-not-quoting-an-abn · ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/gst-excise-and-indirect-taxes/gst/registering-for-gst · ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/preparing-lodging-and-paying/record-keeping-for-business/overview-of-record-keeping-rules-for-business · ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/super-for-employers/work-out-if-you-have-to-pay-super · ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/your-tax-return/instructions-to-complete-your-tax-return/mytax-instructions/2026/income/sole-trader-and-business-income-or-losses-and-partnership-distributions/personal-services-income · ndis.gov.au/providers/pricing-and-payments/payments/guide-getting-paid · ndiscommission.gov.au/rules-and-standards/ndis-code-conduct · ndiscommission.gov.au/workforce/worker-screening · ndiscommission.gov.au/workforce/worker-screening/worker-screening-unregistered-providers · ndiscommission.gov.au/workforce/worker-screening/worker-screening-participants · ndis.gov.au/ndis-laws/securing-ndis-future-generations
Kelpie Support fills in your support invoices with the NDIS details, and keeps track of who owes you and what came in. See Kelpie Support →