It’s a good idea to think about what you want to say to your worker before you talk to them.

You can:

• write down what you want to say

• have someone with you to support you, like a friend or family member.

You can think about the questions below.

How do you want to talk to your worker?

For example, over the phone.

What do you need to talk to them?

For example, a friend to support you.

Do you know who to contact if you have a problem with your worker?

Do you know how to contact them?

For example, your service provider.

Is there anyone else who might be part of the relationship between you and your worker?

For example, someone who helps you manage your NDIS plan.

It’s a good idea to build trust between you and your worker.

You can think about the questions below.

Are there other people that your worker should know about?

Or who they might work with?

For example, other support workers.

Have you both agreed on the kinds of information you are happy for your worker to:

• find and use?
• share with others?

We created 2 examples of how these questions could help you build trust between you and your worker.

Example 1:

Effie is a person with disability.

She explained to her worker and service provider that her privacy is very important to her.

Privacy means people must keep your information:

• private
• safe.

Effie’s service provider worked with her to respect her privacy and keep her information safe.

They agreed on the information her worker needed.

As well as who her worker could share that information with.

Example 2:

Nam wanted his workers to work as a team.

So he asked if each worker was okay with sharing their phone numbers with each other.

They agreed to share their phone numbers.

Nam also explained he was comfortable for them to share information about his health with:

• each other
• his partner.

He told them to ask him if they needed to tell someone else about his health.

You can learn more about building a relationship of trust with your worker on our website.

workforcecapability.ndiscommission.gov.au/ framework/level#gen_ourRelationship_0_0

It’s important to make sure your workers respect:

• who you are
• your culture.

Your culture is:

• your way of life
• how you think or act now because of how you grew up
• your beliefs
• what’s important to you.

For example, you might be an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person.

Or you might be culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD).

CALD people:

• come from different backgrounds
• speak languages other than English.

You might also be LGBTIQA+.

The letters LGBTIQA stand for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer or questioning and asexual.

The ‘+’ is for people who are part of the LGBTIQA+ community but don’t talk about themselves using a word from this list.

We made the NDIS Workforce Capability Framework.

It helps to explain what skills and attitudes a worker needs to respect:

• who you are
• your culture.

Your attitudes are what you think, feel and believe.

You can learn more about making sure your worker respects you and your culture on our website.

workforcecapability.ndiscommission.gov.au/ framework/level#gen_ourRelationship_0_0