Free Disability Support Rostering Software: What Australian Providers Need and What Exists
Disability support rostering has NDIS-specific requirements that generic tools were never built for. Worker Screening tracking, shift note compliance, incident reporting, and mobile check-in all matter. Here is what free options actually cover.
What Disability Support Rostering Requires That Generic Tools Do Not
NDIS Worker Screening
Every support worker in a risk-assessed role must hold a current NDIS Worker Screening clearance. Clearances are valid for five years and are not transferable between employers without re-verification. Providers must not deploy a worker in a risk-assessed role without a valid clearance on file.
Generic rostering tools track availability. They do not track NDIS Worker Screening clearance status. Managing this in a separate spreadsheet while rostering from a separate system means two places to check every time you assign a shift -- and the spreadsheet check is the one that tends to slip.
Worker Qualification Matching
Beyond Worker Screening, disability support workers hold credentials relevant to the supports they deliver: First Aid and CPR, medication management authorisations, positive behaviour support qualifications, and in some cases manual handling certifications. Different clients require different worker competencies.
Rostering the right worker for a shift means knowing that the worker holds the qualifications the support requires, not just that they are available. A rostering platform that surfaces qualification status alongside availability makes this check automatic.
Shift Notes and Service Evidence
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission requires that providers maintain records demonstrating service delivery. Shift notes need to capture what supports were delivered, how the participant presented, any concerns or observations, and the time and duration of the visit.
Shift notes captured in a care-specific mobile app -- structured, timestamped, linked to the participant record -- are audit-ready. Notes typed into a WhatsApp message or told to a coordinator over the phone are not.
Incident Reporting
NDIS providers have mandatory reportable incident obligations under the NDIS (Incident Management and Reportable Incidents) Rules. Certain incidents must be reported to the Commission within defined timeframes. All incidents must be internally documented.
An incident report submitted from a support worker's mobile app immediately after an event is more complete and more accurate than one reconstructed from memory two days later.
Participant-Centred Records
Support workers arriving at a shift need context: what the participant's NDIS plan says, what supports are scheduled, any health alerts, preferences, and the history of recent visits. This context should be on the worker's phone before they knock on the door.
Free Rostering Options for Disability Providers
Spreadsheets
The most common starting point for small providers. A roster in a spreadsheet, credential expiry dates in a separate tab, and shift communications over WhatsApp.
It works at the smallest scale. It fails in proportion to complexity: as participant numbers grow, as workers turn over, and as the number of qualifications being tracked increases, the manual overhead becomes unsustainable.
Best for: A sole operator with one or two workers and a stable, simple roster.
Deputy (Free Plan)
Deputy has a free plan limited to 31 shifts per month across one location. There is no qualification tracking, no participant records, no shift note structure, and no incident reporting. The 31-shift ceiling is hit within days by an operational provider.
Best for: Generic shift scheduling. Not suitable as a disability support rostering platform.
Teiro (Free for Up to 5 Users)
Teiro is built specifically for Australian disability, aged care, and community health providers. It is free for organisations with 5 or fewer active users -- no credit card, no trial expiry, no feature restrictions.
Qualification and credential tracking. Configure the credentials your workforce must hold -- NDIS Worker Screening, First Aid, CPR, medication management, positive behaviour support -- and the platform monitors expiry dates for each worker. Alerts go out before credentials lapse. When you assign a worker to a shift, their qualification status is visible.
Scheduling board. Create shifts, assign workers based on availability and credential profile, manage recurring support schedules, and identify conflicts before they affect participants. The view is participant-centred: you can see a client's schedule across the week, who is assigned to each shift, and whether any worker qualifications need attention.
Support worker mobile app. Workers use the iOS or Android app to see their daily schedule, access participant notes before each visit, check in and check out with GPS confirmation, and submit shift notes and incident reports from the field.
Participant records. Each participant has a record covering their personal details, NDIS plan information, support needs, health alerts, family contacts, and a full history of visits and communications.
Incident reporting. Workers submit incident reports from the mobile app. Reports are linked to the participant, the worker, and the shift, with date and time automatically populated.
Communications hub. All coordinator-to-worker communications and participant-related notes are logged on the record.
NDIS billing. Service agreements, SCHADS Award rate support, and claim management are included in the free tier.
The free tier covers 5 active users. A small NDIS provider -- a coordinator and three or four support workers -- fits within this. A sixth active user moves to a paid plan (details at teiro.com.au/pricing).
Best for: Small NDIS providers, SIL operators, and sole operators who need genuine disability support rostering with NDIS compliance features at no cost.
The NDIS Audit Readiness Question
When the NDIS Commission conducts an audit or complaint investigation, the evidence they ask for includes: records showing which worker delivered which support on which date, evidence that the worker held the required qualifications at the time, shift notes demonstrating that supports were delivered as agreed in the participant's plan, and incident records for any events that occurred.
A platform that has been capturing this data systematically from the first shift can produce this evidence quickly. A system of spreadsheets, WhatsApp messages, and paper forms cannot.
Audit readiness is not a separate compliance project. It is the byproduct of running operations through a platform that captures the right data as a matter of course.
When Free Is Enough
A free disability support rostering platform is the right choice if:
- Your team is 5 or fewer active users
- You are a new provider establishing your operations
- You are currently on spreadsheets and need to move to a structured platform without a capital commitment
- You want to evaluate a care-specific platform before committing to paid plans
The free tier becomes insufficient when your team grows past 5, when you need advanced reporting, or when you need payroll integrations with external systems.
Getting Started
Teiro is free for organisations with 5 or fewer active users. Setup is self-service and takes less than a day for a small provider.
Book a demo at teiro.com.au/demo to see how disability support rostering, credential tracking, and participant records work in practice. Or sign up at teiro.com.au/signup to get your organisation running today.
Related reading: free support worker management software and free workforce management software in Australia.