Disability Support Manual Handling Guides
The same course for disability support workers wherever you work — eight modules, a 20-question assessment and a Certificate of Completion for A$49. These pages cover what changes with the state you work in and answer the questions people ask before they start.
Take the AssessmentCommon questions
Straight answers, with the regulator guidance they rest on linked at the end of each.
- NDIS training requirementsYes, if you help participants move. WHS law makes providers train and supervise you, and the NDIS Practice Standards expect competent workers.
- Hoist trainingYes. You need supervised training on the specific hoist and sling, and sign-off for each participant, before you operate one. Theory alone is not enough.
- Wheelchair to car transfersFollow the participant's manual handling plan: transfer board, swivel cushion or vehicle hoist, on level ground, with the participant leading. And when not to.
- Working alone in a homePlan every task first, never do two-worker tasks alone, report equipment gaps rather than filling them with your body, and know who to call before you need to.
- Choice, control and unsafe requestsDecline the technique, not the person. How choice and control and dignity of risk sit with your duty to work safely, and how to escalate for a plan review.
- Manual handling plansA manual handling plan sets out how a participant is moved: method, equipment, sling and number of workers. An OT or physio writes it; you follow it.
By state and territory
Work health and safety law is not identical across Australia. Victoria never adopted the model WHS laws and Western Australia only moved across in 2022, so the regulator and the framework that apply to you depend on where you work.
- New South WalesOnline manual handling training for disability support workers in NSW: the duties SafeWork NSW enforces and what support work looks like across the state.
- VictoriaOnline manual handling training for disability support workers in Victoria, where WorkSafe Victoria enforces the OHS Act 2004 rather than the model WHS laws.
- QueenslandOnline manual handling training for disability support workers in Queensland: the duties Workplace Health and Safety Queensland enforces, Brisbane to Cape York.
- Western AustraliaOnline manual handling training for disability support workers in WA under the WHS Act 2020, enforced by WorkSafe WA, from Perth SIL homes to the Kimberley.
- South AustraliaManual handling training for disability support workers in South Australia: the duties SafeWork SA enforces and support work from Adelaide to the APY Lands.
- TasmaniaManual handling training for disability support workers in Tasmania: the duties WorkSafe Tasmania enforces and support work in older homes and steep towns.
- ACTOnline manual handling training for disability support workers in the ACT: the duties WorkSafe ACT enforces, cross-border work with NSW and worker screening.
- Northern TerritoryOnline manual handling training for disability support workers in the Northern Territory, from Darwin SIL homes to remote communities, enforced by NT WorkSafe.
Working in more than one industry? Manual handling training by state covers every industry.