The short answer: you can advertise honestly across any channel; you cannot mislead or pressure participants, imply NDIA endorsement, misuse the NDIS logo, or claim registration you do not hold. The Code of Conduct and the NDIA brand guidelines are the two rulebooks, and the practical do and don’t lists are below.
Provider marketing sits under two sets of rules. The NDIS Code of Conduct governs your behaviour toward participants, including how you advertise to them. The NDIA’s brand guidelines govern how the NDIS name and logo can appear in your material. Breaching the first risks compliance action; breaching the second risks a takedown letter and an awkward rebrand. Both are avoidable with a few habits.
Most “white patch” confusion reduces to one principle: the NDIA controls its brand, and its guidelines specify exactly how the registered provider mark may appear, including the protected clear space around it and the backgrounds it may sit on. The safe sequence: check whether you are entitled to use any NDIS mark at all, download the current brand guidelines from the NDIA, follow the clear-space and colour rules exactly, and never redraw, recolour or embed the mark in your own logo. If that sounds like effort for little gain, it is. Plain text (“Registered NDIS provider, registration number XXXX”) communicates the same trust with zero risk.
Before anything goes live, ask four questions: Is every claim true and provable? Could a reasonable person think the NDIA endorsed this? Did every identifiable participant consent? Would I be comfortable if a coordinator forwarded this to the Commission? Four yeses and you are almost certainly fine. This is also the check we run on every campaign we publish for clients.
Social proof is powerful and allowed, with conditions. Reviews and testimonials must be genuine, not incentivised, and never fabricated. Any identifiable participant, in a quote, photo or video, must give informed, written consent, and you must respect their privacy and dignity in how you use it. Keep the consent on file and honour it if they later withdraw. You also cannot offer rewards or discounts in exchange for a review, which breaches both Google’s policies and the spirit of the Code of Conduct. Done properly, real reviews and stories are the most persuasive, and most compliant, marketing you have.
The same principles apply everywhere, but each channel has its own traps.
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission can act on misleading or inappropriate marketing, from requiring you to fix or remove content through to compliance action against your registration in serious cases. The NDIA protects the NDIS name and logo as trademarks and can require misuse to stop. Beyond regulators, the bigger day-to-day risk is trust: coordinators and families notice over-claiming, and it costs you referrals. Treat compliance as part of good marketing, not a constraint on it, and you avoid both problems at once. If you are unsure about a specific claim, check the current guidance from the NDIS Commission or get advice.
A free growth plan shows you what to do, in what order, for your provider type and region. You keep it either way.
Yes. Advertising is allowed and normal. It must be honest, must not pressure participants or compromise their choice and control, and must follow the NDIS Code of Conduct plus the NDIA’s brand rules on the NDIS name and logo.
Generally no. The logo belongs to the NDIA, and only limited permissions exist for registered providers under the current brand guidelines. Plain text stating your registration communicates the same thing with no risk.
It refers to the NDIA’s rules around the registered provider mark, particularly the protected clear space and background requirements around the logo. The current brand guidelines on ndis.gov.au are the authoritative source.
They can describe the truth: that they support plan-managed and self-managed NDIS participants. They cannot claim to be registered or imply NDIA endorsement.
Sources & further reading: NDIS Code of Conduct · NDIA brand guidelines (ndis.gov.au) · Our branding service
A specialist reviews your visibility against the providers competing in your catchment, and sends a written growth plan within two business days. You keep it either way.