Disability Services Officer
A Disability Services Officer works across a range of service units to care for people with disability. The work helps people access education, training, and welfare services.
Screening checks are normally required for NDIS coordination roles.
Some background checks for this sector can take up to eight weeks to process. Some findings can restrict or bar a person from risk-assessed roles in this sector for several years. Factor this into your timeline before applying.
These come from Australian law or from a government authority, not from us. Confirm what applies to your situation with the authority named against each one.
Source: NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
What this job is
This job is about caring for people with disability and helping them get to the services they need. You check what each person needs, then help them plan and reach their goals. The work also covers daily living, personal care, and building independence. It may also be known as a Disability Care Coordinator. Specialisations include Disability Local Area Coordinator and Disability Support Coordinator.
Are employers advertising this role?
Rising, up 10.7% over 5 years
Counted across a group of similar roles. These are three-month rolling averages of online job advertisements, not filled positions.
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Internet Vacancy Index.
Day-to-day
On a typical day, you may check what a client needs and help them plan next steps. You could help with personal care or daily tasks. You may help someone build skills to make their own choices. You could also build ties in the local community to improve access to services. Keeping track of how clients are going and writing progress reports is also part of the work.
Who does this now
About 12,100 people worked in this occupation across Australia at the 2021 Census.
Is it steady
NDIS workforce shortage continues. Strong AU government investment through to 2030.
What this role asks for
Diploma, advanced diploma or associate degree (ABS skill level 2)
Can employers fill these jobs
Employers hiring for this occupation were generally able to find suitable applicants in 2025. Ratings are not the same everywhere. WA and NT were rated in shortage; NSW was rated in shortage in regional areas. This measures how hard employers found it to fill jobs. It is not a count of jobs, and it does not say whether the occupation is growing.
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Training Occupation Pathways dataset, March 2026, version 1.0
Jobs and Skills Australia defines an occupation-ready qualification as:
Completing this qualification will provide the skills and knowledge to undertake this occupation. Further training and experience may be required to meet specific industry requirements including licensing and registration.
Jobs and Skills Australia, Training Occupation Pathways dataset, March 2026, version 1.0
Requirements
The ABS puts this job at skill level 2: a diploma, advanced diploma or associate degree. You can check current courses at yourcareer.gov.au and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe.
The honest hard part
Checking each client's needs and keeping their plans on track can be complex. Helping people build the skills to make their own choices takes time and care. Writing progress reports means you are accountable for how each person is going. Building ties in the community to improve access to services is an ongoing part of the work.
Where the jobs are
This work is done across a range of service units. The people you work for are those living with disability who need care and help to access services.
Pay
Published for ANZSCO unit group 4117, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.
This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.
Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
Coming from one of these jobs?
Skills
- Active Listeningcore
- Case Note Writingcore
- Confidentiality and Privacy Compliancecore
- Cultural Awareness and Sensitivitycore
- Disability Support Coordinationcore
- Eligibility Assessmentcore
- Empathy and Emotional Intelligencecore
- Inclusive Practicecore
- NDIS Plan Navigationcore
- Participant or Client Advocacycore
- Service Navigation and Referralcore
- Trauma-Informed Communicationcore
- Verbal Communicationcore
- Conflict De-escalation
- NDIS myplace Provider Portal
- Professional Boundaries Maintenance
- Referral Coordination
- Regulatory and Legislative Awareness
- Risk Identification
- Written Communication
Which of these do you have?
Tick the ones you haveSources
- ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
- ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
- ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.
Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.
What Disability Services Officer workers move into, from ten years of tax records.
Last updated: 9 October 2026
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