From Experienced Mental Health Professional to Approved NDIS Provider in 9 Months
Collette’s NDIS Approval Journey
Collette Bouyea spent 16 years in mental health care watching what happened when support systems failed people.
She'd seen recovery journeys stall because providers disappeared. She'd witnessed participants lose access to consistent care during critical transitions. When she decided to launch her own NDIS recovery coaching practice in December 2024, she made herself a promise: her business would never be one of those gaps.
She had the clinical expertise and the mission clarity. What she didn't have was understanding of how to navigate NDIS registration as a sole trader—the business structures, the compliance requirements, the continuity planning that would turn her commitment into something sustainable.
Within nine months of partnering with Provider+, she'd established Well Of Hope Community Service Pty Ltd, passed her audit on the first attempt, and received full NDIS approval across nine support categories.
More importantly, she built exactly what she'd envisioned: a practice with continuity plans in place so her participants would never experience the gaps in care she'd spent 16 years trying to prevent.
The Questions She Had
- What does Module 2a actually cover?
- How does a sole trader demonstrate operational continuity to satisfy audit requirements?
- What happens if she becomes unavailable—who supports her clients then?
What Was At Stake
The NDIS Commission requires clear evidence that participants won't be left without support if a provider becomes unavailable. For a single-operator business, this requires strategic planning and partnership arrangements, not just documentation. Collette was still working in mental health while building her business, attending workshops on days off, investing personal time and money with no guarantee of approval.
Collette needed someone who could translate complex NDIS compliance into practical guidance.
How Provider+ Guided Collette to Success
Collette found Provider+, a trusted partner, who matched her commitment with expertise.
What set Collette apart wasn't that she knew all the answers from day one. It was that she refused to move forward until she understood—and Provider+ met that persistence with patience, expertise, and unwavering support.
Collette invested in Provider+'s VIP New Registration package—a comprehensive done-with-you service that guides new providers from business establishment through to NDIS approval
What Support Looked Like in Practice
Audit Preparation
Provider+ supported Collette to get ready for her audit by educating her on the requirements and expectations and providing detailed audit checklists and preparation sessions.
Collette was supported on Audit day and given the confidence in knowing her Provider+ team was on standby to help translate any auditor questions or requests.
Preparation included guidance on how to structure her documents for audit, identifying potential areas of auditor scrutiny, discussing likely questions about her business model and continuity planning, and ensuring she could clearly articulate how her policies translated into operational practice.
By July 2025, when her audit took place, Collette walked in genuinely prepared—confident in her documentation, her business model, and her ability to demonstrate compliance.
Result: Passed on the first attempt.
Business Ops Planning
Provider+ helped Collette think strategically about what continuity actually meant for her business model.
They facilitated conversations about partnership arrangements with other local providers who could step in during planned or unplanned absences.
Provider+ turned a compliance requirement into a genuine operational strength of her business and designed company structure to support sustainable operations aligned with her values around participant care.
"If I'm not available, who can my clients contact?" This wasn't a theoretical compliance question for Collette—it reflected her deep commitment to ensuring participants would never lose access to support because of provider unavailability.
Community and Ongoing Support
As part of VIP onboarding, Collette received access to the Provider+ Community—live workshops, on-demand resources, and peer support forums.
She attended sessions on her days off, covering topics from business planning to risk management to client acquisition. After approval, she joined the Provider+ Start-Up Club for guidance specific to newly approved providers. She maintained ongoing access to expert guidance as her practice evolves and regulations changes
Registration wasn't treated as a finish line, but as the beginning of building a sustainable, compliant practice.
Dedicated Registration Consultant
Collette was assigned a personal consultant who remained her primary point of contact throughout the entire registration journey.
When she asked what Module 2a covered, her consultant walked through what each registration module entailed, discussed how they aligned with her service delivery model, and helped her make an informed strategic decision.
She received same-day responses to complex questions about insurance requirements, documentation standards, and business structure decisions.
She maintained a consistent relationship with someone who understood her business model and could provide continuity of guidance throughout time-sensitive submission deadlines.
This level of responsive support proved particularly valuable during crunch periods when time-sensitive decisions needed to be made before submission deadlines.
Policy and Procedure Development
Collette received Provider+'s policy and procedure templates, then received guidance on how to customise them to fit her business.
This wasn't just template insertion—it involved understanding the purpose behind each policy requirement, discussing how requirements would work in practice for a sole trader delivering recovery coaching, and ensuring final documentation accurately represented her service delivery approach.
By submission, Collette didn't just have compliant policies—she had documentation she understood thoroughly and could confidently discuss with auditors.
Collette’s 9-Month Journey to NDIS Approval with Provider+
Collette begins her NDIS registration journey while still working in mental health.
Passed NDIS audit (first attempt)
Full NDIS provider approval
Well Of Hope Community Service is registered to deliver services across nine NDIS support categories:
Assist Life Stage Transition, Community Nursing, Daily Living Life Skills, Participate Community, Group Centre Based Activities, Daily Personal Activities, Household Tasks, Assist Travel/Transport, and Daily Tasks/Shared Living.
What This Means for You
Collette's experience demonstrates that NDIS registration no longer has to require years of delay, nor does it demand that you become a compliance expert before starting.
What it does require is strategic guidance at the right time—someone who can translate regulatory requirements into practical steps and help you build a business model that works in practice, not just on paper. The difference between a nine-month approval and a multi-year struggle often comes down to having expert support that's responsive, comprehensive, and genuinely invested in building your long-term capability—not just processing your paperwork.
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