A support worker’s guide to Mable

What should I put in a service agreement?

15 November 2022

Last updated 2 November 2023

Mable makes creating and managing service agreements quick and easy. In this article, we describe how to use Mable’s online service agreement form to create an agreement on Mable and provide examples of things you might choose to include, depending on your individual circumstances.

What’s a service agreement?

Service agreements are designed to protect you and your clients by ensuring you have the same expectations about your arrangements for delivered care and support. On Mable, your client, or their representative, must approve your service agreement before you can start providing support. Your sessions will then be covered by insurance and you can submit your support hours for payment.

How do I create an agreement on Mable?

Use Mable’s online agreement form to create an agreement that captures what you agreed with your client, then send it to them to review and approve. To find the online template of a Mable service agreement, login to your Mable account. You can find the template within the inbox message with a client. The sections marked with an asterisk are mandatory for you to complete.

Other sections are optional, but we recommend including all relevant details to create a detailed agreement. Being specific will help avoid misunderstandings. To make the process easier, you can access example content from other service agreements on the platform within the agreement form, to assist you to create your support terms.

Also, to assist you in having consistent details on future agreements, any information you enter into these four fields will be pre-filled into future agreements on Mable. These pre-filled details could include information on:

Cancelling sessions.
Changing or adding sessions.
Feedback, complaints or disputes.
Minimum hours, finishing early or overtime.

Any pre-filled information can be reviewed and updated before sending the agreement.

Important details to consider including in your agreements include:

Changes to session hours.
Reviewing rates based on inflation.
Notice periods.
Who pays for specific expenses, such as activities or parking.

Service

This online form section summarises the services you’ll provide, including when and where they’ll take place.

Example
“I’ll support John with getting ready to go to their doctor’s appointment on Wednesdays and Thursdays. I’ll pick them up at 3 pm and drive them to and from their appointments. After their appointments, we’ll do an activity like walking or playing games until a member of John’s family comes over to start meal prep.”

Use this section to describe how to change, add or cancel sessions and to provide your work hours, minimum hours and your policy on finishing early or late.

Cancellations: You can set expectations and manage last-minute cancellations by adding a cancellation policy to your service agreements and information on how to contact you. You can then submit support hours for a missed session if the cancellation notice period isn’t met, or you can choose not to – depending on the circumstances. For NDIS-funded sessions, refer to the NDIS Short Notice Cancellation guidelines in the NDIS Price Guide.

Examples

Example 1

“If you need to cancel a session, contact me by messaging me on [phone number/Mable chat] as soon as possible. If you provide less than 24 hours’ notice, support hours will be submitted for the full cost of the cancelled session.

If I need to cancel a session due to personal illness or other unexpected circumstances, I’ll contact you by messaging you on [phone number/Mable chat] as soon as possible. I will give you 2 weeks’ notice of any planned leave. It is your responsibility to find alternative support options if I am unavailable to attend a support session.”

Example 2

“If for any reason you wish to cancel your scheduled support session, you are advised to give me at least 48 hours’ notice. Any cancellations made within 48 hours of the scheduled support will incur the full session fee.”

Minimum session hours: As an independent contractor, the award rules do not apply. You can therefore choose if you want to set minimum hours per support session. However, for Last Minute jobs, a minimum duration of 1 hour applies, but you can detail how your rate is affected if you finish early or late.

Examples

Example 1

“My minimum session hours are 2 hours for weekdays and 1 hour for weekends.

If a 2 hour session finishes early, I’ll charge my full rate for the session booked. If a session finishes late, I’ll charge the extra time at my hourly rate.”

Example 2

“Minimum session’s rate of 1 hour, time thereafter will be accounted for in 15-minute increments.

If you book my support for a session e.g. 9 am to 12 pm, which is reflected in the agreement, and the session ends early, the whole session will be charged for.

I can accommodate overtime where my availability allows, which will be charged at the appropriate day and time rate.”

Finishing early or late: Add what happens if a session finishes early. For example, if your 1-hour session finishes early, state if you’ll charge your full or a partial rate. State how you charge for finishing late. For example, if your session runs longer than expected and into a different rate type, detail how you charge for this.

Example
“If a 2-hour session finishes early, I’ll charge my full rate for the session booked. If a session finishes late, I’ll charge a % of my hourly rate based on the additional time eg, 30 mins late is an additional 50% of hourly rate.”

Use this section to state when an agreement is required to be reviewed or updated. This may include a regular review of an ongoing agreement or a trigger such as a long-term change to support arrangements.

If you can be flexible with your time and you’ve provided details of different rates in your service agreement, you won’t need to update your agreement for occasional changes. If there’s a long-term change to support arrangements or if changing a session affects the amount the client will pay – eg, changing a day rate to an evening rate and your evening rate is not included in the agreement, update the agreement to include the changes and rates.

Example 1

“Please give 3 to 5 days’ notice before the start of the session if there are changes to date, time or service type.”

Example 2

“Any extension of an agreed session length must be verbally agreed on by both [client name] and me. If sessions need to be changed on an ongoing basis, the agreement can be amended to reflect the change in support need – minimum 2 weeks’ notice.”

Use this section to add information about feedback and complaints. If you or your client have feedback or suggestions for each other try, in the first instance, to resolve this through how you’d like to be contacted (eg, phone, email). If you or your client has a complaint or dispute, contact Mable’s Trust and Safety Team on 1300 73 65 73 or the appropriate regulatory authority such as the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission or the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

Examples

Example 1

“If there’s an issue with or you have feedback on my support, please contact me via our chat on Mable so we can discuss and come to a resolution. If there is a serious issue, please report it to Mable’s Trust and Safety team and/or the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission or the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. I’m required to report incidents to Mable within 24 hours which I will do via the incident reporting form when I submit my support hours.”

Example 2

“If you would like to provide feedback on any support received, please email me at [email address]. You can also raise a complaint with Mable by emailing info@mable.com.au and/or the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission or the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.“

Use this section to add an emergency contact’s phone number and email for your client and yourself.

Example
For John, contact {name} contact@example.com.au, 0400 000 000
For myself, contact {name} contact@example.com, 0400 000 000

Always call 000 in an emergency.

Dates and times

Use this section to prevent potential confusion about the agreed dates, days and times for your support sessions. Aim to provide as much detail as possible. If you can be flexible with your time, you don’t need to update your agreement for occasional changes that don’t change the service type or cost to your client. If there’s a long-term change to support arrangements (increasing or decreasing sessions or hours or changes to service type) or if changing a session affects the hourly rate, update your agreement to include the changes and rates.

Rates

Use this section to add your agreed rates. Your agreed rate is what you and your client have agreed you’ll be paid for the hours you work. Your agreed rate must be equal to or above the minimum hourly agreed rate on the Mable platform. You can set different rates depending on the type of support and when you provide it. Providing detailed rates means you won’t need to update your agreement if your client requests an occasional session for a different service or on a different day or time.

When providing your rates in an agreement, include a time range and a time of day to make sure it’s clear what you’re charging for. Note that the NDIS uses the following when determining price limits for NDIS-funded clients:

Weekday (6 am to 8 pm)
Weekday evening (8 pm to 12 pm)
Weekday night (12 pm to 6 am)
Weekend
Public holidays
24-hour session

Example
‘Weekdays (8am to 8pm) is $xx/hr’
Weekday evening (8pm to 10pm) is $xx/hr
Weekend (Sat/Sun 8am to 10pm) is $xx/hr
Public holidays (8am to 10pm) is $xx/hr’

24-hour sessions
When providing your rates in an agreement, include a time range and a time of day to make sure it includes your indicative rates for 24-hour sessions, which can be a combination of active support, passive support and sleep. In your agreement, you can separate the different rates out as the level of support may differ. Include, where needed, rates for:

Active support
Passive support
Active overnight support
Passive overnight support
Sleep

Example
‘24-hour sessions:
Active support is $xx/hr
Passive support is $xx/hr
Active overnight support is $xx/hr
Passive overnight support is $xx/hr’

If your client is NDIS funded, the total hourly rate (including the client’s 7.95% Mable platform fee) must not exceed the relevant NDIS Price limit.

For example, if $45 per hour is the agreed rate, with Mable’s 7.95% client platform fee the client pays $48.58 per hour ($45 x 1.0795 = $3.58 fee). With Mable’s 10% worker platform fee ($45 x .1 = $4.50 fee) the worker receives $40.50 an hour.

If your client is self-managed, they do not need to adhere to NDIS price limits. If you unsure of your client’s type of funding, you can ask them. For more information on NDIS price limits, refer to our help centre article NDIS pricing arrangement and price limits: what all disability support workers should know.

Exceeding NDIS price limits can result in in your support hours being rejected by an NDIS plan manager, and rejected hours may not be paid. If the rates you enter in an agreement exceed price limits, you will be alerted by the Mable platform.

Expenses

For more information on what expenses you can claim on your tax return, speak to your tax accountant. Mable has partnered with YOUtax to help you make the most of tax time and beyond. Visit YOUtax for resources, webinars or to arrange a complimentary tax consultation.

Resources
ATO occupation and industry specific guides
Tax, super and insurances: what you should know

What else should I consider when creating a service agreement?

Get to know Mable’s code of conduct which outlines expected standards of behaviour for clients and support workers. Also, familiarise yourself with Mable’s privacy policy which outlines everyones’ privacy and confidentiality obligations.