Hireup launches NSW campaign amid NDIS registration changes

Hireup has launched a campaign in New South Wales focused on choice and control amid planned changes to NDIS registration. It is also aimed at support workers concerned about how the changes could affect existing working arrangements.

The latest phase of the company's Your life, supported campaign features people from Hireup's own community, including clients, support workers and Account Managers. It is running across free-to-air and catch-up television, radio, out-of-home, social media and digital channels in NSW, Hireup's largest market.

The campaign comes as participants, families and independent support workers weigh the impact of expanded mandatory registration requirements for providers of NDIS-funded disability support, expected to begin on 1 July 2027. Discussion has centred on whether long-standing support relationships can continue if independent workers face extra costs or administrative demands.

Hireup said online focus groups with ABN-registered independent support workers, NDIS participants and carers found awareness of the planned rules was higher than understanding of them. Most attendees had heard of mandatory registration, but few could explain who the requirements would apply to, when they would begin or what costs might be involved.

Many participants in those discussions were relying on online forums and word of mouth for information. Families were particularly concerned about losing workers who already understood routines, needs and preferences, while some support workers feared moving to a provider model could reduce the flexibility they value.

One participant described the concern in direct terms: "If you've had a carer for 10 years and she hasn't got the money to register, you're in a hard spot. You don't want to lose that worker, and I can't do without support."

Worker concerns

Hireup's message to support workers is that they can continue to choose who they work with and set their own availability while being employed by a registered provider. Under its model, Hireup employs workers and manages payroll, tax and superannuation, rather than requiring them to operate as fully independent businesses.

That pitch places the company in the middle of a policy shift that could alter how some disability support is organised. Independent workers who currently operate through their own ABNs may have to decide whether to seek registration themselves, move under a provider or leave the market, depending on how the new settings are applied.

For Hireup, the campaign is also a response to what it sees as confusion in the sector. It says uncertainty about registration is shaping employment decisions by workers and service decisions by participants who want continuity of care.

"Choice and control shouldn't come at the cost of security, and navigating the system shouldn't mean giving up the freedom to work in a way that suits you. We know there's real uncertainty around registration, and behind those questions are people worried about what they stand to lose. We want support workers to know they have options to keep working on their own terms, and participants to have confidence that they can maintain the trusted relationships that make their support work," Jen Dickson, Chief Marketing Officer at Hireup, said.

In-house campaign

Hireup's in-house marketing team developed the campaign using conversations with clients, support workers, Account Managers and its Community Action Group. The creative material centres on the experiences of people using the platform, rather than actors or external spokespeople.

The approach reflects a wider trend among disability care service platforms to frame policy changes through the lens of personal relationships rather than regulation alone. Here, Hireup has chosen to focus on continuity, worker flexibility and the mechanics of employment at a time when registration rules are drawing greater scrutiny.

The campaign's concentration in NSW gives it a clear commercial focus as well as a policy one. By targeting its largest market, Hireup is seeking to reach both sides of its marketplace at once: people who arrange support and workers deciding how they want to remain in the sector.

Hireup said the campaign places the experiences of people with disability, their families and support workers at its centre, with disability representation embedded throughout the material.