Free Progress Notes Template

A free progress notes template for the people who actually write the notes. Support workers, nurses and care managers can download it, make it theirs, and give the whole team one consistent way to record what happened on a shift.

It works whether you call them progress notes, shift notes or case notes, and whether you are recording support for an NDIS participant, an aged care resident or a home care client.

Good notes are how you show what care was delivered. Incomplete or inconsistent ones are what an auditor finds later. This template gives your team a clear structure to work from, so records hold up without anyone spending longer on paperwork.

 

As your organisation grows, you can also explore ShiftCare’s Progress Notes Software to digitise documentation, record notes in real time, and securely store care records in one place.

 

Why are progress notes important?

 

Progress notes provide a clear record of the care and support delivered, helping teams track participant progress, improve communication, and maintain accurate documentation. They also support compliance and continuity of care.

 

For more guidance, read our Progress Notes Guide. If you need help with invoicing, download our Free NDIS Invoice Template, or explore ShiftCare’s NDIS Software to manage documentation, rostering, and invoicing in one platform.

 

What’s included in this template?

 

The free template includes:

 

• Client details
• Progress notes table
• Customisable branding
• PDF and Google Docs versions
• Fully editable format

 

Using this as a shift notes template

 

Shift notes and progress notes are the same record under different names. If your team says shift notes, nothing in this template needs to change.

 

The one thing to get right is timing. A note written before the shift closes is a record. A note written from memory two days later is a reconstruction, and it reads like one.

 

Using this as a support worker notes template

 

Support workers are the people who actually write these notes, usually at the end of a long shift. The template is built to be filled in quickly without leaving gaps.

 

Write what you saw and did, not what you concluded. “Declined lunch, ate a sandwich at 3pm” is an observation. “Was being difficult about food” is an interpretation, and it is the kind of line that causes trouble when the note is read back months later by someone who was not there. For more worked examples, read how to write NDIS progress notes.

 

Using this as a nursing progress notes template

 

Nurses working across disability and aged care can use the same structure, with clinical observations recorded alongside the support delivered. Record objective findings first: observations taken, medication administered, skin integrity or wound checks, and any change from baseline. Keep clinical judgement clearly separate from observation, and note who you escalated to and when. For clinical examples, see our guide to nursing progress notes.

 

Using this as a case notes template

 

Support coordinators and case managers usually need a running record across multiple contacts rather than a single shift. The same template works. Use one row per contact, and record the date, who was involved, what was discussed and what was agreed. The test is whether someone picking up the file cold could follow what has happened and what happens next.

 

What a complete note looks like

 

A note that holds up answers six things: who, when, what was planned, what actually happened, what changed, and what you did about it. Miss the last two and the note records attendance rather than support.

 

“2:15pm. Assisted participant with community access as per plan. Declined the planned shopping trip, said she was tired. Sat in the courtyard instead, 30 minutes. Second time this week she has declined an outing. Flagged to team leader at 4pm.”

 

Short, factual, and it surfaces a pattern someone else can act on.

 

How long do you need to keep them?

 

From 27 August 2026, records relating to the payment and receipt of NDIS funds must be retained for seven years. A note supporting a claim sits inside that, and a note describing an incident becomes part of the incident record, which carries its own retention. Seven years from the date of the note is the practical floor. Whatever format you use, store notes somewhere they can still be retrieved years later, not on a device that leaves when the worker does.

 

Keeping notes consistent as the team grows

 

A template fixes the structure. It does not fix the two things that actually cause audit findings: notes that never get written, and notes that arrive too late to be useful.

 

That is the job of ShiftCare’s Risk Intelligence layer. Notes are recorded on the support worker’s phone during the shift, missing detail is flagged before the worker clocks out, and care managers can see which notes are still outstanding instead of finding the gap during an audit. Same operator-friendly product. See it before it costs you.