Quality & Safeguarding July Update

It can be hard keeping up to date with all the new developments in the quality and safeguarding space. But don't worry we got you covered, here's you mid-term update.

Active Support

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission) is looking to co-design a practice guide which supports the implementation of active support in supported accommodation. Active support is a way to support people with intellectual disabilities to engage in meaningful activities and social interactions. The NDIS Commission is seeking input from services that provide (or are interested in providing) active support to people in supported accommodation. The survey closes on the 4th of August. 

 To learn more about Active Support check out Skills for Active Support.

NDIS Workforce Capability Framework Workshops

The NDIS Workforce Capability Framework is designed to improve workforce quality and establish a shared language of ‘what good looks like’. It describes the attitudes, skills and knowledge expected of all workers funded under the NDIS. The NDIS Commission is hosting a new series of workshops for participants and providers wanting to learn more about improving service quality through recruitment, supervision and training. Provider sessions are being run on the 4th and 10th of August and a participant session will be held on the 8th of August. Find out more on the Workforce Capability Framework website.

Deciding with Support

A new website called Deciding with Support has been developed by Flinders University and the Council for Intellectual Disability. The website houses a toolkit to help facilitate supported decision making. There are resources for people with disability (easy read), supporters, service providers and behaviour support practitioners, to facilitate supported decision-making with people who receive behaviour support.

New Quick Reference Guides

There are two new Quick Reference Guides to assist applicants in registering as a Behaviour Support Practitioner: How to update Practitioner Profile and Responding to Request for information.

Upcoming webinars for Behaviour Support Practitioners

DSC has a number of upcoming webinars to support Behaviour Support Practitioners:

• Webinar 3 of this series in partnership with I Can Jump Puddles will focus on developing a growth and development framework to encourage professional development and career opportunities within the disability sector, including Practitioner pathways aligned with the NDIS Workforce Capability Framework.
• This 2 part webinar series will show Practitioners how to deliver high-quality Functional Behaviour Assessments and Behavioural Risk Assessments, to improve the quality of behaviour support plans.

Provider Spotlight

The NDIS Commission’s Provider Spotlight page highlights instances of service provider good practice. The NDIS Commission invites providers to share their examples of good practice and innovations that amplify the voice of participants and uplift quality and safety.

Compliance Action

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission has accepted the first Enforceable Undertaking from a provider to improve the quality and safety of its services and supports. An Enforceable Undertaking is a legally binding agreement outlining specific actions the provider has offered to take to address issues of non-compliance with the law. The NDIS Commission’s compliance and enforcement list continues to grow and the number of banned providers now warrants its own list.

NDIS Commission Grants Awarded

Three new grants have been awarded to a number of organisations by the NDIS Commission:

• The Right Direction – strengthening participant and provider connections to improve behaviour support outcomes.
• Resources to assist participants to understand their rights, make complaints and raise issues with NDIS providers.
• Digital solution for provider complaints handling. To find out more about you can be involved in this project click here.

​​Australian Government response to the Joint Standing Committee (JSC) report on the NDIS Commission

The Australian Government has responded to the JSC report on the NDIS Commission which was tabled in November 2021. Recommendations include improved information sharing protocols, better coordination between the NDIA and NDIS Commission and review of the regulatory burden on providers (as well as audit costs). The JSC has also suggested the Government go back to exploring the case for a national community visiting scheme and look at funding advocacy organisations to assist complainants in their dealings with the NDIS Commission. The Government says action has been taken in response to many of the JSC recommendations and supports 21 of these, with the remaining being referred to the Independent Review for further consideration. You can read the full list of recommendations and government response here.

NDIS Review

As part of the Independent Review into the NDIS, the Review is looking at the NDIS Quality and Safeguarding Framework. The Review has heard that the current system is not working well for people including:

• Not enough focus on participant’s capacity building to strengthen natural safeguards.
• Getting the balance right between ensuring participants can exercise choice and control while having the right regulations in place to keep people safe.
• Regulatory arrangements have not responded to changes in the NDIS market, such as new types of supports available, and more participants self-managing their funding and using unregistered providers.
• Some unregistered providers are providing high quality and very innovative supports.
• Some feel regulation is more about ticking boxes than improving the quality of services.
• More can be done to build the capacity of participants to keep themselves safe, manage the risks they face and get the supports they need.
• More needs to be done to reduce and eliminate the use of restrictive practices.
• Information sharing between government agencies needs to be timelier and more effective to prevent harm and support people to be safe.

The NDIS Review wants to hear from people about some of the solutions to improving quality and safety in the NDIS, as well as many other areas of the NDIS. Find more on their website.

Disability Royal Commission

The Disability Royal Commission has released a new research report titled Restrictive Practices – A pathway to elimination. It was compiled by researchers from the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney and the University of Technology Sydney. The report states that restrictive practices are a significant form of violence and coercion and are odds with the human rights of people with disability. The report details an 8-point action plan to eliminate restrictive practices which in summary include:

• Prohibiting restrictive practices (ending their legal authorisation)
• Changing attitudes and norms (supporting awareness raising to address discriminatory attitudes and norms)
• Acknowledging and addressing historical injustices (public acknowledgment and truth telling)
• Deinstitutionalisation and desegregation
• Recognising autonomy and leadership of people disability (supporting people to exercise their legal capacity)
• Utilising trauma informed support
• Providing a redress scheme for victims-survivors.

Find the full report and more detailed recommendations on the Royal Commission’s website.