With the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) transition across Australia, the focus on quality and safeguarding has dramatically increased.

The framework will provide a nationally-consistent approach to quality and safeguarding. It introduces the following national regulatory components:

• An NDIS complaints commissioner to facilitate the resolution of complaints regarding providers of NDIS-funded supports, and to investigate serious incident reports and potential breaches of NDIS Code of Conduct;

• An NDIS registrar to register providers, oversee provider compliance, establish policy settings for nationally-consistent worker screening, and take the lead in monitoring the effectiveness of the NDIS market; and

• A senior practitioner to oversee approved behaviour support practitioners and providers, review the use of restrictive practices and follow up on serious incidents.

Existing quality and safeguarding arrangements will continue until full implementation of the NDIS. The transition to the new Framework will align with the date of full implementation in each state and territory. There will be opportunities to contribute to the implementation of the Framework and consultation rounds will be advertised during 2017.

The framework is available in full on the DSS website, along with factsheets for providers and participants.

The recently-signed Bilateral Agreement for the NDIS in WA stated that the WA NDIS will be part of the national quality and safeguarding framework and include the same appeals avenues as all other states and territories. The existing quality standards will be continued and strong safeguards will be maintained during the transition.

NDS Quality and Safeguarding Development Program

NDS in WA is working with small and medium size disability services organisations to develop their internal quality and safeguarding mechanisms to the highest level, with support from specialist consultants.

Each participating organisation will have the opportunity to build systemic and meaningful change to further develop quality and safeguarding practices that align with the National Standards for Disability Services.

Through this program, organisations will be able to:

• Participate in Quality Services, Safeguarding and Complaints Handling workshops;

• Identify specific areas of organisational strength and areas for quality improvement;

• Obtain organisational-specific learnings, mentoring and practical support from expert consultants; and

• Access the full suite of quality and safeguarding related resources developed and/or sourced by NDS in WA.

Zero Tolerance resource: Human Rights and You

NDS has released the latest in our online Zero Tolerance resources: Human Rights and You. This important resource complements the Quality and Safeguarding Development Program in WA.

Human Rights and You is designed to help support workers understand what human rights are and why they matter when supporting people with disability. It makes a clear link between supporting human rights and the safety of people with disability.

Human Rights and You is a free national program for support workers everywhere in Australia. It uses engaging video-based e-learning which takes around 30 minutes to complete. A complimentary workbook is available for use with the program.

Find more information about Zero Tolerance and other resources here.

NDS Safer Services Research Project

The NDS in WA Safer Services Research Project is being developed in collaboration between NDS and Curtin University's School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work. 

The project aims to:

• Identify safeguarding concerns for people with disability within various situations or contexts;
• Investigate existing safeguarding practices amongst West Australian disability service organisations, including identifying gaps and processes or interventions that might address gaps; and
• Develop, trial and evaluate strategies, processes and tools to enhance and/or build the safeguarding capacity of both organisations and the people with disability, families and carers they support.

To identify key safeguarding issues and examples of good practice and gaps in practice, the Curtin research team has facilitated interviews, focus groups and a survey with people with disability, families and carers, disability advocates, representatives from non-government disability service organisations and government departments.

The extensive findings of this exploration - along with a comprehensive review of relevant contemporary literature (both academic and grey) - has identified safeguarding practices and tools used in WA disability service organisations. Additionally, several themes emerged recommending further capacity building to address identified gaps, including:

• A general lack of awareness amongst service users, families and some support staff about their right to report concerns of violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation;
• Low expectations about the impact of disclosing unsafe practices and/or violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation, even when specialist disability support services are highly person-centred and human rights-oriented, and the role of advocacy or peer support organisations in this regard;
• Discrepancies between senior staff and other project stakeholders (e.g. service users, support staff, parents) in understanding and responding to abuse and neglect, and the need for training, particularly for support staff to be improved; and
• The importance of a supportive work culture that encourages moral and ethical responsibility, and the underpinning protocols that support this including recruitment, risk management and reporting practices.

A suite of capacity building resources and tools will be piloted by a number of sector organisations and the impact evaluated by the research team over the coming months.