Service Providers - Volume 10, Part A

The DRC recommendation

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission) should commission a capacity-building program to support disability service providers to embed human rights in the design and delivery of their services. The program should be co-designed with people with disability, disabled people’s organisations, disability representative organisations including member-led First Nations Community Controlled Organisations, and peak bodies.

The program should:

• develop opportunities for dialogue between providers and people with disability to address challenges and share promising practices
• develop tools, resources and training packages that reflect the diversity of people with disability and disability service providers across Australia
• focus on practical, implementable strategies that lead to better outcomes for people with disability
• be grounded in the principles of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and reflect our findings, the NDIS Review, and the NDIS Commission’s own motion inquiries and recent Safeguarding Policy Implementation Plan
• enable providers to prepare for, or demonstrate compliance with, current and future legislative and registration requirements associated with the rights of people with disability. This includes responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) and the Disability Rights Act (if enacted).

The National Disability Insurance Agency, and state and territory governments involved in providing, regulating or conducting oversight of disability services not funded under the National Disability Insurance Scheme, should actively participate in all stages of the program.

The program should begin by 1 July 2025.

The DRC recommendation

To address potential conflicts of interest, the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) should, in consultation with states and territories, create or amend an NDIS Rule to make clear that it is not appropriate for a provider of support coordination to be the provider of any other funded supports in an NDIS participant’s plan.

Exceptions to the Rule should be developed in consultation with people with disability, disabled people’s organisations, disability representative organisations including member-led First Nations Community Controlled Organisations, and peak bodies.

Exceptions may include situations where there are limited alternative service options for NDIS participants due to thin disability service markets, or where there are limited culturally appropriate or specialised services available.

Why we want this recommendation to go further

A broader view of conflicts of interest should also be taken, for example in relation to the employment of individuals in multiple roles with different organisations where conflicts also arise.

The DRC recommendation

The National Disability Insurance Agency should ensure that participants in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) identified as being at heightened risk of violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation, particularly those living in supported accommodation, have funding for support coordination included in their NDIS plans.

Funding for support coordination should reflect the NDIS participant’s support and communication needs. Funding for hours of support coordination should also be sufficient to facilitate face-to-face contact at least monthly.

NDIS participant plans should be updated by 30 September 2025.

Why we support a faster timeline

This change should apply immediately, with NDIS participant plans updated at their next reassessment.

The DRC recommendation

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission should examine the quality and consistency of support coordination, with a particular focus on National Disability Insurance Scheme participants who:

• live in remote and very remote locations
• are First Nations people with disability
• are culturally and linguistically diverse
• are navigating state or territory housing, health or criminal justice systems
• are experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness
• are living in supported accommodation
• are attending day programs or working in Australian Disability Enterprises.

The examination may be part of the proposed own motion inquiry on support coordination.

Why we think this recommendation should be revised

The NDIS Review recommendations include a proposed new role to be known as Navigators. This examination should inform the co-design and future implementation of the Navigator roles.

The DRC recommendation

a) The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) should develop a program to connect National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants living in supported accommodation with an appropriate disability advocacy organisation. The program should be co-designed with people with disability, disabled people’s organisations, disability representative organisations including member-led First Nations Community Controlled Organisations, and peak bodies.

The program should:

• promote advocacy in the course of NDIS planning processes
• increase awareness of the role of advocacy in disability services among NDIS participants and their families and supporters
• strengthen advocacy referral processes when participants and their families and supporters raise concerns, make complaints or report incidents
• foster relationships between NDIS participants, their families and supporters, and disability advocacy organisations
• strengthen collaboration between disability service providers and disability advocacy organisations to enable advocates to maintain periodic contact with people with disability so they can identify potential or emerging issues.

The program should commence by January 2025.

Following an evaluation of the program’s impact and outcomes, the NDIA should consider expanding the program to reach other groups of people with disability who are identified as being at heightened risk of violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation.

b) The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, when reviewing complaints and reportable incidents, should also actively promote the value of independent advocacy for NDIS participants identified as being at heightened risk of violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation, and/or those who live in supported accommodation.

Why we want this recommendation to go further

The disability advocacy organisations should be independent of governments and the NDIA.

The DRC recommendation

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commissioner should amend the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Quality Indicators for NDIS Practice Standards) Guidelines 2018 (Cth) to reflect that each participant:

• is entitled to support to make everyday life decisions including what services they receive, in what way and from whom
• has opportunities to make decisions about their goals and aspirations
• is supported to develop their decision-making skills
• is supported to communicate their will and preferences
• has the right to choose their own supporter.

Amendments should be completed by 30 June 2025.

The DRC recommendation

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission should co-design – with people with disability, disabled people’s organisations, disability representative organisations including member-led First Nations Community Controlled Organisations, and peak bodies – a practice guide on supported decision-making for service providers. This should be consistent with the NDIS Supported Decision Making Policy and the supported decision-making principles outlined in Recommendation 6.6.

The DRC recommendation

The Australian Government should establish a national disability support worker registration scheme by 1 July 2028.

Consultation about the scope and elements of the national disability support worker registration scheme should begin as soon as possible. The consultations should include people with disability, disabled people’s organisations, disability representative organisations including member-led First Nations Community Controlled Organisations, support workers and their representative bodies, disability service providers, state and territory governments, and peak and regulatory bodies.

The design of the scheme should consider:

• the definition of ‘disability support worker’
• a code of conduct and minimum standards for registered disability support workers, including support coordinators
• mandating the NDIS Worker Screening Check for all disability support workers
• recognition and accreditation of workers’ qualifications, experience, capabilities and skills
• continuing professional development requirements for disability support workers
• automatic registration for disability support workers who are registered with other relevant professional bodies
• a First Nations workforce pathway to address barriers to First Nations workers entering the sector
• an accessible portal to enable people with disability and their supporters to view the profiles and registration status of disability support workers
• training and leave entitlements.

The DRC recommendation

Organisations entitled to represent the industrial interests of members of the disability support workforce covered by the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services (SCHADS) Industry Award 2010, along with the Australian Government and employers, should consider a joint application to vary the modern award in accordance with section 158 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).

This would seek to ensure equal remuneration of workers for work of equal or comparable value in accordance with section 302 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), paying particular attention to employers’ continued use of Schedule E and the ‘work value’ of contemporary disability support work.

The DRC recommendation

The Australian Government should urgently engage with state and territory governments about funding and arrangements for a provider of last resort scheme. It should also consult with people with disability, disabled people’s organisations, disability representative organisations including member-led First Nations Community Controlled Organisations, and peak bodies about how such a scheme could operate.

The scheme should be designed to address:

• failed or thin markets, particularly for First Nations people with disability in remote or very remote areas, and consider the use of block funding to guarantee service provision in those communities
• access to services for:
  • in crisis situations
  • at risk of losing their accommodation and disability services
  • whose needs cannot be adequately met by existing services.
• access to case management for people with disability at heightened risk of violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation
• clarity about which agency has the lead coordinating role.

The Australian Government should put forward a proposal for discussion to the Disability Reform Ministers Council in 2024.

Why we partially support

We believe more can be done at a grassroots level to address failed or thin markets prior to taking this step and to ensure the NDIS remains a scheme focused on individual choice. Governments should invest in a co-design process to identify alternative approaches.