4 March 2021

COVID-19 Vaccines: Guidance on informed consent, preparing for the vaccine and restrictive practices

We have developed a fact sheet to help NDIS providers to understand your obligations when supporting people with disability to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Key points

• Receiving the COVID-19 vaccination is voluntary. 
• NDIS participants must have the opportunity to provide informed consent for any medical treatments or procedures, including the COVID-19 vaccine. 
• People with disability who receive behaviour supports may need a regulated restrictive practice to enable them to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. Any use of these must comply with requirements in the NDIS (Restrictive Practices and Behaviour Support) Rules 2018. 
• If restrictive practices are not used in accordance with a behaviour support plan and/or without authorisation from the relevant state or territory, it is a reportable incident to the NDIS Commission.

The fact sheet is for all registered providers of NDIS supports and services and we encourage you to read it in full.  

It complements guidance and resources developed by the Department of Health, including consent forms, to support participants receiving a COVID-19 vaccination.

For more information about the vaccine roll out

More information will be posted on the Department of Health dedicated web page for people with disability when it becomes available. We strongly encourage you to visit this page regularly. 

NDIS Commission COVID-19 information and resources

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) information webpage on the NDIS Commission website contains links to updates, training, alerts and other resources.

We also have a COVID-19 webpage containing information for people with disability, and a webpage of frequently asked questions about COVID-19 for all stakeholders.

NDIS participants can also obtain information from the dedicated COVID-19 webpage for participants, which has been published by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).

Contact Us

Call: 1800 035 544 (free call from landlines). Our contact centre is open 9.00am to 5.00pm (9.00am to 4.30pm in the NT), Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

Email: contactcentre@ndiscommission.gov.au

Website: www.ndiscommission.gov.au