11 September 2020

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Guidance for providers on Victoria’s roadmap for reopening 

The Victorian Government’s roadmap for reopening includes some important steps that NDIS providers should take in the delivery of supports and services to people with disability. 

Key points 

• The Victorian Government has released roadmaps for metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria for reopening after the COVID-19 lockdown.
• Ensure you, your workers and the people you support understand what the changes are, and how these affect the supports and services you deliver.
• As these restrictions are gradually eased, we expect you to continue to understand and abide by your obligations under the NDIS Code of Conduct, NDIS Practice Standards, and conditions of registrations.
• You should take all reasonable action to continue to provide NDIS supports or services that are critical to the ongoing health, wellbeing and safety of people with disability while complying with state and territory Orders.

Victorian roadmap

The Victorian Government has released a roadmap for reopening after the COVID-19 lockdown.

There is a roadmap for metropolitan Melbourne, and one for regional Victoria, but the important dates for all Victorians are:

• 11.59pm 13 September 2020
• 28 September 2020.

Familiarise yourself with the roadmap for the area in which you deliver supports and services to NDIS participants, and ensure your workers and the people you support are aware of the changes that apply to them.

If the people you support need help to understand what these changes mean for them, you must use their preferred method of communication to do this.

It is critical that you reflect these new arrangements in the supports you provide to people with disability. So start planning now to adjust your supports and services to reflect these changing restrictions.

You should consult and communicate with the people you support about any changes to the supports or services you provide, and assist them to take advantage of these changes if needed.

Below are some of the changes you should put into practice with the people you support, depending on the NDIS supports and services you deliver.

Metropolitan Melbourne

See the full roadmap for metropolitan Melbourne (PDF, 183KB).

STEP 1: From 11.59pm 13 September 2020

• A ‘bubble’ is allowed for people living alone and single parents. A person can nominate one other person to visit them in their home. A carer of a person with disability can have another person come to the home to support the person with disability while the carer is away.
• Exercise can be increased to two hours every day. This can be a two-hour block or split into two one-hour blocks. People can exercise with one other person outside your household, or those they live with.
• Social interaction is increasing, such as being able to go to the park, or the beach, within the hours of 5.00am to 9.00pm. Outdoor playgrounds will be open.

Ways to put these changes into practice:

• If you provide in-home support, or other in-home services such as therapies: Contact the people you support who live alone (including single parents of children with disability), to let them know about this change and encourage them to identify someone to visit.
• If you provide accommodation support this may involve setting a daily timetable for people in a residence to exercise, either together or with a family member or friend. It could also involve planning outings to the local park or beach within 5km.
• If you provide day activities this may involve offering exercise sessions to the people you support, or taking advantage of social interaction opportunities to enable people to connect with a friend or a family member.
• When transporting the people you support to outdoor activities, consider strategies to do so safely by maintaining physical distance between passengers and ensuring all people wear a face covering (unless a person you support is unable to wear a face covering).

STEP 2: 28 September 2020 (if case numbers are low enough)

In addition to the Step 1 changes:

• Public gatherings will increase with up to five (5) people from two (2) households allowed to meet outdoors.
• Outdoor pools open and personal training is allowed for two (2) people per trainer.
• Childcare re-opens and schools begin a gradual staged return.

Ways to put these changes into practice:

• If you provide supports to children of families who accessed childcare before the stage 4 restrictions, contact them to assist them to plan for return to childcare if they want to do so.
• Support people to take advantage of the public gathering changes by encouraging them to meet with a couple of friends or family members for a picnic in the park.
• For day activities that involve outdoor activities, or access to the public pool, make plans to resume these activities with the people you support.

Regional Victoria

See the full roadmap for regional Victoria (PDF, 161KB).

STEP 1: from 11.59pm 13 September 2020

Steps 1 and 2 outlined above for metropolitan Melbourne apply in regional Victoria from 11.59pm on 13 September 2020.

Your obligations

As it has always been, our focus is on supporting you to continue to provide the safe and quality supports NDIS participants rely on.

We therefore remind you of your obligations under the NDIS Code of Conduct, NDIS Practice Standards and conditions of registration that relate to the delivery of safe, quality supports and services, and the management of risks associated with the supports you provide to NDIS participants.

Notifying the NDIS Commission

You do not need to submit a notification form to advise us when you recommence services in line with the easing of Victoria’s COVID-19 health directions

However, you must continue to notify us of any event that significantly affects your ability to comply with any of your conditions of registration. If it is related to COVID-19 (such as a worker or participant’s confirmed COVID-19 infection), use the Notification of event – COVID-19 (registered provider) form. If the event is not related to COVID-19, use the NDIS Commission Portal to notify us.

Managing the safe recommencement of services and supports

As Victoria’s COVID-19 restrictions are gradually lifted, we expect you to continue to follow sound business continuity planning principles. These include:

• knowing the NDIS participants you support and the impacts on their health and safety if there are changes to their services and supports – even when these changes are to restore services to the way they were before the pandemic
• communicating with your workforce and NDIS participants to make sure they understand any changes
• regularly reviewing your business continuity plan to assess risks to your business, your staff, and the people you support; and identifying strategies to manage those risks.

Obligations for behaviour support and restrictive practices

Refer to our fact sheet to assist you to understand behaviour support and restrictive practices due to COVID-19. It includes ways to allow the people you support to exercise choice and control over decisions that affect them, practical guidance for supporting NDIS participants with behaviour support needs, and requirements when using regulated restrictive practices.

Letter for Victorian NDIS participants

With the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), we have jointly issued an open letter to all Victorian participants, their families and carers. The letter explains what to expect from their providers, how they can protect themselves and others, and where they can complain if they are unhappy with the safety or quality of their supports and services.

Further information, alerts 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.

Contact Us

• Call: 1800 035 544 (free call from landlines). Our contact centre is open 9.00am to 4.30pm in the NT, 9.00am to 5.00pm in the ACT, NSW, QLD, SA, TAS and VIC Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.
• Email: contactcentre@ndiscommission.gov.au
• Website: www.ndiscommission.gov.au

Links to previous COVID-19 provider alerts 

Visit the NDIS Commission website to see our previous COVID-19 provider alerts.