NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission

Provider Newsletter - March 2021

This newsletter is sent to the email address associated with your registration, which means that if you unsubscribe from this email, you are unsubscribing from other important correspondence from the NDIS Commission, including renewal reminders.

COVID-19 vaccine roll-out for people with disability and disability workers

The Australian Government Department of Health has published information for people with disability about COVID-19 vaccines and information for disability providers on their website. Both pages contain important information about the vaccines and the rollout of the vaccination program. These pages will be updated regularly.

Additionally, the Department of Health has released a vaccination toolkit for disability providers, to help you prepare for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. They have also released a recording of the Phase 1a disability sector webinar that was held on 4 March.

The Department of Health has consulted with state and territory governments, and stakeholders in the disability sector, to inform vaccine rollout for people with disability. Information on important matters such as communication and consent will be included in the Disability Sector COVID-19 Vaccines Implementation Plan (the Plan). The Plan will be shared with registered providers and subscribers when it becomes available.

We are committed to communicating information from the Department of Health on the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out for people with disability and disability providers as it becomes available. We will share this information with you via our provider alerts.

If you are not a registered NDIS provider, you can subscribe to our provider alerts for the latest information.

Outbreak preparation and management – Disability Supplement

The Department of Health has released the Disability Supplement to the CDNA Guidelines for the prevention, control and public health management of COVID-19 outbreaks in residential care facilities in Australia (Supplement). The Supplement provides national guidance on preventing and managing COVID-19 outbreaks in disability residential services. It has been developed to support providers and public health authorities to respond to the risk and occurrences of COVID-19 outbreaks in these settings. It also supports existing state and territory advice, and promotes an aligned approach to outbreak prevention and management in disability residential services throughout Australia.

Protecting people with intellectual disability voices online

The national agency that regulates cyber abuse, eSafety, is coordinating a new project. The ‘Protecting people with intellectual disability voices online’ project will co-design resources with people with intellectual disability and disability service providers to address cyber abuse and generate positive experiences online. The first phase of the project focuses on identifying the knowledge gap and community needs around online safety. eSafety is looking to collaborate with disability service providers who work with people with intellectual disability to co-design these resources. Contact the Diverse Communities team at the eSafety Commissioner to find out more about the project.

National NDIS and Psychosocial Disability Quality and Safety Forum

The Mental Health Coordinating Council (MHCC) is holding a free National Forum on 29 April 2021 (9.30am to 2.00pm AEST).

Speakers will address inclusive governance, quality management, human rights approach to restrictive practices and future directions for NDIS psychosocial disability sector quality and safety.

Visit the National Forum website to register or find out more.

It is important that you remain subscribed to all correspondence we issue, as this is how we provide you with important information about your obligations. We also use these details to contact you about matters regarding your registration. If you unsubscribe, you will be unsubscribing from other important correspondence from us, including COVID-19 information and renewal reminders.

Correspondence is sent according to the provider details on the NDIS Commission Portal. It is a requirement of your registration that you provide us with up-to-date information to enable us to contact your organisation. Please review your provider contact details on the NDIS Commission Portal.

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All provider alerts and newsletters we issue are available on our website. We also have a general subscription option, which allows you to subscribe to communications at additional email addresses.

All providers that deliver registration group 0107 must now meet an additional condition of registration. This condition applies when delivering assistance with daily personal activities to participants who live alone. It has been imposed because NDIS participants who receive personal support in their own home may experience a level of risk if those supports are provided by the same individual NDIS worker for any extended period of time, and this risk is likely to be greater when the NDIS participant lives alone.

Our website contains more information about the new condition, as well as a fact sheet.

All impacted providers should have received notification of the change and an updated certificate of registration. If you are registered for 0107 and did not receive this information, please contact us.

You must submit an application to renew your provider registration before your renewal date. As a condition of your registration, you have nine months from your renewal date to complete an audit and submit it to us. If you don’t do this, we will contact you about completing your audit. Failing to meet this condition can result in the refusal of your renewal application. 

If you have started a renewal application but do not wish not to re-register, you must contact us.

If you would like to apply to make changes to your registration, contact us to discuss a variation. A variation is required to change the conditions of your registration, the period of registration, or to add or remove registration groups. A variation is not needed to update contact details, outlets or key personnel; you can update these in the NDIS Commission Portal.

Variation applications are subject to an assessment process and you will be notified of the outcome. We are currently experiencing a high volume of applications, so there may be a delay in receiving a decision.

You can also request that your NDIS provider registration is revoked. If you wish to do this, you must contact us. We will assess the request and advise you of the decision. 

Worker screening is used to help check that the people who are working, or wish to work, with NDIS participants don't present an unacceptable risk to people with disability. From 1 February 2021 all states and territories (except for the NT, which will begin by 1 July 2021) started implementing the new worker screening requirements.

If you are a worker delivering NDIS supports and services and you work in a risk assessed role you must have either an NDIS worker screening clearance or an acceptable check under the transitional or special arrangements.

If you already have a valid acceptable state or territory check from before 1 February 2021 (or no later than 1 July 2021 in the NT), you can use it until it expires or for the period of time the state or territory government allows.

This means that for a time, workers employed by registered NDIS providers in certain roles will hold either an acceptable check or an NDIS worker screening clearance. After this, all workers employed by registered NDIS providers in certain roles must have an NDIS worker screening clearance. If you want to continue working in a risk assessed role after your acceptable check expires, you will need to apply for an NDIS worker screening clearance.

See our website for what NDIS workers need to know, and the application process for an NDIS Worker Screening Check.

Providers are required to ensure that workers or personnel engaged in risk assessed roles have an NDIS worker screening clearance or acceptable check under the transitional and special arrangements. Workers in other roles are not required by the NDIS Commission to have these; but you can choose to make a check a requirement of other roles.

Your organisation must determine if a role is a risk assessed role. We cannot advise you if a role in your organisation is a risk assessed role.

Risk assessed roles include key personnel, and roles involving the direct delivery of specified supports or services to a person with disability. See our website for the full definition of a risk assessed role.

There are also additional considerations when engaging workers through contract or subcontract arrangements. Our website, and the Worker Screening Rules provide more information.

The NDIS Worker Screening Database is an important tool for you to check the screening status of workers that require an NDIS Worker Screening Check. Registered NDIS providers are required to ensure their workers have an NDIS worker screening clearance or an acceptable check in accordance with state and territory transitional arrangements.

Registered NDIS providers automatically have access to the NDIS Worker Screening Database and can log in via the NDIS Commission Portal. You do not have to apply for access.

Since 1 February 2021, over 19,000 applications for NDIS Worker Screening Checks have been received and close to 14,000 NDIS worker screening clearances have been issued. More than 2,000 applications are currently ‘pending verification’, and just over 3,000 are under assessment. Over 13,000 applications have been assessed.

There is more information about worker screening on our website, including:

• webpages for workers, registered providers, unregistered providers and self-managed participants
• Quick Reference Guides, including guidance on accessing the NDIS Worker Screening Database, and checking the clearance status of workers.
• fact sheets about the NDIS Worker Screening Check and Database.

You can find past issues of the NDIS Commission provider newsletter on our website. 

Our mailing address is: engagement@ndiscommission.gov.au