Welcome to the NDIS Check Newsletter
This newsletter has been established to keep you informed about NDIS Checks in Western Australia.
We encourage you to share this newsletter with your colleagues and they may also choose to subscribe.
What's new with NDIS Worker Screening?
Over 43,00 NDIS Check applications received
The WA Screening Unit have received and processed approximately 43,000 applications for NDIS Checks since commencing in February 2021. The vast majority of workers who have gone through the thorough NDIS Worker Screening process have been issued clearances and are able to work across the sector subject to ongoing monitoring for five years.
The average processing time for applications is approximately six days. Although some take longer, the majority of workers are screened and issued an outcome within a week of being verified by an employer.
Thank you for your commitment to building a safer NDIS workforce.
In Focus - the NWSD
The NDIS Worker Screening Database or NWSD, is a national system that houses all NDIS Check outcomes. The NWSD also facilitates the ongoing monitoring of cleared workers across Australia.
The NWSD keeps providers up to date with their workers’ NDIS Check status. If you are ‘linked’ to a worker, you will automatically be notified of a change in their eligibility to work.
IMPORTANT: If your organisation did not verify a worker’s NDIS Check application in the NWSD, you will not be linked to them. To ensure you are receiving important updates about your workers, refer to the quick reference guide for how to link a worker.
As a provider, or person receiving NDIS services, do not rely on a copy of the worker’s NDIS Check certificate as proof of eligibly to work. Check their status in the NWSD using their Worker Screening ID and link your organisation to the worker. Proper use of the NWSD will ensure you are alerted of relevant changes and eliminate the use of fraudulent certificates in our sector.
Questions from the sector
Here are some of the top questions or comments we have received from NDIS providers.
Do under 18-year-old students on placement need the NDIS Check?
There is an exemption that applies to secondary school students on formal work placements. Regardless of their age, secondary students on a formal placement do not require an NDIS Check clearance. However, registered NDIS providers must ensure they are directly supervised by a worker who holds a valid NDIS Check clearance.
When is the right time in a recruitment process to ask the successful candidates to apply?
In WA, a person can apply for an NDIS Check clearance if they are in, or proposed to be in, NDIS work. This means, a person may apply if they have been offered a job that they intend to accept and can commence the screening as part of onboarding processes.
Applications should not be lodged as a condition of meeting the requirements of a job advertisement and unnecessary applications in the system may delay screening for those who need it.
Most workers will be able to commence in risk assessed roles, under certain conditions, while their application is in process. “Work on application” recognises that most applicants screened are issued a clearance. If the Screening Unit detects a worker presents an unacceptable risk of harm to people with disability, we may issue an interim bar, preventing them from working on application. This aims to strike a balance between ensuring vital services are delivered and people with disability are protected.
Got an NDIS Check question you would like answered?
You can submit questions or request a meeting by emailing NDISCheck@communities.wa.gov.au. We are happy to help where we can although we may need to refer you to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commissions for matters that fall under their jurisdiction.
Meet the NDIS Worker Screening Director
Simon Meyer has been inspired by legislated worker screening since 2005.
Simon was a founding employee of the Working with Children Screening Unit, with a main role of undertaking risk assessments. After progressing to act as the Unit's Director, Simon brought his 17 years of experience in this field to lead the NDIS Worker Screening Unit in Western Australia.
Simon started his career in 1994 as a child protection Social Worker. This work involved direct service delivery with families across the Goldfields and Murchison Districts and the southwest metropolitan area.
Simon also gained satisfaction by supporting people in need through his work at the 24-hour Crisis Care Unit. This Unit provided crisis intervention and child protection services, Family Helpline and Parenting Helpline counselling services, a Domestic Violence Helpline and suicide prevention services.
When asked about his role, Simon said:
"I started my career undertaking child protection work out of a desire to add value to the community. After working with families and children who had been victims of abuse, I became interested in worker screening because it gave me the chance to prevent harm before it occurred. I was privileged to be involved in starting the Working with Children Screening Unit, a first for WA.
“Worker screening is an extensive and ongoing checking process designed to promote the safety of people who rely on others for supports, services and care. Being part of a state government entity with legal authority, we have the ability to obtain and consider a wide variety of information, well beyond anything that employers previously had access to. Our focus is to assess information about past behaviour and consider how that relates to preventing potential harm in the future.
“I am extremely proud of the people we have assembled to serve you. We have team members who respond to your general enquiries and emails and assist you to lodge applications. We have officers who screen the initial records and prioritise incoming applications based on risk. These officers gather court transcripts, consider child protection records and request relevant documents to inform risk assessments.
“We also have specialist staff, including social workers, psychologists and people with criminal justice or offender management backgrounds, who conduct assessments to determine whether a worker poses an unacceptable risk of harm.
“Finally, we have compliance officers who have the ability to investigate and prosecute non-compliance with the law. People who are excluded from working must comply with the law.
“Our main goal is to promote voluntary compliance, by supporting the community to understand their obligations. Every member of our team contributes to help protect participants who rely upon certain NDIS funded services.
“It is my absolute pleasure to show up to work each day as the Director of the NDIS Worker Screening Unit."
COVID-19 Update
The Department of Transport continue to carry out in-person transactions including NDIS Check applications. The Department of Transport’s website will be the best place to find information about their centres and any disruption to services.
Upcoming Events
Keep an eye out for the NDIS Worker Screening team at the following upcoming events:
- Rockingham Disability Expo
- Perth Disability Connection Expo
- Ability Expo
- Source Kids Disability Expo.
We will be there to meet you in person and answer any of your NDIS Check questions.
Do you have an upcoming event you would like us to attend? Send an email to NDISCheck@communities.wa.gov.au.
Compliance tip - record keeping
From time to time, the Screening Unit may ask registered providers to demonstrate their workers' compliance with NDIS Check requirements. These types of requests are designed to help protect people with disability and increase the sector's capacity to meet obligations set in NDIS worker screening legislation.
It is important to maintain good NDIS Check records to ensure workers are properly screened and reduce the likelihood of employers engaging unsafe workers. It is also one of the ways to demonstrate your organisation’s compliance with worker screening legislation to the Screening Unit as well as to independent auditors.
Registered NDIS providers must maintain a written list of workers who they engage in risk assessed roles. This list should include:
- the full name, date of birth and address of the worker
- the NDIS Check application number, Worker Screening ID and expiry date.
In addition, registered NDIS providers must keep copies of records relating to:
- an interim bar
- a suspension
- an exclusion.
Registered NDIS providers must also keep other records, such as copies of documents relating to allegations of misconduct against a worker with an NDIS Check clearance and any action taken including investigations in response to allegations. The Screening Unit may use this type of information to inform risk assessments.
More information about your record keeping requirements can be found on the NDIS Commission website.
We aim to achieve compliance primarily through informing and encouraging workers to understand and meet their obligations.
Contact us
The NDIS Worker Screening Unit
Website: www.ndiswsu.wa.gov.au
Email: NDISCheck@communities.wa.gov.au
Phone: 1800 225 558
