NDIS Commission Provider Newsletter - January 2025

Message from the Commissioner

Hello and welcome to the NDIS Commission’s first Provider Newsletter for 2025.

The start of the new year is a time to look forward to how we are going to achieve our goals and objectives.

Last week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Minister for Social Services, the Hon. Amanda Rishworth MP, as the new Minister for the NDIS, replacing the Hon. Bill Shorten MP who has retired from politics. We look forward to working closely with Minister Rishworth, as well as Dr Anne Aly who has been appointed Minister Assisting the Minister for the NDIS, as we all continue the important NDIS reform work that is underway.

I’d also like to thank Minister Shorten for his commitment to improving the Scheme for all Australians.

Also on reform, one of Minister Shorten’s last announcements was the appointment of leading disability advocates El Gibbs and Dougie Herd as the two co-chairs of the newly formed NDIS Reform Advisory Committee. The Committee will provide independent advice to government on the implementation of the NDIS reforms and represent the diverse voices of people with disability during this period of critical change. We look forward to working with them to strengthen outcomes for the sector.

We will have a busy year ahead at the NDIS Commission and our key focus areas are:

Human rights centred regulatory framework
Reform agenda
Consultation and engagement with key stakeholders including providers.

We will continue to improve how we:

Respond to complaints and manage reportable incidents
Oversee the registration of providers, and
Deliver educational resources for providers and workers.

It's vital to keep up to date with our evolving resources and continue to educate your staff on their roles and responsibilities in supporting people with disability. I encourage you to download and print this helpful Fact Sheet from our website which outlines your obligations under the NDIS Code of Conduct.

Last week, I visited the Northern Territory and spent time with our Indigenous and Remote Operations (IRO) team whose work focuses on building strong relationships with remote and very remote First Nations communities. The IRO team is an incredibly important link between the NDIS Commission and NDIS participants and providers in these remote regions, with the team visiting more than 50 remote communities in the last 12 months to help community members understand how the NDIS Commission can support them.

Engagement with First Nations communities is a key focus area for the NDIS Commission, and we are proud to have recently launched our first Reconciliation Action Plan, as detailed in the newsletter below.

I appreciate your work towards helping to make the NDIS a sustainable scheme that helps to improve the lives of people with disability.

Commissioner Louise Glanville

Quality and Safeguards grant awardees

At the end of last year, we announced the successful awardees of our Quality and Safeguarding grant opportunity.

The Support for NDIS Providers Grant Program awarded six grants to the value of $3.1 million, which will deliver innovative projects to support and improve quality and safeguards in the NDIS. These projects will benefit NDIS participants, providers and workers across Australia.

Visit our Grants page for more information on grant opportunities and awardees.

We have also developed a new infographic snapshot of the projects awarded in our Knowledge and Skill Development grant round, which awarded $4.67 million to 14 projects.

Registration reform surveys

On 16 September 2024, the Minister for Government Services and the NDIS, the Hon Bill Shorten MP, announced the Mandatory Registration of all platform providers, Supported Independent Living (SIL) providers and support coordinators as a priority, to strengthen the quality and safety of supports.

Consultation with providers is essential and we want to know your thoughts on this - the consultation on mandatory registration is open until 7 March 2025.

Information about the consultation process can be found on our website at Mandatory registration.

You can complete the survey by following the links below:

The Department of Social Services is also consulting with providers, participants and others about registration for Self-Directed NDIS participants. You can read the consultation paper on this page: Consultation on Self Directed Supports Registration.

Housing and Living - Insights Report

Last year, we consulted with more than 800 stakeholders about the regulation of housing and living supports including Supported Independent Living (SIL) and Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA).

We have now published an Insights Report which highlights that we need to strengthen the quality and safety of supports in the housing and living space, and outlines what participants want regulation to deliver. We will use these consultation insights to:

guide the review of NDIS Practice Standards
support the development of new SIL NDIS Practice Standards in collaboration with people with disability, and
shape advice regarding the legal and practical separation of SIL and SDA.

You can read the report on our website: Supported accommodation.

Compliance action resulting from complaints

All NDIS participants and their supporters have the right to make a complaint if they're unhappy with the NDIS services and supports they receive. The complaint should be made to the relevant provider first; and if there is no satisfactory resolution then the complaint should be submitted to the NDIS Commission by phone, email or on our online form.

Protecting the rights of participants is central to what we do, including protecting the right to make a complaint.

Any provider or worker who threatens or intimidates an NDIS participant for making a complaint is in breach of the NDIS Act. Compliance action can and will be taken against providers and workers doing the wrong thing, with fines ranging from $3,500 to $150,000.

Visit our website for helpful resources and tools to help providers and workers understand their obligations under the NDIS Code of Conduct and the Practice Standards.

An illustration of a row group of people all wearing purple or green. One is holding up a megaphone

Updated Behaviour Support policy

Our Practice Quality division has developed an updated policy on Behaviour Support and Restrictive Practices.

The policy outlines the NDIS Commission’s role in relation to behaviour support and the reduction and elimination of the use of restrictive practices. It also provides insight into the role of the Practice Quality division and explains our approach to uplifting and regulating the quality and safety of behaviour support.

Download the Behaviour Support and Restrictive Practices Policy.

If you have any feedback or questions about this policy, please email seniorpractitioner@ndiscommission.gov.au.

nTrustus grant project launch

The nTrustus digital complaints management system supports NDIS participants and providers to manage minor complaints to ensure participants have a voice, feel heard and receive the support they need.

Funded through the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission Grants Program, this new tool revolutionises how NDIS participants can communicate with providers to make complaints or to recognise great service.

The resource is free for participants to use and offers a free trial service for providers.

Learn more at nTrustus.

Disability Fire Safety Forum

The NDIS Commission was proud to co-host a Disability Fire Safety Forum with Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) in December. This was the first event of its kind and brought together key decision makers and emergency services organisations to discuss fire safety specifically for people with disability. Minister for the NDIS, the Hon Bill Shorten MP, opened the event, with presentations from a range of subject matter experts.

The aim of the event was to identify challenges and risks around fire safety for people with disabilities, and to provide practical solutions and explore further ideas to improve safety.

This is an incredibly important issue as people with disability are at disproportionate risk of being affected by fire or other emergencies in their home, with Australian research finding that 62% of people who die in residential fires are people with disability.

Fire safety should be considered a shared responsibility between individuals, NDIS providers, the Australian Government, and fire services.

Please download and review our new Fire Safety Provider Alert - NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission Provider Alert - Fire Safety Practice as well as the Quick Reference Guide which has been designed to be printed and displayed.

NDIS Louise Glanville with Bill Shorten, Josh Fischer and Michelle Cowley at the Disability Fire Safety Forum

Changes coming to the way providers prove their identity

Currently, providers, auditors, practitioners and their nominated staff use PRODA as the online verification and authorisation system for NDIS systems. From mid-2025, the NDIA and NDIS Commission will change to use myID with Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM).

The NDIA and NDIS Commission are working in partnership to roll out these changes, which will be made gradually to allow time for providers to get ready. 

Self-managed participants will continue to use PRODA as their primary platform until further notice. There are currently no changes planned regarding this process, and any future updates will be communicated promptly.

myID (formerly myGovID) is the Australian Government’s Digital ID app. It is a simple and secure way to prove who you are online.

All provider staff members who use NDIS systems will be required to set up their own myID account. By setting up myID now, you can ensure your team is prepared for the future.

We will share more information and detailed instructions to help you connect to RAM in the lead up to this transition later in 2025.

Find out more here: Improvements to how providers prove their identity | NDIS

NDIS Commission Reconciliation Action Plan 2024/25

We are proud to announce the launch of the NDIS Commission’s inaugural Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) for 2024/2025.

The NDIS Commission’s Reflect RAP marks a milestone in our reconciliation journey. Through this RAP, we now embark on a Commission-wide journey to better understand our sphere of influence and the unique contributions we can make towards reconciliation.

As a regulator, it is important to recognise the lived experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and how we can better understand the relationships between the NDIS Commission and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Our Reflect RAP contains 12 actions focusing on relationships, respect, opportunities, and governance. We will be guided in our reconciliation journey as a culturally responsive regulator through our Reconciliation Principles:

Listen
Actively listen for a deeper understanding and connection with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Action
Action for a tailored, inclusive and responsive workplace and regulator for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Champion
Champion and promote responsibility and accountability for a culturally safe workplace, by embedding human rights principles in our organisational leadership, governance, processes, practice, and culture.

Empower
Empower our people to understand and embrace the spirit and intention of reconciliation.

The NDIS Commission now joins the RAP program alongside over 3,000 other organisations, united in our commitment to taking meaningful action to advance reconciliation.

Illustrations of four people using mobile devices

Key resources to help you

Our website has a range of key resources to support you in delivering safe and quality services and complying with your registration.

Find the links here:

Resources for Behaviour Support Practitioners

Connect with us

Stay in touch with the NDIS Commission on social media:

General Enquiries

1800 035 544 (free call from landlines)

Our contact centre is open 9am to 4.30pm in the NT, 9am to 5pm in ACT, NSW, QLD, SA, TAS and VIC. Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

To provide feedback, contact the NDIS Commission by emailing
contactcentre@ndiscommission.gov.au.

Thanks for reading!

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