28 October 2021

Dear registered NDIS provider

Supporting effective communication – new elearning module for NDIS workers

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission), as the national regulator of NDIS supports and services has a role in promoting the provision of advice, information, education and training to NDIS providers and people with disability.

As a new regulator, the NDIS Commission is focussed on educating and providing information and advice to NDIS providers and their workers on areas of practice that have a significant impact on the quality and safety of supports and services that people with disability experience in the NDIS. To date we have developed tools and resources such as the NDIS Code of Conduct Worker Orientation Module ‘Quality, Safety and You’; the New Worker – NDIS Induction Module; and incident reporting, management and prevention resources, as well as provider practice alerts.

Supporting effective communication

Effective communication contributes to the rights of people with disabilities to have choice and control. With effective communication, workers can support and enable people to express themselves, to be heard and be safe.

The NDIS Commission has released a new Supporting effective communication e-learning module for NDIS workers that demonstrates – from the perspective of NDIS participants – what effective communication looks like, how it supports choice and control, and in particular the importance of communication in avoiding the risk of harm to people with disability.

The module is designed to support NDIS providers and workers in meeting their obligations under the NDIS Code of Conduct. It also supports registered NDIS providers in meeting their conditions of registration, including complying with applicable NDIS Practice Standards.

The module was developed in response to recommendations from the Scoping review of causes and contributors to deaths of people with disability in Australia. The NDIS Commission engaged the UNSW Department of Development Disability, Neuropsychiatry, to undertake the scoping review to obtain an Australian-wide perspective on the prevalence of and factors contributing to, the deaths of people with disability. Key findings about risks and vulnerabilities for people with disabilities included that a high number of in-scope deaths involved people who required communication and/or mobility support.

About the new elearning module

The module is made up of three topics that provides workers with information, scenarios, tips, and practical actions that can be taken to reduce risks associated with the communication support needs of people with disability.

The Supporting effective communication module looks at:

• What effective communication looks like and how it supports choice and control.
• The different ways in which we communicate.
• Times when effective communication is very important.
• How workers can support effective communication with people with disability.

The module includes a downloadable ‘Supporting effective communication: Checklist’ and provides links to additional useful resources.

A short preview video of the module is available on the NDIS Commission’s website: Supporting effective communication | NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (ndiscommission.gov.au)

Using the module

All NDIS providers are strongly encouraged to include the new Supporting effective communication module in their induction process for workers, and to encourage existing workers to undertake the module over time, as part of their ongoing learning.

Although the module is not mandatory, anyone working with people with disability, especially those with communication support needs, would benefit from completing it.

The information in the Supporting effective communication module provides an introduction to the role of workers in supporting effective communication. It does not replace the need for NDIS providers to ensure that employees have the required training and experience to do their job.

This new training forms part of a suite of elearning modules available for NDIS workers, including the Worker Orientation Module ‘Quality Safety and You’ which has been completed by more than half a million people; and the New Worker – NDIS Induction Module which is designed to support providers to induct new staff during the COVID-19 pandemic who may not be familiar with the disability sector.

Accessing and completing the module

The module is free and available to anyone, taking approximately 60-90 minutes to complete. Workers can use the same log-in details they may have previously used to access the Worker Orientation Module ‘Quality Safety and You’.

Once completed, workers will receive a Certificate of Completion.

The module can be accessed via the ‘Worker’ section of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission website: Supporting effective communication | NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (ndiscommission.gov.au)

An audio described version, and an Auslan version of the module will be released shortly.

Further information

If you have any questions you can contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission’s education team via email at education@ndiscommission.gov.au or phone 1800 035 544.

We encourage you to share information about the new module with your workers and networks, and to support your workers to complete the module.

Yours sincerely,

Samantha Taylor PSM
Acting Commissioner