COVID-19 information to support NDIS providers and participants 

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is presenting us all with unprecedented challenges in our daily lives and in how we do our work.

First and foremost, our focus should be on ensuring the health, wellbeing and safety of people with disability, and the workforce that delivers the supports and services that are critical to NDIS participants living their daily lives.

The NDIS Commission has been issuing regular updates about important issues to support NDIS providers in enabling the continued provision of the safe and quality supports NDIS participants rely on. There is a dedicated COVID-19 webpage for NDIS providers, which contains links to all our resources, and others from trusted sources.

We are also developing resources to support NDIS participants, including a dedicated page that contains information in a range of formats.

Subscribing to NDIS Commission updates

Registered providers receive our provider newsletters and provider alerts at the email address registered providers have provided in the NDIS Commission Portal. Please check the email address for your organisation by logging into the NDIS Commission Portal.

Anyone can now receive NDIS Commission communications by completing the subscription form.

Notification of changes due to COVID-19

Registered providers must notify us when significant impacts to support and service provision occur. This information is vital to ensure we understand what is happening across the country and can respond and support providers where possible. For impacts relating to COVID-19, do this using the Notification of event – COVID-19 (registered provider) form.

Examples of changes related to the COVID-19 pandemic may include:

• that requirements to comply with restrictions in your state and territory has, or are likely, to significantly impact your organisation’s ability to provide supports and services to NDIS participants
• that a change in your workforce may change the supports or services your organisation can provide, or the way in which you provide those supports
• needing to cease to provide the supports or services that your organisation is registered to provide
• where you are aware of a worker or a participant who is infected.

Information for NDIS participants

The NDIS Commission continues to focus on the quality and safety of supports and services to people with disability and to work with NDIS providers to ensure that people with disability are at the centre of what we do.

To help inform and support people with disability through the COVID-19 pandemic, we have created a dedicated NDIS participant webpage with links to resources and updates about COVID-19.

As well, we have developed a fact sheet that explains what NDIS participants can expect from their NDIS providers; how to make a complaint about a provider; and links to further resources. It is also available in Easy Read and Auslan formats.

Training for support workers

Infection prevention and control

The Australian Government Department of Health has developed a free online training module for all support workers: Infection prevention and control for COVID-19.  It covers the fundamentals of infection prevention and control for COVID-19.

If you have any technical questions relating to the training portal, please email support@covid-19training.gov.au

Worker Orientation Module: ‘Quality, Safety and You’

It is crucial that workers in the NDIS sector understand their obligations under the NDIS Code of Conduct, and the importance of these responsibilities to the health and safety of the people with disability they support.

The Worker Orientation Module, ‘Quality, Safety and You’ is an interactive online course that explains workers’ obligations under the NDIS Code of Conduct – from the perspective of NDIS participants.

The module takes approximately 90 minutes to complete, and it should be part of the induction process for any new workers, and included in the ongoing learning plan for existing workers.

Influenza vaccination

Australia is now heading into the influenza (flu) season, which is expected to overlap with the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Although the flu is different from COVID-19, and flu vaccination will not reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, failure to vaccinate against the flu may increase the severity of a COVID-19 infection. In any case, flu vaccinations are critical to reducing the risk of serious health issues for many people with disability.

Providers supporting people to access flu vaccinations should arrange for these to be administered during mid to late April 2020.

We issued a practice alert about the flu vaccine on 2 April 2020. Although the alert was issued to providers who are most likely to have a role in supporting participants with accessing vaccinations, it is relevant to all NDIS providers and may be of benefit to your workers.

Business continuity planning

Business continuity planning is vital for ensuring your organisation will be able to effectively respond to a crisis or disaster situation. This has become critical for NDIS providers with the advent of COVID-19.

Our provider alert of 19 March 2020 contains recommendations and guidance about business continuity planning, including:

• regularly testing, refining and reviewing your plan to ensure it addresses the specific impacts of this pandemic on your business, and complies with current Australian Government advice
• identifying measures to address potential changes in staffing availability and support provision
• noting additional capabilities or experience of staff in contingency planning, infection control, or other specialisations who can be deployed to provide support
• risk-assessing the supports and services your organisation provides and identifying measures to address issues that would arise if those services were disrupted
• ensuring participant records are up-to-date, clear, accessible, and available should new or temporary staff be required to support them. This might include their preferred means of communication, specific needs and preferences, health care plans, behaviour support plans, other providers, and their representatives
• ensuring clear communication channels are in place to ensure your workforce, any third parties, as well as NDIS participants and their support network receive the information they need at the right time and in the most appropriate way.

Our regulatory approach

The COVID-19 pandemic does not change the obligations of all NDIS providers, registered and unregistered, to protect and prevent people with disability from experiencing harm arising from poor quality or unsafe supports, abuse, neglect and exploitation, or poorly managed changes to supports.

The NDIS Commission is taking a proportionate regulatory approach, concentrating on supporting providers to be agile and resourceful in meeting their obligations.

Our compliance and provider engagement activities are concentrated on matters that present the most critical level of risk to participants’ health and safety and wellbeing, and we have adjusted routine regulatory activities (e.g. registration processes) to avoid putting untimely demands on providers.

Registration renewals

In light of the focus NDIS providers are placing on managing infection risk to participants and workers, and undertaking business continuity planning, we have advised approved auditors to:

• ensure their audit practices are provided in a way that minimises the risk of exposure to COVID-19 for participants, providers and auditors
• where audits are scheduled to occur, engage with providers to confirm their availability to continue where practicable to do so
• delay or reschedule audit dates where providers are not in a position to proceed with these.

We have written directly to registered NDIS providers who are due to commence the registration renewal process, or who have commenced the process. We have advised these providers about variations that have been made to their registration, to allow additional time to complete the registration renewal process, including audits.

We will continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19 and will make further adjustments to providers’ registration where necessary.

If you have a query about your registration renewal, please contact the Provider Registration team at registration@ndiscommission.gov.au or on 1800 035 544.

Personal protective equipment (PPE)

Due to limited supply of PPE in Australia, all providers should carefully consider the need for PPE, based on advice from the Australian Government Department of Health.

NDIS providers and self-managing participants who use PPE as a usual part of their support arrangements should continue to access PPE through their usual means. Where this is no longer possible, they should approach the National Medical Stockpile (NMS).

Access to PPE will be prioritised for NDIS providers who deliver personal care and for other activities that require close personal contact where there is an immediate threat to continuity of safe quality care due to lack of access to PPE, or where the participant has a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19.

We issued a fact sheet on 31 March 2020 that outlines how requests for PPE are being prioritised by the National Medical Stockpile (NMS) and who to email if you can no longer access PPE through your usual channels.

What's to come

We will continue to provide regular provider alerts to highlight important information and developments to assist you, your workers, and the NDIS participants you support through this time.

This will include:

• more information specifically targeted to NDIS participants
• FAQs on the key issues we are being asked about
• additional resources to assist you with on-boarding new staff
• information on the Australian Government Management Plan for people with disability during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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

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