If you or your employer provides a service to a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participant, and either or both of you gets paid under the NDIS, then you’re required to adhere to the NDIS Code of Conduct.
The NDIS Code of Conduct is designed to promote a safe and skilled workforce to serve participants in the Scheme, and it applies to every provider – both NDIS registered and unregistered – and to NDIS workers.
Brush up on what the NDIS Code of Conduct sets out for providers and workers – and find out what we’re doing at My Plan Manager to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of people with disability – by reading on.
The NDIS Code of Conduct helps protect the health, safety and wellbeing of people with disability by setting out acceptable, appropriate and ethical conduct for NDIS providers and workers. The requirements in the NDIS Code of Conduct are fundamental to the rights of people with disability, as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
NDIS providers and workers must:
1. Act with respect for individual rights to freedom of expression, self-determination and decision-making in accordance with applicable laws and conventions.
People with disability have the right to make their own decisions, to be free to live the life they choose, and to have the same rights and freedoms as any other member of the community. (NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission)
That’s why, at My Plan Manager, we place huge emphasis on supporting choice and control for every client – a commitment that forms the basis of every decision we make.
We aim to present information to our clients that they can use to make decisions – like what kind of providers they want to use and where they want to spend their funding. Then, if requested, we assist them to act on those decisions by helping with budgeting and setting funding aside to access the providers they want to see. This gives our clients more control of their NDIS plans, their budget and their lives.
2. Respect the privacy of people with disability
Everybody has the right not to have their personal information disclosed without their informed consent. NDIS providers should respect and protect the privacy of everyone they provide services to and have policy and procedures to ensure they manage information in accordance with privacy laws. (NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission)
At My Plan Manager, our staff are trained to protect the personal information of our clients and we’ve created policies (if ever there’s a case where client privacy is compromised) to minimise exposure of personal information and the subsequent damage that may arise from it.
We also undertake proof of identity checks when clients and providers call us and request private information.
We have specific training about privacy and dignity that we approach from a rights-based agenda (as opposed to a box our team members have to tick). This means our clients’ privacy is at the heart of the training we provide to our team members and is emphasised through it, as part of the person centred approach we take.
We’re also currently working towards being accredited with the International Standards Organisation (ISO) 27001 Standard, which assesses and accredits information security management. The 27001 Standard entails an external and independent review of our policies and systems to ensure we protect the confidentiality, integrity and accessibility of our client data at a world class level.
Once accredited, we’ll be one of the first plan managers to achieve this external validation of our systems.
3. Provide supports and services in a safe and competent manner with care and skill
Providers should ensure they have competent workers to serve their clients. They should ensure their workers have the necessary training, skill and qualifications for the services they provide. (NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission)
At My Plan Manager, our team members are provided with training at key stages of their employment, including induction and refresher training, to have competence in assisting our clients in a range of areas – in addition to processing their NDIS invoices.
We also have a competency framework that’s used to structure our team member training, which is externally reviewed as part of our ISO 9001 accreditation. We’re one of only a few plan managers to have the ISO 9001 accreditation at present.
We also adhere to NDIS Practice Standards that are audited every three years.
4. Act with integrity, honesty and transparency
People with disability have a right to accurate, accessible and timely information that includes the cost and efficacy of services. (NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission)
At My Plan Manager, we scrutinise every invoice to make sure clients aren’t being charged more than the rates set out in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits. We also help clients to verify the services they’ve been invoiced for, and they can let us know if they have any concerns about invoices or the charges being made by their providers.
We’re able to provide accurate, accessible and timely information through technology that lets our clients see their information – including their NDIS plan budget – in real time, via the client portal and mobile app.
Our clients can choose to receive SMS text notifications when their invoices are processed, and we have service level standards – including call response and invoice processing times – that we monitor and are reviewed under our ISO 9001 accreditation.
5. Promptly take steps to raise and act on concerns about matters that may impact the quality and safety of supports and services provided to people with disability.
NDIS providers have a responsibility to provide safe and quality services. That’s why they should have effective complaints, resolution, incident management, investigation and disciplinary processes. (NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission)
At My Plan Manager, we can provide information if clients have concerns that need to be reported to the NDIS Qualify and Safeguards Commission or to the National Disability Insurance Agency.
If a client has a concern about fraud, if something goes wrong with their supports or services, or if they’re at risk of danger, we can provide information on who to report it to and how, and we’re committed to reporting first and third party reports if ever required.
This basically means we’ll provide a report to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission if ever we become aware that a My Plan Manager team member or provider is involved in a ‘reportable incident’.
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission considers a reportable incident to include these scenarios when they’re related to NDIS services provided:
We have a dedicated Quality and Risk team that’s in charge of notifying the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission if a reportable incident does occur. The team looks after subsequent requests, and answers communication from the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, once informed.
6. Take all reasonable steps to prevent and respond to all forms of violence against, and exploitation, neglect and abuse of, people with disability.
Evidence demonstrates that people with disability are at a far greater risk of experiencing violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation than others in the population and this often goes unrecognised and unaddressed. Women and girls with disability are at far greater risk of violence, and children and young people with disability experience violence and abuse at approximately three times the rate of children without disability. (NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission)
We know that people with significant or profound disability are particularly vulnerable to systemic and opportunistic harm, and we’re often their first line of defence in raising concerns about actual and potential risks.
That’s why we proactively work to detect and report vulnerability, safety and safeguarding concerns, to improve outcomes for the thousands of Australians with disability who we support.
7. Take all reasonable steps to prevent and respond to sexual misconduct.
Sexual misconduct is a broad term encompassing any unwelcome acts or behaviour that are experienced by the person with disability as being sexual in nature. This includes physical and verbal actions committed without consent or by force, intimidation, coercion or manipulation. It includes sexual violence and exploitation but is not limited to actions which constitute a criminal offence. (NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission)
The relationship between a worker and a person with disability relies on a great degree of trust. All forms of sexual misconduct constitute a breach of this trust and a breach of the NDIS Code of Conduct.
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission states that an NDIS provider’s guidance for their workers should:
As we’ve outlined above, we know that people with significant or profound disability are particularly vulnerable to systemic and opportunistic harm, and we’re often their first line of defence in raising concerns about actual and potential risks.
That’s why we proactively work to detect and report vulnerability, safety and safeguarding concerns, to improve outcomes for the thousands of Australians with disability who we support.
We often get asked the difference between the NDIS Practice Standards and the NDIS Code of Conduct, and here’s the simplest response:
The Practice Standards outline the legally binding quality standards that registered providers must adhere to, while the NDIS Code of Conduct sets out expectations of how providers and workers will conduct themselves when delivering services.
For the latest information about the NDIS Code of Conduct, visit the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission website.
As a former National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) staffer, who went on to create My Plan Manager from her kitchen table in 2014, our founder, Claire Wittwer-Smith, knows the NDIS inside and out. That’s why we asked her about the latest NDIS review, what it means for participants, and why you should get involved.
A quick recap: Bill Shorten, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, announced a review into the NDIS in October 2022. The review, led by Professor Bruce Bonyhady AM and Lisa Paul AO, has the goal of putting people with disability back at the centre of the NDIS and restoring trust, confidence and pride in the Scheme.
The review will have two parts:
Claire says this review is a chance for the Scheme to come back to its roots.
“The NDIS is based on those principles of fairness and equity for all, and that everyone has the opportunity to develop to their full potential – which is what we’re aligned to here at My Plan Manager,” Claire says.
“I don’t think the Scheme has been achieving what it was set out to do, but I don’t think it’s easy either, and I don’t think it can achieve that for everyone with one implementation of the Scheme.”
Much like Minister Shorten, Claire says all participants should have their say in this review, because it’s the voices, opinions, and experiences of people with disability that are the most valuable. As the saying goes, ‘nothing about us without us’.
“People with disability know the experience and know their disabilities better than anyone else. That’s why you are the key to the design, and I think Minister Shorten has really demonstrated that he wants to hear from you,” she says. “He’s demonstrated that with half of the NDIA board being people with disability. The legislation was written by people with disability and it still is a beautiful piece of legislation.”
“Find the easiest way to share your voice – whether that’s by video, a voice recording, in writing, or telling a story about your experience. I’d urge you to do that. They want to hear from you by the end of the year (though you can tell them if you need more time) and you can have your say online at https://www.ndisreview.gov.au/have-your-say/have-your-say-online.”
Minister Shorten has said that changes will be happening while the review is ongoing – it won’t be held up unnecessarily.
The review will look at:
Claire’s vision for the NDIS is for it to be a true insurance scheme and for it to be recognised as that – the NDIS isn’t welfare, she says.
She offers the example of ensuring early access to funding for children, without the administrative burden of obtaining a diagnosis and joining the Scheme. By trusting families and professionals to use funding in a nimble way to get support for children, the NDIS allows for targeted early intervention, which may prevent those children from needing to formally join the Scheme down the track.
“The whole model of the insurance scheme was built on both the social and economic return on investment – if you give a mother, who was previously caring for her 20-year-old son, the ability to employ someone to support that young man, you enable her to go back to work,” she says.
“That creates more taxpayers – the support staff for the young man and the mother back in the workforce. And, best of all, you give people back their relationships. They go back to being mother and son again, caring as part of that relationship, but not the whole relationship.
“I would like people to have more certainty about what their package is going to be, based on their functional capacity, year after year. I hate participants being beholden to a planner who might change their budget. If we allocate payments on a tiered system there is transparency and certainty and the ability for participants to move forward, rather than spending their whole lives justifying why they are entitled to payments from the insurance scheme.
“At the moment, the system has created a situation where you’re not going to get the same funding unless you say you haven’t improved. I believe there should be set packages based on functional capacity and then, if you have a specific goal in mind, you could apply for extra funding for a short period of time. Start giving ownership back to the individual.”
Overall, the NDIS is the envy of the world when it comes to disability support. Claire says the review is the chance to get it back on track.
“This is a time for Australia to be really proud of how brave we were to implement a Scheme like this, it’s world class,” she says.
“The last 10 years haven’t been easy or perfect, but we have the opportunity with this review to look at how we can ensure the brilliant legislation is realised and the operations of the NDIA enable the success of the Scheme.”
The below is drawn directly from National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) resources.
“The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has zero tolerance for fraud against the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), participants and the NDIA. Any amount of fraud is unacceptable.
Fraud is a crime. It requires intent. People who commit fraud try to get benefits for themselves or others by being dishonest.
Fraud is more than carelessness or making mistakes. If someone unintentionally does the wrong thing, we call this non-compliance.
There are a number of ways people commit fraud against the NDIS and the NDIA:
Criminal behaviour will always be investigated and perpetrators will be prosecuted.
Consequences of fraud
When people do the wrong thing with NDIS funds:
Participants who have been the victim of fraud and non-compliance have also told us they:
(NDIS 2023)
We recently heard this great podcast in the Summer Foundation’s ‘Reasonable and Necessary: Making Sense of the NDIS’ podcast series (see 31 January 2023 episode). It features a discussion with the Assistant Director of the Fraud Fusion Taskforce at the NDIA, Bruce Graydon, the Director of Compliance and Worker Screening at the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, Matt Barr, and disability ally Peter Gregory, and provides some brilliant tips for protecting yourself against NDIS fraud.
If you suspect someone is doing the wrong thing with NDIS funds, you should report it to the NDIS. You can report suspected fraud or non-compliance by calling the NDIS Fraud Reporting and Scams Helpline on 1800 650 717 or emailing [email protected].
Or you can contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission by clicking here.
If you have any questions, we’re also here to help. You can email us at [email protected] or call us on 1800 861 272 from 8am-6pm (SA time), Monday to Friday.
Through intensive internal and external consultations, UNICEF has determined the following six key strategic priorities:
The organisation is wasting no time, with actions being implemented as early as this year, including the development of a divisional/regional action plan scheduled for December 2023.
Other actions include:
Click here to view the full DIPAS.
A further $2 million in Commonwealth funding has been committed to progress the National Autism Strategy.
The funding will enable national cooperative research organisation, Autism CRC, to continue its research and provide advice to the Federal Government when developing the Strategy.
The Strategy is a welcome step towards improving life outcomes for the growing number of Australians on the autism spectrum and with other neurodevelopmental conditions.
It’s an overarching approach to enabling people with autism to better navigate and access opportunities to build the life they want.
The Strategy is intended to form a whole-of-life plan for Australians with autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions and will aim to positively change systems and practices in areas such as education, vocation and healthcare for people on the autism spectrum and their families.
Minister for Social Services, the Hon Amanda Rishworth MP, said the Federal Government was partnering with Autism CRC to make sure the Strategy was developed in consultation with everyday Australians with autism.
Read more here.
Safe living conditions are a fundamental human right and key to quality of life. Yet a recent inquiry by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission) investigated more than 7000 reportable incidents and complaints made across a four-year period from residents living in supported accommodation across Australia.
Earlier this month, the NDIS Commission handed down a report arising from its inaugural Own Motion Inquiry into Aspects of Supported Accommodation in the NDIS. The inquiry considered incidents and complaints about supports in group homes related to seven of the nation’s largest providers of supported accommodation.
The inquiry examined more than 1700 incidents of serious injury, a similar number of incidents of abuse, and almost 1300 incidents related to neglect. Unlawful physical contact, death, sexual misconduct, and unlawful sexual contact incidents were also reviewed.
The 7000 incidents and complaints were made to the NDIS Commission during the period from 1 July 2018 to 30 September 2022. However, it’s thought the true number of incidents may be higher – with challenges posed by existing pathways for people with disability to make reports.
At 31 December 2022, there were 29,812 participants with Supported Independent Living (SIL) funding in their NDIS plans and 22,069 participants had been allocated Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) funding. These figures indicate a high percentage of people in group homes are likely to have experienced reportable incidents.
The Minister for the NDIS, Bill Shorten, said people living in supported accommodation often had complex support needs, including those associated with a profound intellectual, physical and/or sensory disability, and some had limited or no ability to undertake tasks of daily living, including communication, without support.
“I believe that having safe home living arrangements are fundamental to the quality of life for every Australian,” Minister Shorten said.
“People with a disability have the right to a safe living arrangement, even when it is challenging.
“People with disability have the right to have their voice heard, particularly when it comes to the quality of their day-to-day lives.”
Minister Shorten said the inquiry ‘sought to better understand the challenges faced by people living in supported accommodation when exercising choice and control about their supports’, and a number of key actions would be taken in response to its findings. Actions will include:
To find out more:
Read the joint media release from Minister Shorten and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
In each edition, we’re shining a light on an influencer with disability who’s definitely worth a follow. Today’s focus is on Nina Tame.
Nina lives in Essex in the United Kingdom with her partner and four sons. She's a mentor, tattoo enthusiast, and influencer and describes herself as ‘The Wheel Housewife of Essex’ and ‘The Disabled Step-Mum you never knew you needed’.
Born with spina bifida, Nina started using mobility aids as an adult – first a walking stick, and then a wheelchair – which she says gives her insight into people’s changing perceptions of her and her ability.
She’s a fierce advocate for people not feeling pressured into sharing information about themselves with strangers if they don’t want to, something that crystalised for her when her third son was also born with spina bifida.
Last year, Nina told Australian parenting magazine Lunch Lady:
“Growing up, I never identified with being disabled and thought it was an icky word. I used to call myself differently abled which makes me want to vomit now. Then, Clarke, my third son, was born with spina bifida like me. That changed everything. Suddenly, what I had disliked about myself, I adored in him, which really changed the way I thought about myself.”
“Previously I just accepted people would ask me a lot of intrusive questions all the time, like ‘What happened to you?’ and I would answer them because I thought I had to. But when Clarke started getting asked the same questions, I was like hang on; he doesn’t have to answer those. We told him: ‘You do not have to answer these questions; you can literally tell them to bugger off because they’re being super nosy.’ Empowering him set me on a path of wanting better for disabled people, so he doesn’t have to go through the things I went through. He is my driving force.”
Find Nina on Instagram at @nina_tame.
In each edition, we’re shining a light on a disability influencer who’s definitely worth a follow! Meet Hannah Diviney, a writer, editor and self-described professional daydreamer.
Hannah’s writing has been published in the New York Times and the Washington Post, and showcased on the BBC. She’s now in the process of writing a book, and she’s also scheduled to appear in the SBS TV show Latecomers.
In addition to her great work advocating to have some of the world’s best-known artists remove ableist slurs from their music, Hannah fights for representation of people with disability across culture, recently writing an open letter to Disney calling for a princess with disability to be included in their stories.
As a wheelchair user with cerebral palsy, Hannah – who recently featured in the Australian Women’s Weekly as a past finalist in the Women of the Future Awards – says she never really saw children, teens or adults with disability reflected in the media she was consuming.
"For a long time I used to tell people my disability didn't define me, because I wanted to be seen as me. But it does define me. It defines what I love. It shapes my view of the world. It shapes every decision I make. Of course, it defines me. But it is not all of me,” Hannah told the publication.
A co-working space designed for people with varying abilities is thriving in the South Australian suburb of Port Adelaide.
Called ‘co-able’, the innovative collaborative venture is the first of its kind in Australia, offering single room workspaces and suites to sole traders and small businesses.
If you’ve ever thought about spending your working days in an accessible and inclusive professional home, check this out.
co-able founder, Shane Hryhorec, says the concept was developed when he began looking for a commercial space to rent and realised a lot of spaces weren’t accessible for wheelchair users. From there, a vision was born to provide a destination that included a range of providers all working towards improving the lives of people with disability.
Every aspect of co-able – from the boardroom and communal kitchen to the dining area and bathrooms, and everything in between – has been designed with accessibility and inclusivity top of mind. Features highlighted on the co-able website include:
Excitingly, Shane hopes to bring the co-able concept to other locations, in particular in Melbourne and Sydney.
Find out more about co-able and the opportunities it can provide for you.
