There are around 4.3 million Australians who have a disability. Within the next five years, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will provide more than $22 billion in funding a year to an estimated 500,000 Australians who have permanent and significant disability.
As a NDIS provider it is important you have processes in place to meet the worker screening and documentation requirements for providing care and services to residents who are NDIS Participants. The transition arrangements for worker screening ended for most states and territories on 1 February 2021.
Residential aged care providers who provide care and services to residents who are NDIS Participants are now ‘dual providers’ and must also meet the Worker Screening requirements under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth) (NDIS Act) in addition to existing worker screening obligations under the Aged Care Act 1997 (Cth).
Are your procedures and documentation practices sufficiently robust and efficient to meet the NDIS Worker Screening Check requirements under the NDIS Act? Here is what you need to know.
Workers may only be engaged in a risk assessed role if they have:
- Undergone a NDIS worker screening check; and
- Have been cleared to work with people with disability in a risk assessed role.
The NDIS Worker Screening Check Clearance is an assessment of whether a person who works, or seeks to work, with people with disability poses a risk to them and considers a person’s suitability for example by reviewing their past criminal history and professional misconduct.
Approved providers who engage contractors or other service providers to deliver support to residents who are NDIS Participants will now need to ensure that any contractor or service provider has and maintains a NDIS Worker Screening Check clearance.
A Person is in a Risk Assessed Role if they are:
- Defined as Key Personnel under the NDIS Act, including CEO, ChairPerson or Board members;
- Staff or volunteers whose normal duties include the direct delivery of specified supports(care and services for example assistance with ADLs) to a person who is a NDIS Participant; and
The NDIS Act includes very specific and detailed requirements for Providers who must ensure that records are maintained in respect of:
- Each risk assessed role;
- Each person engaged in a risk assessed role;
- NDIS worker screening information for each person engaged in a risk assessed role (including clearance information and exemption information);
- Contracts engaging contractors or other service providers; and
- NDIS worker screening information for each contractor or service provider engaged in a risk assessed role (including clearance information and exemption informationStaff and volunteers whose normal duties are likely to require more than incidental contact with the resident/NDIS Participant.
Tego Can Help You Navigate NDIS Risk
Tego Insurance offers indemnity solutions to support aged care and disability support services.
We are Australian medical indemnity insurance providers and cover your practice with medical indemnity insurance, doctors indemnity insurance, GP medical indemnity insurance, medical malpractice insurance, medical practice insurance, and more. If you are a health practitioner with Tego, we offer 24/7 medico-legal advice and can assist your organisation with preparing new policies, reviewing existing policies and preparing resources for staff to ensure your organisation can efficiently demonstrate how you comply with your obligations.
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