About 47% of adults with disability have experienced violence, yet the lack of accessible and inclusive services makes escaping violence extremely difficult for women with disability. Researcher within the Disability Health Unit, at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, Jen Hargrave, says this problem is unfortunately common for people with disability.
Ms Smith’s death sparked numerous investigations and reviews, including by police, the state government and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. The NDIS Commission’s independent investigation led to 10 recommendations, including that vulnerable NDIS participants should have multiple carers.
Many people with disability have a higher risk of developing severe illnesses from COVID-19. Ensuring high vaccination rates among residential disability workers will help protect people with disability. In light of this, AHHPC recommends National Cabinet strongly encourage all disability support workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to protect their own health and the health of the people for whom they are caring
This guide has been created to help you put in place some safeguards to ensure the person with disability you care for is properly provided for, if something were to happen to you. It outlines actions carers can take now to ensure safeguards are in place, should the time come when they are no longer able to care for the person with disability.
This guide and the associated decision trees focus on the use of regulated restrictive practices (RRP) with children and young people aged under 18 years who are participants of the NDIS. The resources aim to: promote the rights of children and young people with a disability identify special considerations and relevant safeguards assist NDIS providers to … Continued
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission released the Regulated Restrictive Practices Guide in November 2020 that supports a contemporary positive behaviour support framework and explains what a restrictive practice is. It was developed for registered NDIS providers and NDIS behaviour support practitioners. As a volunteer advocate, Julie Phillips has supported people with disability with behaviours of concern over many years. She brings her experience to explain what the regulations cover and highlight what advocates need to know in order to keep people with disability under a Positive Behaviour Support Plan free from abuse.
In December 2020, the NDIS Commission (the Commission) released some much welcome details on the national implementation of behaviour practitioner suitability assessments, which have helped paint a picture of how Behaviour Support Practitioners will be assessed.These new details follow the Positive Behaviour Support Capability (PBS) Framework released in July 2019 and the Self-assessment Resource Guide for the Positive Behaviour Support Capability Framework (October 2020).
Community Visitors are volunteers who play a vital role in safeguarding the rights of people with disability and fostering their inclusion in the community. This is an annual report that identifies a range of issues critical to the safety, treatment, care and human rights ofVictorians who, due to their disabilities, require 24-hour care in state- regulated or managed services. The challenges presented by the pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns, required service provision to pivot to remote contact by phone or video when prevented from visiting disability group homes, mental health units and Supported Residential Services (SRS) in person. Facilities could only be attended in person for 65 per cent of the year due to lockdowns.
This is an interim report which makes 14 recommendations to address key issues facing the NDIS workforce. The committee will continue to consider these issues next year and intends to present a final report on the NDIS workforce to Parliament in 2021.
The NDIS Quality & Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission) recently released the Regulated Restrictive Practices Guide V1 – October 2020 (RP Guide). This is a welcome document from the NDIS Commission as it provides the much-needed clarity on previously grey areas of policy and practice.
Social connectedness and the ability to speak up for oneself is the most important safeguard against abuse and neglect. It is tragic that it has taken with the death of Ann-Marie Smith to make this abundantly clear.
The Victorian Disability Worker Commission forms part of the Victorian Government’s “zero tolerance” approach to abuse of people with disability. It opened for business, launched on 1 July 2020. The role of the Commission is to ensure that people with disability receive greater safety and quality services, workers have the necessary skills, experience and qualifications and stop people who pose a serious risk of harm from providing disability services. Dan Stubbs is the Victorian Disability Worker Commissioner and he joins us to provide information about the new regulations introduced for disability workers. This includes new compliance obligations for workers and service providers under the new Disability Service Safeguards Code of Conduct , mandatory notifications and notifiable conduct, along with a new complaints service for sector audiences.
A disability advocate has detailed harrowing stories of abuse against some of Australia’s most vulnerable people – from physical assaults to being put in cages – by those paid by taxpayers to care for them.
The scandal-plagued disability sector will get $22 billion from the federal government this financial year, but an independent review found the system left vulnerable people open to harm and neglect. Mr Shorten said NDIS Minister Stuart Robert had presided over a “toothless and sleepy” watchdog that in reality is “more like a very expensive purse poodle”.
Residents and workers in group homes for people with disabilities face “a looming emergency” due to lack of training in use of personal protective equipment and inadequate preparation to combat coronavirus infection. Outbreaks of COVID-19 similar to those in 87 Victorian aged care homes were likely in the disability care sector unless nurses were brought in for training, according to the director of the Disability Institute at the University of Melbourne, Professor Anne Kavanagh.