Residential aged care providers and the NDIS

NDIS participants should have access to the same level of safeguarding and quality measures no matter where they live. To make sure this happens, NDIS participants living in residential aged care (RAC) are dual participants of the NDIS and aged care systems. They have access to NDIS Commission functions like behaviour support and reportable incidents as well as requirements for aged care providers (under the Aged Care Act 1997).

This means that all residential aged care providers that support NDIS participants need to be registered with the NDIS Commission. 

NDIS registration requirements for residential aged care providers

All NDIS registered providers – including those who are residential aged care providers – need to meet registration requirements such as:

See Aged care and NDIS similarities and differences to compare requirements and language in the two systems.

Prepare for registration

Some parts of NDIS registration will be similar to the aged care accreditation process. For example, both processes:

  • require you to demonstrate compliance with quality standards
  • assess the suitability of the provider and their key personnel 
  • require you to demonstrate knowledge of quality standards, legislation, and policy and procedures
  • can include interviews with staff and participants and site sampling
  • will include a review and a decision by the relevant Commission. 

Other parts of the process are different: 

  • It’s called "accreditation" in the aged care sector, and "registration" in the NDIS sector.
  • Audits in aged care occur in the first year of accreditation, and before reaccreditation. Audits for the NDIS occur before registration and before the renewal of registration.
  • In aged care you pay fees for applications and assessments, but not for audits. In the NDIS, you pay for audits but not for registration.
  • In aged care, an auditor is assigned to you, but in the NDIS you engage your own approved quality auditor.
  • Aged care audits apply to all your residential aged care sites; NDIS audits apply to the sites where NDIS participants reside, and your head office. 
  • Aged care audit reports are publicly available; NDIS audit reports are not.

Can I move an NDIS participant out of my facility or get them to give up their NDIS plan so I don’t need to become an NDIS registered provider?

All NDIS participants have the right to choice and control over their lives and the providers they use. You cannot force or coerce a participant to move out of your facility. 

What happens when a participant wants to leave residential aged care?

If you and the participant both support their transition out of aged care, contact the Younger people in residential care team at the NDIA, who will support the transition and the change to the participant's support plan.

Applying to become an NDIS registered provider

If you were a residential aged care provider supporting an NDIS participant on 1 December 2020, you automatically became an NDIS registered provider with specific conditions that assisted the transition process. 

If you started supporting NDIS participants after 1 December 2020 or plan to support NDIS participants soon, you must Apply for registration online and take note of the specific requirements and information for aged care providers below.

Information on applying for registration online is available in the Accessing the NDIS Commission portal video.

The registration process ends with the NDIS Commission making a decision. Watch the Registration decision and compliance video for more information.

Audits for residential aged care providers 

You will go through an NDIS certification audit when you apply for or renew your registration. This process helps you achieve and maintain compliance with NDIS regulatory obligations by:

  • determining which NDIS Practice Standards you need to comply with
  • assessing your practices against those Practice Standards.

Certification audits are completed by a third-party approved quality auditor. They're additional to your Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) audit which assesses your practices against the aged care standards.

Around half of the requirements of the Core Module of the NDIS Practice Standards are the same as those of the Aged Care Quality Standards. See comparing Aged Care Quality Standards and NDIS Practice Standards.

More information on certification audits:

Modified audit process for residential aged care providers

To reduce your regulatory burden, you may be able to use a modified certification audit process. A modified audit uses information from a recent Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission assessment report to meet some of your NDIS compliance requirements.

Modified NDIS residential aged care audit pathway

Assessing the NDIS Practice Standards a provider needs to be audited against

Auditors can use these tools to compare the relevant aged care and NDIS standards and work out which NDIS Practice Standards the provider needs to be audited against.

Providers can use these tools to compare the standards and get an understanding of the NDIS Practice Standards their auditor is likely to include in the audit.

Concordance table

Use the concordance table to identify how existing policies and procedures meet the NDIS Practice Standards. This will be useful as part of your NDIS self-assessment, and in preparation for your audit. 

Evidence guide

The evidence guide lists the types of information or documents that could be used as evidence of meeting the NDIS Practice Standards. The guide can be used in the self-assessment and audit stages of a registration application.

NDIS participants and audits

NDIS participants should be supported to have a meaningful opportunity to contribute to the audit process, particularly around the quality of supports and services they are receiving from their residential aged care provider. These Easy Read resources help NDIS participants understand audits.

More information for participants is available in NDIS audit factsheets.

Codes of conduct

There are two relevant codes of conduct that apply to NDIS participants living in residential aged care:

The obligations under the aged care and NDIS codes are substantially the same, with slight differences in language and definitions that are specific to each sector.

Worker screening in residential aged care

If you have NDIS participants living at your facility, you need to make sure that workers in risk assessed roles – including staff and volunteers – have the appropriate worker screening:

An NDIS worker screening clearance satisfies the requirements under the Aged Care Act 1997. This means your workers don’t need to get two separate clearances for NDIS and aged care. Further information about your responsibility to meet these requirements is on the Australian Government Department of Health website. 

Behaviour support and restrictive practices for residential aged care providers

Any use of a restrictive practice presents a serious risk to the human rights of people with disability. 

Behaviour support plans

Positive behaviour support strategies and behaviour support plans are developed and used to help reduce or eliminate the use of restrictive practices. 

Behaviour support plans are developed by behaviour support practitioners who are organised by a participant or their advocate.

Find an NDIS behaviour support practitioner

Nursing care plans and behaviour support plans

An existing nursing care plan that includes the use of restrictive practices can be accepted as an interim behaviour support plan by the NDIS Commission. It is only compliant when:

  • it’s reviewed, possibly changed, and endorsed by a behaviour support practitioner
  • the practitioner submits the interim plan to the NDIS Commission
  • as the residential aged care provider, you report on the use of restrictive practices monthly
  • the practitioner develops a comprehensive behaviour support plan within 6 months of the interim behaviour support plan and submits it to the NDIS Commission.

Once the comprehensive plan is in place:

  • use the plan and any person-based positive behaviour strategies it includes
  • continue to report the use of restrictive practices monthly.

Reporting restrictive practices

The reporting requirements for restrictive practices are different for the NDIS Commission and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

Providers that automatically became NDIS registered providers in 2020 

This transition process for residential aged care providers who automatically became NDIS registered providers in 2020 is ongoing and continues to be supported by the NDIS Commission. 

When your initial registration period finishes, you need to reapply for registration and go through a certification audit.

Younger people in residential aged care

The Younger people in residential aged care strategy 2020-25 covers all younger people under the age of 65 living in, or at risk of entering, residential aged care. It includes providing choice to First Nations people between 50 and 64 years of age who are eligible for the aged care system.

More information is available at:

Resources

Residential aged care registration renewal process guide

Modified NDIS residential aged care audit pathway

Standards comparison tool

Concordance table

Evidence guide

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