Incident Management (all providers)
Managing incidents effectively is an essential part of providing quality and safe disability supports and services.
All NDIS providers have obligations under the NDIS Code of Conduct, including:
- Provide supports and services in a safe and competent manner, with care and skill.
- 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.
- Take all reasonable steps to prevent and respond to all forms of violence against, and exploitation, neglect and abuse of, people with disability.
- Take all reasonable steps to prevent and respond to sexual misconduct.
The effective management of incidents supports NDIS providers to meet the above obligations.
NDIS providers that are registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission must, as a condition of registration, have an incident management system to record and manage incidents that occur in connection with providing supports and services to people with disability.
Registered NDIS providers must also notify the NDIS Commission of all reportable incidents (including alleged reportable incidents) that occur in connection with the NDIS supports or services they deliver.
What is an incident management system?
An incident management system is a set of processes and procedures used to manage incidents. Effective incident management practices can reduce preventable deaths, serious injuries and other serious incidents. All NDIS providers, registered and unregistered, can benefit from implementing an incident management system.
Under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Incident Management and Reportable Incidents) Rules 2018 all registered NDIS providers must implement and maintain a system to record and manage incidents that happen in connection with providing supports or services to people with disability. Compliance with these rules is a condition of registration.
The incidents that must be recorded and managed are:
- Acts, omissions, events or circumstances that occur in connection with providing NDIS supports or services to a person with disability and have, or could have, caused harm to the person with disability
- Acts by a person with disability that occur in connection with providing NDIS supports or services to the person with disability and which have caused serious harm, or a risk of serious harm, to another person
- Reportable incidents that are alleged to have occurred in connection with providing NDIS supports or services to a person with disability.
As a registered NDIS provider, you are responsible for, identifying, managing and resolving incidents. Your incident management system needs to include procedures for identifying, assessing, recording, managing, resolving and reporting incidents. You must ensure you respond appropriately and take steps to prevent such incidents from happening again. You are also required to keep the records on your incident management system (including records about reportable incidents) for a period of 7 years.
We have developed guidance to assist you in developing or improving your incident management system to meet the requirements for the size and scope of your organisation and the services and supports you deliver.
You need to be prepared to make your incident records available to us if required and to any approved quality auditor as part of the auditor’s assessment of your compliance with your conditions of registration