Providers of assistance with daily personal activities (personal supports): Additional condition of registration
Additional condition imposed under section 73G of the NDIS Act for providers of assistance with daily personal activities to participants who live alone.
The NDIS Commission recognises that any NDIS participant who is provided with personal support in their own home may experience a level of risk if those supports are provided by the same individual NDIS worker for any extended period of time.
This risk is likely to be greater where the NDIS participant lives alone.
We wish to be satisfied that NDIS providers are ensuring that the provision of personal support to NDIS participants who live alone and are supported by the one individual worker, have:
- worked with the participant to assess any risks to them, and
- established appropriate arrangements for monitoring the quality of those supports and the participant’s satisfaction with them.
A decision has been taken to impose an additional condition under section 73G of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 which will apply to all registered NDIS providers that are registered to deliver the class of support ‘Assistance with daily personal activities’ (personal support) (registration group 0107).
The full text of the additional condition of registration is set out below. Our fact sheet about this condition explains how it applies to the delivery of personal supports to participants who live alone.
Additional condition of registration under section 73G of the NDIS Act
Additional Condition imposed under section 73G of the NDIS Act for providers of assistance with daily personal activities to participants who live alone
- This condition applies to the provider only if the provider is registered to provide personal support.
- This condition takes effect on [date 30 days after the condition is imposed].
- In this condition:
- appropriate means appropriate having regard to the participant’s risk factors.
- face-to-face communication or face-face contact means communication or contact in person and directly with the participant and does not include online or virtual communication or contact.
- participant means a participant who lives alone.
- personal support means the class of support referred to as assistance with daily personal activities in the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
- risk factors means factors that may have a significant detrimental impact on a participant’s capacity to engage in the community, being the factors listed in clause (7) and the participant’s risk factors means the risk factors (if any) assessed under clause (4)(b) as existing in relation to the participant.
- service agreement means a service agreement with respect to the provision of personal support.
- support worker means, in relation to a participant, an individual who provides the participant with personal support.
- Subject to clause (5), the provider must not allow personal support to be provided by a sole support worker to a participant unless the provider:
- Firstly, has assessed whether any of the risk factors exist in relation to the participant; and
- Secondly:
- has entered into a written service agreement with the participant; or
- has prepared a proposed written service agreement to enter into with the participant, made all reasonable efforts to enter it with the participant and provided a copy of it to the participant.
Note: The service agreement need not be limited to the provision of personal support. It may also relate to other supports or services provided to the participant. The service agreement must comply with clauses (8) and (9).
- If, when this condition takes effect, a provider is already allowing personal support to be provided by a sole support worker to a participant, the provider has until 30 days after the date specified in clause (2) to comply with the requirements of clause (4) in relation to that participant.
- If the provider has provided a copy of a proposed service agreement to the participant (as referred to in clause (4)(b)(ii)) the provider must provide the personal support to the participant in accordance with the terms of the proposed agreement.
- The risk factors are as follows:
- The participant is not receiving, from any other NDIS provider, supports or services that involve regular, face-to-face contact with the participant.
- One or more of the following applies:
- The participant or the participant’s plan indicates that the participant has limited or no regular, face-to-face contact with relatives, friends or other people with whom the participant is well-acquainted.
- Without the assistance of another person the participant has limited or no physical mobility.
- The participant uses equipment to enable them to be physically mobile or to facilitate their physical mobility.
- Without the assistance of another person the participant has limited or no ability to communicate with others.
- The participant uses equipment to enable or facilitate communication with others, including to enable or facilitate the use of a phone or other device.
- The provider must:
- document its assessment of the participant’s risk factors;
- as soon as reasonably practicable after completing the assessment, provide a copy of the assessment to the participant;
- place a copy of the assessment in the provider’s file relating to the participant; and
- as soon as practicable after the provider becomes aware of any change in circumstances that may have a significant impact on the provision of personal support to the participant:
- update the assessment to take account of the change;
- provide a copy of the updated assessment to the participant; and
- place a copy of the updated assessment in the provider’s file relating to the participant.
- The service agreement or (where clause (4)(b)(ii) applies) the proposed service agreement between the provider and the participant must take into account the participant’s risk factors and must specify:
- the rights and obligations of the participant and the provider, respectively, under the agreement;
- the means by which the participant’s support worker will be selected, including the participant’s role in the selection;
- a procedure that will be used to review of implementation of the agreement, which must include someone other than the support worker checking directly with the participant, and with appropriate frequency, the participant’s level of satisfaction with the type, quality and frequency of personal support being provided;
- the means by which the provider will supervise and monitor the performance of the support worker to ensure the performance is consistent with the agreement and the participant’s safety and well-being, which must include (as far as practicable) visits by a supervisor to the participant’s home, at a specified and appropriate frequency, to undertake in-person supervision of the support worker;
- the means by which the provider will communicate with the participant, which must include (as far as practicable) face-to-face communication with the participant in the participant’s home at an appropriate frequency;
- the means by which the provider will engage with other providers who may be involved in providing supports or services to the participant in the participant’s home or in supporting the participant to access community based activities.
- If any risk factor has been identified as existing in relation to the participant the provider must ensure that:
- there is a documented plan for supervision of the participant’s support worker that is appropriate having regard to the participant’s risk factors and the plan is implemented;
- all of the provider’s key personnel receive regular reports in relation to the care and skill with which personal support is being provided to the participant by the support worker, with the regularity of the reports being appropriate having regard to the participant’s risk factors; and
- appropriate action is taken by the provider, without any unreasonable delay, to address any concerns identified in those reports.
- The provider must keep an up-to-date record of all participants to whom the provider allows personal support to be provided by a sole support worker.