VALID’s position has always been that a thoughtful, nuanced and co-designed approach with people with intellectual and other disabilities, their family members and advocates is essential.
This approach must consider existing evidence and data, as well as the diverse needs and concerns of people with disability, when determining whether and how to enact the proposed levels of registration and enrolment.
Anything less than this is not acceptable.
Background: What is a ‘Tiered NDIS Registration Model’?
The Australian Government created the NDIS Provider and Worker Registration Taskforce in 2024. Its role was to make sure any new model for regulating NDIS providers would work well in practice for people with disability.
The Taskforce held extensive consultation with the disability community, which informed their advice to the Government. This consultation resulted in key recommendations that honoured participant choice and control while demonstrating an understanding of risk management in practice.
Read the full version of this advice
Read the Easy Read version of this advice
Now: What is the proposed change for NDIS Registration?
From July 2027, mandatory registration is set to include providers who deliver personal care, daily living support and supports in closed settings. The finer detail is evolving in real time.
At present, if you or your loved one lives in a closed setting, your options for who showers you, or supports you to leave your home, are set to narrow.
VALID’s position on duty of care and dignity of risk
VALID stands behind, beside and at times in front of people with intellectual disability who can be at great risk. So ‘duty of care’ is not a topic we take lightly.
But nor is dignity of risk.
We know that mandatory registration is not always an effective risk prevention mechanism in practice.
The balance between ‘duty of care’ and ‘dignity of risk’ must be arrived at with careful thought and must reflect the reality of people’s lives.
VALID’s position on Mandatory NDIS Provider Registration
Some NDIS participants may benefit from the use of an exclusively registered provider market for some or all services they use.
However, some of these participants may later, with formal and informal supports in place, benefit from having the flexibility of using some unregistered providers who are regulated outside the NDIS Quality and Safeguards framework. There are many other examples that speak to the complexity of this issue.
VALID told the Taskforce what our community needs, and they listened.
The Taskforce told the Government what people with disability need.
Now it’s time for the Government to listen, act and share transparently.
Read VALID’s full submission to the NDIS Provider and Worker Registration Taskforce