Summary of VALID’s position on Recommendation 17:
‘Develop and deliver a risk-proportionate model for the visibility and regulation of all providers and workers’
VALID understands that the proposed changes are controversial. We also understand they have been proposed to maintain the NDIA’s visibility of all providers working with NDIS participants as a safeguarding measure and a provision of financial oversight.
VALID believes that quality and safeguarding through the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (‘the Commission’) is a critical issue that urgently needs fixing. It should go without saying that the Commission must provide effective oversight, regulation and action against abuse of NDIS participants as a matter of priority.
Some 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 working with them to build capacity, 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. The Taskforce has demonstrated its awareness of these.
Changes to the NDIS regulatory framework and the Commission need to be made with the understanding that regulation of NDIS service provision is a joint responsibility between the Commission and other regulatory bodies such as the Police and Consumer Affairs. In other words, the Commission is not the only body responsible for safeguarding NDIS participants, and these other bodies should also undergo any changes necessary to uphold the rights of people with disability.
VALID believes that factual issues raised on all sides of the issue of mandatory provider registration are legitimate and warrant serious consideration by the Taskforce and Government. At its heart, this ‘debate’ is a systemic manifestation of the same balancing act faced by Supported Decision Makers: one between dignity of risk, and duty of care. In the same way VALID would never recommend that a Supported Decision Maker sacrifice one for the other, we will not recommend any ‘one size fits all’ approach for NDIS participants.
VALID’s position is 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.
Read VALID’s submission to the NDIS Provider and Worker Registration Taskforce.