Since introducing the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), the aged care services industry especially residential aged care providers, have blindly navigated their way through the overlapping regulations of the Aged Care Act 19978 (Cth) (Aged Care Act) and the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (NDIS Act). For some residential aged care (RAC) providers, their next hurdle is preparing for a ‘Verification’ audit.
On 1 December 2020, Mr. Graeme Head, Commissioner of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission) wrote to applicable RAC providers who as of 1 December 2020 were supporting residents who had become NDIS participants. The correspondence advised providers that their organisation automatically had been registered with the NDIS Commission effective as of 1 December 2020. As a newly registered NDIS provider of supports with the NDIS Commission, the correspondence from the Commissioner detailed:
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- Registration ID details
- Certification of Registration, detailing classes of supports or services that the recipient is registered to provide and the conditions in which these apply
- Conditions of registration as detailed in section 73 of the NDIS Act
- Compliance with –
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- NDIS Practice Standards
- NDIS Code of Conduct
- Implementing a complaints management and resolution system
- Implementing and maintaining an incident management system
- Implementing a system for reporting incident to the NDIS Commission
- Fulfil worker screening requirements
- Behaviour support requirements, including establishing and implementing a mechanism to monitor the use of restrictive practices
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- Information pertaining to registration renewal, including the stated timeframes to complete the renewal process
- Details to register with the Commissions Portal, PRODA
For most RAC providers supporting residents who have become NDIS participants, their only Class of Support is:
115 Assistance with daily tasks in a group or shared living arrangement
Time is quickly approaching for residential aged care providers to renew their registration with the NDIS Commission. All RAC providers who are supporting residents who have become NDIS participants are required to undergo a ‘Certification’ quality audit against the NDIS Practice Standards. This process involves the RAC provider engaging an approved quality auditor to assess the organisations compliance against the NDIS Practice Standards.
Where do you start! Anchor Excellence is working in partnership with several RAC providers, providing the expertise required to prepare for this process. Via a desktop review, our NDIA specialist can remotely review your organisation to save both time and money determining your readiness for Certification, by:
- Guiding you through your regulatory requirements
- Reviewing your internal systems and processes to ensure compliance with the regulatory requirements
- Making recommendations in a written report to guide you to meet your regulatory requirements
- Identify opportunities for educational enhancement through designing and delivering targeted training programs
For further details or to schedule a meeting to discuss your requirements, please contact Britt O’Keefe on either (02) 8610 1950 or brittokeefe@anchorexcellence.com.
