Ensuring Access to Supports Under the NDIS
Published: 25 July 2024
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Published: 25 July 2024
Providers of National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) services must ensure that all NDIS participants can adequately access supports.
Access to supports is a requirement of the NDIS Practice Standards under Core Module 3: Provision of Supports.
This Practice Standard aims to ensure that NDIS participants can access supports that appropriately meet their needs, goals and preferences (NDIS 2021).
Providers must ensure that the following key information is clearly defined and documented:
(WAAMH 2021)
This information must be provided to participants before they sign a service agreement with the provider (NDS 2021). Furthermore, it is crucial that this information is delivered in a way that the participant is able to understand, taking into account:
(NDIS 2021; WAAMH 2021)
Examples of how to clearly define and document supports include:
(WAAMH 2021; Lifestyle Centred Services 2020)
Providers are expected to make and monitor reasonable adjustments to their support delivery environment in order to ensure that it is fit for purpose and responsive to the needs of participants (WAAMH 2021). These adjustments should support participants’:
(NDIS 2021)
Furthermore, these adjustments should be continuously monitored in order to ensure that they are meeting their required purposes (WAAMH 2021).
Aspects of the support delivery environment that may require consideration include:
(WAAMH 2021)
Consider obtaining feedback from participants related to how the service delivery environment could be adjusted to better suit their needs (WAAMH 2021).
Participants should be appropriately informed about the circumstances under which supports may be stopped or withdrawn (WAAMH 2021).
This quality indicator is underpinned by the concept of dignity of risk; participants should be afforded the right to undertake reasonable risks, and all NDIS participants should have their rights to autonomy and self-determination respected (WAAMH 2021; Lifestyle Centred Services 2020).
In some cases, participants might make choices that the provider believes are too risky to support. Despite this, providers should not deny access to required supports just because they are deemed ‘too risky’ (NDS 2021).
Maintaining an appropriate balance between dignity of risk and duty of care is essential.
In order to ensure dignity of risk, providers should:
(WAAMH 2021; NDS 2020)
While supports should not be withdrawn solely based on risks taken by participants, the reasons for which they might be stopped should be clearly defined and understood by participants. Examples of situations in which supports might be discontinued include:
(Lifestyle Centred Services 2020)