The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission regulates NDIS providers and workers and investigates incidents that affect the rights and safety of people with disability.
Our compliance and enforcement approach
Monitoring compliance and investigating non-compliance is important to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission’s work as a regulator.
The NDIS Commission uses a range of compliance and enforcement tools to prevent and address breaches of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (the Act). The Act provides us with a range of compliance and enforcement powers, including banning orders, compliance notices and court-based outcomes. In addition, we educate and work closely with other complaints and regulatory bodies.
The NDIS Commission has a Compliance and Enforcement policy that provides more information about our approach to maximise compliance with the Act, manage risks to NDIS participants and how we may utilise our tools.
The Compliance and enforcement actions register contains information on compliance activities we have undertaken, including banning orders we have issued. It is updated on a regular basis.
The NDIS Commission Regulatory Priorities identify the key quality and safeguarding issues we will focus on in our compliance and enforcement activities.
Our regulatory levers
The NDIS Commission’s compliance and enforcement work is described in 8 actions that are either proactive or reactive:
- proactive actions help providers to deliver supports and services that are safe, good quality and lawful
- reactive actions include monitoring providers, investigating when there is evidence that laws or standards have not been followed, and giving providers penalties or notices.
We ensure providers understand and respond to key risks and comply with the law. We investigate and take action against those who don’t comply with the law.
The laws providers follow are:
We enforce the law by using our powers to sanction offenders, partnering with the NDIA and other regulators and agencies at all levels of government to ensure enforcement activity has the greatest possible effect.
We use:
- Compliance and enforcement tools
- Compliance and enforcement actions against providers and individuals
- Fraud against the NDIS
We respond to all complaints and incident reports in a manner that aligns to the risk, while considering participant impact and views.
We receive and respond to:
We monitor the quality of services and the treatment of people with disability, paying particular attention to monitoring restrictive practices.
We do:
We require providers to meet a certain standard of quality and safety. We control who can and cannot provide certain services and supports.
We use:
- NDIS Code of Conduct
- Provider registration
- NDIS practice standards and quality indicators for providers who are registered with the NDIS Commission
We consult with impacted participants and/or their families when we plan to commence court proceedings against providers, and we keep them informed throughout those proceedings.
We educate providers and workers to understand good practice and their legal obligations and work to build their capabilities. We educate participants to know their rights.
We provide providers and workers with:
We talk to people with disability about:
- NDIS Code of Conduct
- Make it known, make it better
- Fair pricing
- Quality supports for children
- NDIS practice standards and quality indicators for providers who are registered with the NDIS Commission
We influence by example, embedding our compliance and enforcement activities and a culture of quality, innovation, and continuous improvement. We promote best practice and work hard to establish trust with people with disability and their supporters, and within the regulated community.
See the NDIS Commission Compliance and Enforcement policy or more information.
Review of compliance and enforcement decisions
If a provider or worker is not satisfied with a compliance and enforcement decision made by the NDIS Commission, they can ask for a decision to be reviewed.
Priorities for regulating providers and workers
There are many ongoing activities the NDIS Commission does to regulate NDIS providers and workers, such as core regulatory actions, targeted regulatory actions, and campaigns. This work aligns with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission regulatory approach.
The NDIS Commission also monitors time-critical or emerging areas of risk, then identifies priority areas for regulation activities in the next 12 months. The 2024-25 regulatory priorities have a particular focus on quality and safe supports in regional and remote locations, and regulation activities we do with other regulators.
Quality and compliance relating to behaviour support plans
We will reduce and eliminate the use of restrictive practices through monitoring the quality and compliance of behaviour support plan development and implementation.
Registered providers must follow registration conditions
We will ensure registered NDIS providers comply with their conditions of registration, especially auditing requirements, effective incident management systems, and reporting obligations.
Quality and safe supports and services, including supported accommodation
We will ensure supports and services are delivered by registered and unregistered NDIS providers and workers to people with disability in a safe and competent manner, and with care and skill, particularly in supported accommodation settings.
Rights of people with disability
We will regulate registered and unregistered NDIS providers' conduct in respect to individual participant rights, independence and choice and control
Penalties for fraud or criminal conduct
We will prevent and remove unscrupulous providers and workers from operating in the NDIS, by focusing on pricing, false and misleading conduct, and serious and organised crime.
More information is available in the Regulatory priorities 2024-25.
As an agile, responsive regulator, the NDIS Commission will continue to shift regulatory priorities to respond to changes in legislation or new areas of emerging risk.