Report an Incident

As defined by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, an Incident refers to:

o   Acts, omissions, events or circumstances that occur in connection with providing supports or services to a person with disability and which have, or could have, caused harm to the person with disability

o   Acts by a person with disability that occur in connection with providing supports or services to the person with disability and which have caused serious harm, or a risk of serious harm, to another person, and

o   Reportable incidents that have or are alleged to have occurred in connection with providing supports or services to a person with disability.

Kynd helps you as an independent Support Workers to manage aspects of your NDIS provider business. As a sole trader Support Worker using Kynd, you are an NDIS provider.

It is every Support Workers' responsibility to develop, implement and maintain incident management systems that meet the needs and legislative requirements of their NDIS provider business. In the event of an incident occurring, Kynd may choose to pause or remove any Member, Participant, or Support Worker from the platform if their conduct breaches the Kynd Terms of Use and puts others at risk of harm. 

HELPFUL RESOURCES

Resources to support incident reporting, management, and prevention

Unregistered NDIS Provider Obligations

Guidance on the NDIS Commissions Functions

NDIS Act 2013

Work Health and Safety Act 2011

National Principles Child Safe Organisations

Support Worker Poviders can manage some low-risk incidents on their own. 

Other incidents require Support Worker providers to escalate and engage the help and guidance of others. Help and guidance are typically required in higher-risk scenarios where investigation and/or decisions around remedial action are outside of the scope of practice for a Support Worker provider on their own.

Who provides help and guidance depends on the circumstances and nature of the incident. Those who commonly help and guide are other professionals engaged in the persons support team, like their Support Coordinator, Local Area Coordinator, Allied Health Professional, or Medical Professional. Some incidents may also need to be reported to authorities like the Police. Some incidents are serious and must be reported to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. These are called Reportable Incidents.

Note: Consent is needed to share a person’s private and confidential information with others unless where permitted or required without consent. This might include mandatory reporting requirements on child protection matters, and obligations to report incidences of violence, exploitation, neglect and abuse, and sexual misconduct to the NDIS Commission and police.

All NDIS providers need to proactively act to prevent incidents from occurring. 

This can be done by (but not necessarily limited to):

• knowing the person with a disability well - support needs and personal preferences
• having adequate expertise and competence necessary for safe and skillful service delivery, which includes declining work that you are not qualified or trained to deliver 
• identifying and minimising hazards and risks proactively
• informing all stakeholders about how you manage risk and incidents
• negotiating a good balance between duty of care and dignity of risk
• gaining consent to share relevant information with stakeholders 

Incident Prevention does not always stop an incident from occurring. When incidents do occur, they need to be managed appropriately and in a timely manner. NDIS Providers commonly respond to incidents and accidents by (but not necessarily limited to):

• providing immediate support and assistance to the person with a disability - this may include restoring a safe environment, providing first aid, and/or calling 000 (triple zero)
• recording, investigating, and reporting the incident 
• implementing strategies with the person with a disability and others who support them to prevent future incidents 
• maintaining and securely storing records to show accountability and transparency for decisions made and actions taken 
• reviewing incident management processes and procedures to ensure continuous improvement

All incidents should be handled in accordance with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission principles of good incident management and resolution. 

An Incident Report Form and Risk Register are two tools commonly used by an NDIS provider to collect, record, track, and store relevant and necessary information about incidents and accidents. 

These documents include information like (but not necessarily limited to):

• a description of the incident – including the impact on, and harm caused to, the person with disability or another Stakeholder
• details of the incident – time, date, and place
• contact details – names and contact details of any people involved in or witness to the incident
• support – how those involved were supported and assisted to ensure their immediate and ongoing health, safety, and wellbeing
• decisions – why the incident was consider to be an incident
• investigation – the steps, details and outcomes of any investigation undertaken, including specific remedial action
• response – actions taken in response to the incident, including risk assessments and other actions to ensure the immediate and ongoing health, safety and wellbeing of Stakeholders affected by the incident, and whether the incident has been reported to police or another body/authority
• quality control - review and revision (where necessary) of practices, policies, and procedures to improve safety and quality

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission will request the above information if you are notifying them of a Reportable Incident.

You have a legal right to have a safe work environment - even if you're an independent Support Worker Provider. If necessary, you may decide to report this type of Incident to authorities, such as the Police or also to the NDIS. Remember that you may have a duty of care to other people who provide services or work in the same environment, so notifying relevant parties can help mitigate risks for others. If you have insurance such as income protection or accident and illness insurance, you may need Incident Reports for claims.

If you know of or suspect that any person (an NDIS Participant, a Nominee, a Support Coordinator, an NDIS provider, or anyone) is committing fraud in relation to the use of NDIS funding, this should be reported to the NDIS Fraud Taskforce.

Click here to read more about what is considered fraud in the NDIS.

All private and confidential information must be stored securely in accordance with State, Territory and Federal law. This includes information and correspondence relating to NDIS Incident Management. In accordance with the NDIS Code of Conduct, records must be kept for a minimum of seven (7) years. Some information, depending on the nature of the Incident recorded, may be required by law to be retained for longer periods of time.

A Reportable Incident refers to:

o   the death of a person with disability

o   serious injury of a person with disability

o   abuse or neglect of a person with disability

o   unlawful sexual or physical contact with, or assault of, a person with disability

o   sexual misconduct committed against, or in the presence of, a person with disability, including grooming of the person for sexual activity

o   the use of an unauthorised restrictive practice in relation to a person with disability.

Reportable Incidents must be reported to the NDIS Commission within set timeframes.

The NDIS Commission has clear timeframes for reporting a Reportable Incident based.

Failure to report within the statutory timeframes is a contravention of the NDIS Act 2013.

To understand the Categories of Reportable Incidents better, click here.

There are several ways to report a Reportable Incident to the NDIS Quality & Safeguards Commission as an unregistered provider without access to the NDIS Commission Portal. These include (but may not be limited to):

By phone during business hours:

• 1800 035 544 (free call from landlines, call charges from mobile providers may apply)
• 9:00am to 4:30pm in the NT
• 9:00am to 5:00pm in the ACT, NSW, QLD, SA, TAS, VIC and WA
• Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

By general email: 

reportableincidents@ndiscommission.gov.au

State and Territory specific email addresses:

• ACT:   ACTReportableIncidents@ndiscommission.gov.au
• NT:   NTReportableIncidents@ndiscommission.gov.au
• NSW:   NSWReportableIncidents@ndiscommission.gov.au
• QLD:   QLDREPORTABLEINCIDENTS@ndiscommission.gov.au
• SA:   SAReportableIncidents@ndiscommission.gov.au
• TAS:   TASReportableIncidents@ndiscommission.gov.au
• VIC:   VICREPORTABLEINCIDENTS@ndiscommission.gov.au
• WA:   WAReportableincidents@ndiscommission.gov.au
• National Unauthorised Restrictive Practices:   URPnationaltaskforce@ndiscommission.gov.au