1 .0 Rights and Responsibilities
Preamble
The NDIS Commission aims to uphold the rights of people with disability, including the right to dignity and respect, and to live free from abuse, exploitation, and violence. This is in keeping with Australia’s commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The Commission will achieve this through: empowering people with disability to exercise choice and control in the support services they receive, while ensuring appropriate protections are in place building the capacity of people with disability, their families, and their carers to make informed decisions about NDIS providers responding to and managing concerns and complaints supporting a strong and viable market for disability supports and services.
BigDog Support Services Pty Ltd (BigDog) is also committed to follow the ideals of The National Disability Strategy, which emphasises the importance of people with disability participating in decisions that affect their lives along with family, friends, carers and advocates. The strategy promotes active participation in decision making to safeguard and advance the human rights, wellbeing and interests of people with disability.
The following policies represent elements of the NDIS Practice Standards under this Core Module and include the key indicators of each element.
1.1 Person-Centred Supports
BigDog upholds the legal and human rights of all clients. This includes the right to receive services that protect and promote client’s safety, well-being, participation and choice whilst adopting suitable methods of communication and encouraging engagement with family, friends and the community.
BigDog uses flexible and inclusive methods to identify the individual strengths, goals and aspirations of people using services.
1.1.1 Legal and Human Rights
1.1.2 Communication
1.1.3 Additional Supports
1.2 Individual Values and Beliefs
BigDog ensures that each client accesses supports that respect their culture, diversity, values and beliefs. Cultural values are the core principles and ideals upon which an entire community exists. This is made up of several parts: customs, which are traditions and rituals; values, beliefs; and culture, which is all of a group's guiding values.
BigDog ensures that each client’s culture, diversity, values and beliefs are identified and incorporated into their support plans and formulates service delivery that respects and values the individual (e.g. identity, gender, sexuality, culture, age and religious beliefs).
1.2.1 Identifying Culture, Values and Beliefs
1.2.2 Supporting Culture, Values and Beliefs
1.3 Privacy and Dignity
BigDog is committed to protecting and upholding the right to privacy of people with a disability, those who support them, workers, volunteers and representatives of other agencies. BigDog requires workers and volunteers to be consistent and careful in the way they manage what is written and said about clients and how they decide who can see or hear this information.
1.3.1 Privacy
1.3.2 Confidentiality
1.3.3 Personal Information
1.4 Independence and Informed Choice
BigDog supports clients to make informed choices, exercise control and maximise their independence relating to the supports provided.
BigDog has a range of strategies to ensure communication and decision-making by the individual is respected and reflected in goals set by the person using services and in plans to achieve service delivery outcomes. BigDog has a commitment to individualised planning and goal setting utilising a range of planning tools.
People using services are enabled to access appropriate supports and advocacy.
1.4.1 Individual Choice
1.4.2 Dignity of Risk
1.4.3 Participant Autonomy
1.4.4 Seeking Advice 1.4.5 Advocacy
1.5 Violence, Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation and Discrimination
BigDog ensures that each client accesses supports free from violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation or discrimination.
BigDog has processes for reporting and responding to potential or actual harm, abuse and/or neglect that may occur for people using services.
BigDog provides services in a manner that upholds people’s human and legal rights.
1.5.1 Policies, Procedures and Practices 1.5.2 Advocacy
Procedure
BigDog has obligations to deliver services in a way that maintains the standards and principles underpinning the NDIS.
As a registered NDIS provider BigDog is also an obliged to comply with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Provider Registration and Practice Standards) Rules 2018, which have been developed in line with the National Standards for Disability Services and the National Standards for Mental Health Services.
By delivering supports and services in accordance with the NDIS rules made under the NDIS Act, BigDog will maintain these standards and principles.
Summary
Clients have the right to make their own decisions, to be free to live the life they choose, and to have the same rights and freedoms as any other member of the community.
A complex range of intersecting factors including individual and social values, contexts, cultures, policy responses, and histories, shape how individuals understand disability. In the past, a focus on a person’s incapacity or the ‘tragedy’ of their disability portrayed them as dependent, helpless, and in need of care and protection. This often resulted in their isolation, segregation and exclusion from the wider community. It is now understood that clients have full and equal human rights.
These rights are set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities They include the right to freedom of expression and the right to make decisions about, and exercise control over, their own lives. Choice and control is a core principle of the NDIS. People with disability have the right to choice and control about who supports them and how their supports and services are delivered.
Supporting Documents Policies
One Page Profiles
Client Grievance Report
Person-Centred Description
Information Sheets
Cultural Diversity in Australia
Human Services Quality Framework October 2021 Version 8
NDP Person-Centred Approach
NDIS Practice Standards November 2021 Version 4
Service Information
NGO Training
Customer Service
Cultural Awareness
Person-Centred Active Support
PATH Planning
Social Role Valorisation (SRV)
Legislation
Child Protection Reform and other Legislation Act 2022 (QLD)
Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cwth)
Disability Services Act 2006 (QLD)
Disability Services and Inclusion Act 2023 (Cwth)
Human Rights Act 2019 (QLD)
National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013
NDIS (Provider Registration and Practice Standards) Amendment Rules 2021
Privacy Act 1988 (Cwth)
Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cwth)
NDIS Practice Standards and Quality Indicators
BigDog Support Services Pty Ltd (BigDog) is a registered NDIS provider and is required to apply the scheme’s practice standard and quality indicators.
The standards have been developed to create an important benchmark to assess provider performance and ensure that high quality and safe supports and services are provided to NDIS participants.
The four core modules are:
1.0 Rights and Responsibilities;
2.0 Governance and Operational Management;
3.0 The Provision of Supports; and
4.0 The Support Provision Environment.
1.0 Rights and Responsibilities
Sets out the rights of participants and the responsibilities of providers that deliver supports and services to them.
Human Services Quality Standards
The Standards set a benchmark for the quality of service provision. Each Standard is supported by a set of performance indicators which outline what BigDog is required to demonstrate to meet that standard.
1. Governance and Management
Sound governance and management systems that maximise outcomes for stakeholders.
1.7 BigDog has effective information management systems that maintain appropriate controls of privacy and confidentiality for stakeholders.
3. Responding to Individual Need
The assessed needs of the individual are being appropriately addressed and responded to within resource capacity
3.1 BigDog uses flexible and inclusive methods to identify the individual strengths, goals and aspirations of people using services.
3.2 BigDog formulates service delivery that respects and values the individual (e.g. identity, gender, sexuality, culture, age and religious beliefs).
3.5 BigDog has a range of strategies to ensure communication and decision-making by the individual is respected and reflected in goals set by the person using services and in plans to achieve service delivery outcomes.
4 Safety, Wellbeing and Rights
The safety, wellbeing and human and legal rights of people using BigDog services are protected and promoted.
4.1 BigDog provides services in a manner that upholds people’s human and legal rights.
4.2 BigDog proactively prevents, identifies and responds to risks to the safety and wellbeing of people using services.
4.3 BigDog has processes for reporting and responding to potential or actual harm, abuse and/or neglect that may occur for people using services.
4.4 People using services are enabled to access appropriate supports and advocacy.
4.5 BigDog has processes that demonstrate the right of the individual to participate and make choices about the services received.
Delegation of Authority
Version Details
This policy will be reviewed every twelve (12) months unless circumstances deem it necessary to review earlier. The review process will involve an analysis of the usefulness of the policy and to note any changes which are required to improve the policy.
If minor changes are made in wording or to clarify the intent, the version number will indicate this by adding a ‘point’ i.e. Version 1.0 indicates the original version and 1.1 with the first round of minor changes made. A significant change or intent of the policy will be indicated by a whole new number i.e. Version 2.0.
The following rules also apply in interpreting this policy:
• Headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation.
• A singular word includes the plural and vice versa.
• A word that suggests one gender includes the other genders.
Date V Details
January 2020
January 2021
January 2022
January 2023
January 2024
5.0 New policy to match NDIS Practice Standards and Quality Indicators
Front cover updated to Standards colour identification
Supporting Policies updated
5.1 Updated Responsible Officers details
Introduction of BigDog Training Portal and modules
5.2 Updated Responsible Officers details
NDIS Practice Standards November 2021 Version 4
6.0 Included Human Services Quality Framework (HSQF) and Child Protection Act and the term “Participant” is returned to “Client” to allow for policies to cover NDIS and HSQF
6.1 Disability Services Act 1986 replaced with Disability Services and Inclusion Act 2023 and policy review process included.