Participant safeguarding policy

We have developed a Participant Safeguarding Policy.

The policy outlines our commitment to support people with disability who engage with the NDIS to create or expand safeguards to improve their safety and minimise the risk of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.

Safeguards are things or actions people with disability, or their friends and families, can do to manage risks of harm that may be present in their lives.

Purpose

The aim of the policy is to:

  • Improve how we support people with disability, participants and their support networks to create or increase safeguards 
  • Show how we will be more proactive in supporting people with disability, participants and their support networks to identify, assess and manage risk of harm
  • Provide clarity on roles and responsibilities in the NDIS support system
  • Improve safeguarding resources for people with disability and our staff. 

Download the policy

How we will deliver

We are committed to working together to implement this policy with the people it affects. 

The implementation plan outlines how we will roll out the policy:

Throughout the development of the policy, we worked closely with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. By working together we can better support participants to reduce their risks of harm and understand their rights.

What we are guided by

This policy includes 6 co-designed principles. These were co-designed with participants, families and carers, NDIS providers, NDIA staff and the broader disability community. 

The principles guide the way we work with and support people with disability to make informed decisions about their own safety and safeguards in their life.

These principles are:

  1. Safety culture
  2. Empowerment
  3. Individual circumstances
  4. Proactive support
  5. Dignity of risk and informed decision-making
  6. Informal support networks. 

What we strive for 

The policy has  4 focus areas. They outline how we will work together with participants to minimise risk of harm. They include: 

  1. A proactive and individual approach to identifying, assessing and managing risks
  2. Developing the workforce and capability of people with disability
  3. Working with people with disability to proactively develop safeguards
  4. Effective corrective measures in response to incidents.

Co-design

We know that people with disability are the experts in their own lives. They understand their disability better than anyone, and what they need to be safe. Through co-design, we have been able to learn from the different experiences people with disability have in keeping themselves safe. 

More than 210 people with disability, families, carers and other representatives were involved in co-designing the Participant Safeguarding Policy.

To learn more about the Participant Safeguarding co-design and engagement journey, download the co-design story.

This page current as of
14 July 2023
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