NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission – Cairns Compliance Operation
Disability service providers in the Cairns region have been warned ahead of a compliance operation to be carried out by NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.
Officers will be visiting the region in late October to remind providers of their responsibilities and obligations under the NDIS Code of Conduct.
Commissioner Tracy Mackey said the visit is to ensure providers are doing the right thing, and people who access the NDIS are getting the best possible service.
“The majority of our providers do an excellent job, but we have concerns there may be some bad behaviour slipping through the cracks.
“All organisations which provide a service as part of the NDIS are required to observe our Code of Conduct, and if they are not, they will be caught.”
Commissioner Mackey explained the Cairns region is home to more than 5,000 NDIS participants, and more than 500 providers, but had a low level of complaints in comparison to other areas.
“Despite a large number of participants and providers across Cairns, we’ve only received 30 complaints this year in total. Hopefully this means everyone is doing an excellent job and doing the right thing, but it’s also our responsibility to check it’s not because of under reporting.
“We want to ensure that if a participant has a problem or a concern, they know how to raise it with us, and know there are actions we can take. Part of the reason for our visit is to let participants in Cairns know that if they have a concern, they should raise it with us, so we can make it better.”
Commissioner Mackey encouraged NDIS participants, their families and carers to reach out during the compliance operation.
“We want to take action to provide the best support for NDIS participants, as part of this we want to meet people while we’re in town and talk to them about how we can provide the best possible support. We’ll be holding a number of public forums with participants and their supporters,” she said.
The NDIS Code of Conduct requires:
- Acting with honesty, integrity and transparency.
- Respecting individual rights to self-determination and decision making.
- Respecting freedom of expression.