Violence against workers

Worker safety and wellbeing is a key part of delivering quality and safe supports to NDIS participants. To ensure worker wellbeing, it is important to identify and manage risks to worker safety, such as worker-related violence.

Reducing violence against workers

Worker-related violence and aggression is when a NDIS worker is abused, threatened or assaulted in their workplace or while they are working. NDIS workers and providers can help ensure a safe and healthy workplace by:

providing a positive workplace culture
assessing the safety risks to workers
understanding rights and responsibilities in NDIS supports and services
providing quality and safe NDIS supports and services
taking steps to prevent and respond to incidents, including identifying and controlling risks, and worker supervision
reporting worker-related violence
having effective behaviour support practices.

Below we provide information for any location in Australia, then specific information that applies in each state and territory.

Positive workplace culture

A positive workplace culture improves worker satisfaction by identifying individually shared values, belief systems and attitudes. It is essential for workplace culture to remain positive for workers and participants. Workers feel engaged and motivated, which is then reflected in their day-to-day interactions with participants. Participants can then feel safe with their workers and are able to raise or discuss issues of concern.

Assess safety risks

There are unique risk and safety issues that need to be considered when NDIS supports and services take place in a participant’s home. Detailed safety assessment and planning can help avoid situations that increase the risk of a violent incident.

These self-assessment safety and risk assessment tools help you to understand the safety risks in an individual participant’s home. They have been developed by SafeWork NSW but are useful to participants and workers in any state or territory.

Home safety checklist for participants to complete and share with workers
Home safety risk assessment for workers to complete and identify actions.

Understand NDIS provider and worker rights and obligations

NDIS workers have the right to feel safe when they are at work, and the right to report workplace violence to their employers, the NDIS or the NDIS Commission. NDIS providers are responsible for providing safe workplaces by protecting their workers from the risk of violence and aggression.

Understanding their rights and obligations assists workers to:

do their day-to-day work lawfully and competently
know when their rights have been breached and a violent incident needs to be reported.

Rights and obligations are set out in Australia’s model work health and safety laws and state and territory work, health and safety legislation.

Person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU)

Australia’s model work health and safety (WHS) laws inform Commonwealth, state and territory WHS laws. These laws use the term Person conducting a bu...

See more See less

Australia’s model work health and safety (WHS) laws inform Commonwealth, state and territory WHS laws. These laws use the term Person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU), except in Victoria.

PCBU describes all forms of modern working arrangements, which are commonly referred to as businesses, including:

a company
an unincorporated body or association
a sole trader or self-employed person
individuals who are in partnership that is conducting a business (individually and collectively known as PCBUs).

A PCBU has a primary duty to ensure the health and safety of workers while they are at work and others who may be affected by the carrying out of work.

NDIS participants who directly engage their workers are considered a PCBU.

This means participants have a duty to ensure a safe working environment for their workers as far as is reasonably practicable.

Participants must consult their workers about the health and safety issues that may directly affect them.

A PCBU can also be a worker. An example of this is a sole trader.

There are multiple PCBUs involved when you organise work through a platform provider. NDIS providers (including support coordinators) using a platform under an ABN may be considered PCBUs under WHS law.

Health and safety representation for workers

Workers can ask for Health and safety representatives (HSRs) to be elected to represent them in discussions about work health and safety. HSRs c...

See more See less

Workers can ask for Health and safety representatives (HSRs) to be elected to represent them in discussions about work health and safety.

HSRs can be elected by workers directly or through a group of workers called a ‘work group’. It is not mandatory for a PCBU to put HSRs in place, but when workers make a request for a HSR, it must happen.

Health and safety representatives and work groups

Providing quality and safe supports to people with disability

Providing appropriate, safe and quality NDIS supports can help to reduce aggression or violence. The following resources help NDIS workers understand safe and effective practices when working with NDIS participants:

Quality, safety and you – worker orientation
NDIS Commission online learning about the NDIS Code of Conduct and workers obligations under the code. Following the NDIS Code of Conduct helps workers provide quality and safe supports with less risk of violence.
New worker – NDIS induction module
NDIS Commission online learning for new NDIS workers.
How to deliver an NDIS service and How to provide good and safe service
Online learning developed by Keogh Bay with funding from the NDIS Commission.
Workforce capability
Statements about support practice that show what good practice looks like.
Supporting effective communication
NDIS Commission online learning about effective communication with NDIS participants.
NDIS practice standards and quality indicators
The standards and quality indicators providers must adhere to. This included plan managed and self-managed NDIS participants who employ staff directly.
High intensity support skills descriptors
The descriptors describe the skills and knowledge that NDIS providers should make sure their workers have when supporting participants with high intensity daily personal activities.

Prevent and respond to worker-related violence

Both NDIS providers and workers must follow appropriate processes to prevent and respond to worker related violence.

Reporting incidents of worker-related violence helps NDIS providers to understand the current risks, effectively plan and reduce those risks, and prevent future incidents.

Preventing workplace violence and aggression guide
SafeWork Australia guide for a Person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU).
Workplace violence and aggression – advice for workers
SafeWork Australia factsheet that explains what NDIS workers should do if they experience violence at work.
Work health and safety guidance for NDIS participants
Guidance from SafeWork NSW on work health and safety issues for NDIS participants who are PCBUs, including their duty to provide workers with a safe working environment.
Managing complaints – for providers
NDIS Commission advice about manage and responding to complaints, which can include complaints about worker-related violence.
Supervision and effective communication
Tools and resources for supervising NDIS workers, keeping them safe, and improving the supports or services they provide.

Positive behaviour support

Sometimes people with a disability need extra support to express their wants and needs. It’s important to check if the participant you are working with has a positive behaviour support plan.

Behaviour support is about creating individualised strategies for people with disability that are responsive to the person’s needs, in a way that reduces and eliminates the need for the use of regulated restrictive practices.

Behaviour support focuses on evidence-based strategies and person-centred supports that address the needs of the person with disability and the underlying causes of behaviours of concern, while safeguarding the dignity and quality of life of people with disability who require specialist behaviour support.

Both specialist behaviour support providers (who engage NDIS behaviour support practitioners), and providers who use regulated restrictive practices (implementing providers), must meet the requirements outlined in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Restrictive Practices and Behaviour Support) Rules 2018.

When a behaviour support plan is lodged, the specialist behaviour support provider creates a list of the regulated restrictive practices. The implementing provider is required to report monthly on the use of these practices.

When providers and workers understand complex behaviours and the tools available to manage them, they can reduce the risk of worker-related violence.

For further information about behaviour support:

Information for Australian states and territories

New South Wales

Assess safety risks:

Understand NDIS provider and worker rights and obligations:

Work health and safety guidance for NDIS platform providers
Work health and safety guidance for NDIS providers
Work health and safety guidance for NDIS participants – when a participant is a PCBU.

Prevent and respond to worker-related violence:

Violence in the workplace guide

New South Wales contact details

SafeWork NSW

Queensland

Assess safety risks:

A guide to working safely in people’s homes

Understand NDIS provider and worker rights and obligations:

Work-related violence: Your rights, crime and the law

Prevent and respond to worker-related violence:

Queensland contact details

Victoria

Positive workplace culture:

How leadership and culture can help control the risk of work-related violence

Assess safety risks:

Understand NDIS provider and worker rights and obligations:

Prevent and respond to worker-related violence:

Victorian work health and safety legislation

Victoria doesn’t use the term Person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU), however there are similar duties and responsibilities under Victoria’s WHS legislation that are relevant to NDIS providers. Under the Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, an employer includes:

a person
a company
partnerships
unincorporated associations
franchising operations
not-for-profit organisations.

Under the Act, employers such as NDIS providers are required to provide and maintain a working environment that is safe and free of risks to health, so far as is reasonably practicable.