Responding to your feedback: A registration and accreditation scheme for the Victorian disability workforce
In November 2016, as part of a “zero tolerance” approach to the abuse of people with disability, the Victorian Government announced it would establish an independent, legislated registration and accreditation scheme for Victoria’s disability workforce.
Informed by extensive public consultation, the Victorian Government has identified key features of the proposed scheme.
Why we are developing a registration and accreditation scheme
The Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Abuse in Disability Services heard “undeniable evidence of the widespread nature of abuse and neglect of people with disability over a long period of time.”
It found that for too long the lived experience of people with disability, their families and carers has been ignored.
The roll-out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) across Victoria is expected to generate significant demand for disability services, and the workforce needs to grow quickly to meet this demand. The Victorian Government recognises and values the important work of disability workers and wants to ensure that as the workforce grows, it becomes more skilled, diverse and dynamic.
The registration and accreditation scheme aims to:
- protect the rights of people with disability to be safe and receive high quality services
- enhance service quality by ensuring workers have the necessary skills, experience and qualifications
- enable people with disability to exercise greater choice and control in their lives.
How your feedback influenced the scheme design
As part of consultation in late 2017, people with disability, service providers, advocates and the workforce provided feedback on who the scheme should apply to, how it could be applied, what the functions of the scheme should be, as well as how it should be implemented and operate.
The Victorian Government formed a dedicated Project Advisory Group comprising key disability stakeholders to consider all feedback received and assist in developing a scheme. As a result, the proposed scheme addresses and incorporates the key themes that emerged during consultation.
Subject to passage through Parliament, the scheme will set up an independent regulator with the powers to:
- set and monitor minimum registration standards to use protected titles
- establish a publicly accessible web-based, up to date register of registered disability workers
- receive and investigate complaints about disability workers
- accredit qualifications as meeting registration requirements
- place conditions on workers’ registration
- limit or ban workers from practising if they breach codes of conduct.
You told us that more needs to be done to prevent abuse and neglect, and minimum safeguards are required for all Victorian disability services.
There will be a number of minimum standards that workers will have to meet in order to register, and maintain, annual registration. These are likely to include probity checking (such as the NDIS worker screening check), training or qualification requirements and ongoing monitoring of compliance with professional conduct standards.
If a worker commits serious misconduct – whether they are registered or not – the regulator will have the power to investigate and if necessary, ban them from working in the disability sector in Victoria.
You told us that choice and control needs to be central to the scheme, to allow people with disability to choose the right workers for them.
A registration and accreditation scheme will support choice and control. At the moment there are a variety of different job titles used by disability workers, but no way of easily understanding the skills or expertise of those workers. Under the proposed scheme, specific titles will be legally reserved, and online information will be available about registered workers. This will provide peace of mind that workers using these titles have met certain requirements and that they are subject to ongoing monitoring.
People with disability will be able to choose either a registered worker using a registered title, or a non-registered worker who doesn’t use a protected title. If choosing a registered worker, a list will be publicly available to provide information about that worker.
You told us that the scheme needs to be designed in a way that minimises the administrative burden on both workers and providers.
Employing registered workers will reduce administrative burden and recruitment costs for providers as a number of pre-employment checks will already be completed, including identity and probity checks. It is intended that the process to obtain these checks will be streamlined to reduce the time and effort for workers seeking to register.
As a large number of existing disability workers have extensive and valuable experience but no formal qualifications, the regulator will be empowered to consider this experience as meeting registration requirements and enable these workers to register without needing to obtain additional qualifications.
You told us that existing disability qualifications do not meet the needs of the sector .
The regulator will have the power to assess courses to make sure graduates are well equipped to meet the registration requirements.
The regulator will work with the education and training sector, providers and people with disability to ensure that these qualifications are fit-for-purpose.
You told us that the scheme needs to complement the NDIS Quality and Safeguarding Framework (QSF) .
The Victorian scheme will complement the safeguards to be available under the QSF. The National Quality and Safeguards Commission (QSC) has the power to ban unfit workers from delivering NDIS funded supports. The Victorian scheme will have the power to ban workers from providing disability services funded through any scheme, including the Transport Accident Commission or WorkSafe. This ensures that all people with disability benefit from the same safeguards.
The Victorian scheme is intended to work closely with the QSC, with formal information sharing arrangements to be established to avoid duplication.
What this means for the workforce
As a disability worker, you can choose to register and use a protected title.
The scheme will provide registration options for different qualification levels, from provisional registration for those looking to enter the sector, studying an accredited course to being an experienced disability practitioner.
Workers who abuse or neglect people with disability can be banned from continuing to work in the disability sector in Victoria, thereby fostering trust in the dedication and skill of the workforce.
What this means for people with disability and families
As a person with disability or family member, you will have the choice to employ workers who have passed probity checks and completed high quality, accredited training and qualifications.
You will have more information available to help you make informed choices about the workers you want to support you, and an added layer of assurance and peace of mind that these workers have met minimum standards.
If you choose to employ an unregistered worker, and you are unhappy with the worker, you will still be able to make a complaint. The regulator will have the power to ban that worker from the sector if they have committed misconduct, whether they are registered or not.
Victoria is currently the only state introducing a registration and accreditation scheme, recognising that people with disability need certainty that there will be strong and enduring safeguards throughout this period of significant change.
What this means for service providers
As a disability service provider, having access to a publicly available register of qualified workers will reduce the administrative cost of pre-employment checks and will make managing poorly performing workers easier.
There will be a trusted source of information about the suitability of workers’ qualifications and confidence that these qualifications provide the practical skills needed to work in the disability sector.
What happens next
The Government is now developing the legislation for consideration by Parliament later this year.
Once established, the regulator will undertake significant consultation to develop registration standards that meet the needs of the sector. This consultation is expected to take place over 12 to 24 months, after which the scheme will start.
Find out more
You can keep up to date with the progress of the legislation and introduction of the scheme at ndis.vic.gov.au/registrationandaccreditation
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Responding to your feedback:
A registration and accreditation scheme for the Victorian disability workforce