Self-Management Guide

Self-Management Guide

Easy Read version

How to use this document

This information is written in a way that is easy to read.

This document has been written by the Department of Communities, Disability Services. When you see the word ‘we’, it means the Disability Services part of the Department of Communities.

Some words are written in bold. We explain what these words mean. There is a list of these words on page 21.

This Easy Read document is a summary of another document.

You can find the other document on our website at

You can ask for help to read this document.
A friend, family member or support person may be able to help you.

You might not want to read this whole document all at once.

There are 9 main sections. You might like to read them 1 at a time.

What’s in this document?

1.About this guide

2.What is self-management?

3.Why choose self-management?

4.What do you need to do?

5.How do you choose self-management?

6.What if you change your mind?

7.Word list

8.Emergency help

9.More information

10.Contact us

1.About this guide

This guide will help you decide if you want to self-manage your disability supports or services.

When we say disability supports and services we mean help for people
with disability.

When we say supports we are talking about disability supports
and services.

These supports can help you to:

• live your life
• achieve your goals – doing things that are important to you.

2.What is self-management?

Self-management is one way you can get the supports in your plan.

This means you get money to buy the supports in your plan.

You can do this for some or all of the supports in your plan.

Some people choose to have somebody they trust manage the supports and services in their plan.

This person is called a representative.

3.Why choose self-management?

Self-management gives you more choice about the supports you buy
and use.

You are in charge of your supports.

You can choose the people who work with you.

4.What do you need to do?

When you manage your own supports, there are things you need to do.

Your Local Coordinator will explain this to you.

Local Coordinators work with people with disability to help them achieve the goals in their plan.

When you manage your own supports, you need to:

• obey the law
• follow the rules
• manage the money
• buy the supports in your plan
• hire workers if that is in your plan
• make sure you are safe and treated well.

We explain each of these things in more detail on the following pages.

Obeying the law

When you manage your own plan, you need to obey the law.

There are laws about:

• spending the money
• hiring workers.

Your representative needs to obey the law too.

You can get advice from:

• a lawyer
• an accountant
• the Australian Tax Office.

Your Local Coordinator can give you information about what the rules are.

But they can’t give you advice about obeying the law.

Laws can change.

You need to know when laws change so you can keep obeying the law.

Following the rules

There are rules about hiring workers.

Most people who self-manage hire their own workers.

There are different ways to hire a worker.

You can hire someone as:

• anemployee– they work for you
• acontractor–they work for themselves and provide you with a service

• an employee of their own business.

How you hire someone makes a difference to the way they get paid and the tax they pay.

There is information to help you understand this.

We explain where to get this information on page 10.

Health and safety

If you hire your own workers, your home is their workplace.

You need to:

• make sure your home is a safe place to work
• obey the laws about health and safety

• give workers information and training
• work out how you can solve problems when they happen.

Worksafe WA can give you information about health and safety.

We explain where to get this information on page 24.

Managing the money

The way you manage the money needs to match what:

• your plan says
• the law says.

There are 2 ways to get the money:

1. Before you need to use it for supports.
   This is called a payment in advance.
2. After you have used your own money to pay for your supports.
   This is called reimbursement.

If you receive a payment in advance, you need to have a separate bank account just for this money.

The amount of money you get might change depending on:

• the costof the supports
• the timing of the supports
• if you have had problems with self-management in the past.

Buying the supports in your plan

Remember, you can only use the money for the supports in your plan.

You can get help with self-management if this is in your plan.

For example, you might choose to pay for a bookkeeper– somebody who helps you manage the money.

Your Local Coordinator can help you if you have questions about how you can use the money.

Important: If you use the money for things that aren’t in your plan,
you might:

• need to pay the money back
• not be allowed to manage your own supports anymore.

Keeping good records

You need to keep records that show you have used the money for the supports in your plan.

Records include things like receipts, bank statements and pay slips for your workers.

You must keep records that show:

• what support you were given
• who gave you the support
• how much the support cost
• you have paid for the support.

You will need to give the records to Disability Services from time to time.

Important: You will not be able to get more money if you don’t have the right records.

Reviewing your plan

Your Local Coordinator willcheck your plan with you to see how well it
is going.

This is called a review.

You and your Local Coordinator will talk about the plan and if you have achieved your goals.

You will also talk about what you want to include in your next plan.

If you are self-managing, you will talk about whether this is working for you.

This will happen at least once a year.

Hiring workers

Many people hire workers to help them:

• live their lives
• achieve the goals in their plans.

If you hire workers, you can find the right people to give you the help
you need.

When you hire workers you must:

• pay them properly
• make sure they get the right amount of paid leave – this only applies if they are your employees, not contractors
• pay for someone else to replace your workers who are sick or on holidays
• give your workers training if they need it and it matches your plan.

Important: You can’t use the money to pay your family members to be your support workers.

Advertising for support workers

You might need to write an ad for the support workers you want.

This is a short notice that tells people you are looking for workers.

You might put it on a website or in a newspaper.

A good ad will help you find good workers. There are questions you can ask to help you write your ad:

• What goals in your plan will your workers help you achieve?
• What do workers need to know
  about you?
• What type of person do you want your worker to be?
• What will your worker do when they are with you?
• What skills do they need to have?
• What do they need to know how to do?

If you haven’t hired a worker before, you might want to get help to write your ad.

Your Local Coordinator will know someone who can help you.

Interviews

When some people have replied to your ad, you need to decide who might be right for the job.

You need to meet people to decide who will be the most suitable.

This meeting is called an interview.

In an interview, you ask questions that will help you find out if someone will be a good worker for you.

Checks to make before you hire someone

It is important that anyone you hire:

• helps you in a good way
• keeps you safe and treats you well.

There are some checks that can be done before someone starts working with you.

Government checks

The police can check the person and give you a National Police Certificate.

This tells you if the person has been in trouble with the police.

You can also ask for a Working with Children Card.

This tells you if someone is a safe person to work with children.

This is provided by the Department of Communities, Child Protection and Family Support.

The law says that all people who work with children need a Working with Children Card.

Referee checks

When you want to hire someone, it is a good idea to ask them for
their referees.

A referee might be the person they work for now or someone they have worked for in the past.

You can talk to the referees before you decide to hire a support worker.

Getting new workers started

When you hire a new worker, you need to explain what they need to do to help you.

You can tell the worker how you like things to be done.

You might want to try having a set amount of time for you to see if the new worker is:

• doing the job well
• helping you in a good way.

This is called a probation period.

It can last for 3 to 6 months after the worker starts.

You can get more information about this from the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety.You can call them on 1300 136 237.

Managing your support workers

You need to tell the support workers if they are doing a good job.

You can talk to your support worker about:

• how things are going
• any problems they need to fix.

You might like to ask your support worker to get some training so that they do a better job.

Being safe and treated well

When you manage your own supports, it is up to you to make sure you are safe and that you are treated well.

There are a set of rules about being treated well when you receive disability support.

These rules are called the National Standards for Disability Services.

If you are managing your own supports, you can use these as a guide to how you should be treated.

There are 6 Standards:

Standard 1: Rights

You should be treated fairly when you use disability services.

Standard 2: Participation and inclusion

You can take part in the community and feel included when you use disability services.

Standard 3: Individual outcomes

You can make choices about what you want to do and work towards your own goals.

Standard 4: Feedback and complaints

You can tell people what you think about the services you receive.

Standard 5: Service access

You can access the services you need.

Standard 6: Service management

Disability services should be managed well.

You can get more information about the Standards from your Local Coordinator.

You can also get more information about the Standards here:

If you are managing your own supports,
you need to make sure that you are safe and being treated well – no matter who is providing your support.

Here are some questions for you to think about:

• Are your supports helping you reach the goals in your plan?
• Are you getting your supports in a way that keeps you and your workers safe?
• Are your supports giving you the help
  you need?
• Are you being treated well?
• How much of a say do you have in how your supports are given?
• Are your supports helping you be part of the community?
• What are you doing to help your workers:
• keep you safe?
• give you the help you need?
• Do you and your support workers know what to do if things go wrong?

If things are not going well

If you’re not getting the supports you need, talk to your workers.

You should talk to your Local Coordinator as soon as possible.

If someone is hurting you or not treating you well, you must be made safe straight away.

Talk to the WA Police.

131 444(24 hours)

If a child is being hurt or not treated well, talk to the Department of Communities, Child Protection and Family Support.
They are open Monday to Friday.

(08) 9222 2555 (city)

1800 622 258 (country)

There are other ways to get help, such as:

• your local hospital
• an advocate for people with disability – someone who can help you understand and speak up about a problem.

There is a list of other useful contact numbers on page 24.

5.How do you choose self-management?

If you decide you would like to manage your own supports, your Local Coordinator will help you do a checklist.

A checklist is a list of things you need to do for self-management.

This checklisthelps you to work out if you are ready for self-management.

The checklist asks if:

• you have read and understood this document
• you will obey the law
• you have a bank account that is only for the money for your supports
• you can find and use the help you need
• you will make sure the supports you buy match what is in your plan
• you will keep good records about the money you spend
• you will check you are receiving good supports that fit the descriptions in the National Standards for Disability Services.
• you have had any problems in the past about how well you can handle money.

If you are a representative for a person with disability, the checklist asks if you will help the person and spend the money in the right way.

If you can do all of the things on the checklist, you can start
self-management.

Your Local Coordinator needs to say it is ok for you to manage your
own supports.

Your Local Coordinator can also help you find the help you need so you can get better at self-management.

Acceptance of Grant Funds Agreement

Before you can start self-management, you and your Local Coordinator need to sign a document called the Acceptance of Grant Funds Agreement.

It is a legal document about rules that you agree to follow.

When you fill it out and sign it, it means you agree that you:

• have read and understood this Guide
• have done the Self-Management Checklistwith your
  Local Coordinator
• will obey the law

• will tell your Local Coordinator if anything changes that might affect:

• what supports you need
• how well you can self-manage

• might need to stop self-managing if we are worried about:
• how well you are self-managing
• the services you are receiving.

6.What if you change your mind?

If self-management isn’t working for you, talk to your Local Coordinator.

They will help you make changes.

You don’t have to keep managing your own support if it’s not working
for you.

There are other options.

7.Word list

Advocate

An advocate is someone who can help you understand and speak up about a problem.

Bookkeeper

Somebody who helps you manage the money.

Checklist

A checklist is a list of things you need to do for self-management.

Contractor

Someone who:

• works for themselves
• provides you with a service.

Employee

Someone who works for you.

Local Coordinator

Local Coordinators work with people with disability to help them achieve the goals in
their plan.

National Police Certificate

This tells you if someone has been in trouble with the police. You can ask a worker to get a National Police Certificate before you hire them.

National Standards for Disability Services

A set of rules that explain how you should be treated when you use disability supports
and services.

Payment in advance

When you receive money before you have paid for your supports.

Probation period