Employee Supervision during Workers Screening Applications
Supervision during a Workers Screening Application? Overview
In some states or territories, unregistered or registered NDIS providers may allow a worker to ‘work on application’, which means the worker can begin working in a risk-assessed role after they apply for an NDIS Worker Screening Check but before they have been granted clearance. Appropriate safeguards must be in place for workers who work on applications.
What is the Supervision Requirements?
In the states and territories where workers can work on an application, the NDIS provider must ensure that a person with an NDIS Worker Screening Clearance supervises the worker. In the ACT and TAS, the worker must be supervised by a person with an NDIS Worker Screening Clearance who is always present while the person engages in regulated activity. In the NT, the worker must be ‘supervised’ by a person with an NDIS Worker Screening Clearance. In NSW and WA, the worker must be ‘appropriately supervised by a person with an NDIS Worker Screening Clearance. The registered NDIS provider must determine what ‘supervision’ means for their organisation and consider those arrangements in terms of the risk management plan that is developed and implemented.
Supervision in ACT, TAS, NSW, WA and the NT
Supervision is not defined in the Worker Screening Rules or in the various State/Territory worker screening laws as it is intended that the registered NDIS provider will consider and implement supervision arrangements that support the delivery of NDIS services safely and competently and that are appropriate for the size and nature of the organisation. Supervision may range from a worker periodically checking in with a supervisor, to the worker being supervised by a person present at all times, based on a risk assessment of the arrangement. For example, if the registered NDIS provider delivers therapeutic services in person with a parent or guardian present and by workers who hold criminal record checks that show no identifying criminal history within the past two years, the registered provider may implement a risk management plan involving periodic supervision of the workers. Such periodic supervision may include checking in with a supervisor twice a week to provide a report on the sessions conducted and reviewing the shift/session notes. The supervisor may also call the client for feedback on the quality of the service. Another example is if a registered NDIS provider determines, as a result of their background checks on the worker or visibility of previously valid acceptable checks, that it is appropriate for a worker to continue providing one on one support to a person with disability in their home, then supervision may be delivered through requiring a colleague who has an NDIS Worker Screening Clearance to attend the client’s home with the worker. The colleague does not have to be a senior staff member, but they do need to have an NDIS Worker Screening Clearance. This arrangement requires the colleague to report back to a supervisor about the worker's performance they have accompanied and raise and act on any concerns identified.
What needs to be included in a risk management plan?
NDIS providers must develop and maintain a risk management plan for all workers in risk-assessed roles, including those who work on applications. The requirements of the risk management plan are set out in Section 12 of the Worker Screening Rules. The risk management plan must identify and describe each risk to a person with a disability that the registered NDIS provider supports or services and explain how each risk will be managed. The risk management plan should document the arrangements in place to appropriately supervise workers who work on applications.
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Unregistered & Registered Providers Code of Conduct - https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/about/ndis-code-conduct#:~:text=Jake-,The%20NDIS%20Code%20of%20Conduct,privacy%20of%20people%20with%20disability