14/04/2023
NDIA Participant Safeguarding Policy
The aim of the policy is to:
• Improve how we support people with disability, participants, and their support networks to create or increase safeguards
• Provide clarity on roles and responsibilities in the NDIS support system
• Demonstrate how we will be more proactive in supporting people with disability, participants, and their support networks to identify, assess and manage risk of harm
• Improve safeguarding resources for people with a disability and our staff.
This policy includes six co-designed principles and four implementation focus areas that will guide how we work with, and support people with disability to make informed decisions about their own safety and safeguards in their life. We also developed an implementation plan that outlines how we will deliver the policy
Principles we are guided by
• Safety Culture
• Empowerment
• Proactive support
• Individual circumstances
• Dignity of risk and informed decision-making
• Informal support networks
Approaches we strive for
• Focus area 1 - A proactive and individual approach to identifying, assessing, and managing risks
• Focus area 2 - Developing the workforce and capability of people with disability
• Focus area 3 - Working with people with disability to proactively develop safeguards
• Focus area 4 - Effective corrective measures in response to incidents
Definition: Safeguarding is any action which protects the rights of people to be safe from the risk of harm, abuse, neglect, or exploitation, while maximising the choice and control they have over their lives.
The Participant Safeguarding Policy and Implementation Plan can be found at www.ndis.gov.au/participantsafeguarding.
ndis.gov.au
The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) is an independent statutory agency. Our role is to implement the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
