Victorian Disability Worker Commission

09/10/2025

Have you subscribed to our prohibition order alerts?

The Commissioner issues prohibition orders to prevent unregistered disability workers from posing a serious risk to the life, health, safety or welfare of people with disability or the broader public. These orders ban them from working as disability workers or allow them to work only under specific conditions.

We take these orders seriously. Any worker who ignores a prohibition order and continues to work is breaking the law - and we do prosecute.

Make sure you stay informed by signing up to receive alerts directly to your inbox when we update our public prohibition orders page.

For more information and to sign up visit vdwc.vic.gov.au/prohibition-orders

01/10/2025

We are pleased to announce that revised disability worker registration standards take effect today, 1 October 2025. The standards apply to all applicants for disability worker registration and to registered disability workers.

The three registration standards are criminal history, English language requirements and Continuing Professional Development.

The registration standards were updated following a public consultation and feedback from the disability community. The changes make it easier than ever for disability workers to understand and comply with the standards.

For more information please visit vdwc.vic.gov.au/registration-standards

30/09/2025

Do you live in Frankston or surrounding areas? Do you want to know more about the Victorian Disability Worker Commission and the Disability Services Commissioner, Victoria (DSC)?

We are running a public forum on Tuesday 28 October at 10am at the Frankston Arts Centre. Join us to learn more about both organisations and how we work to create a safer, stronger disability sector in Victoria.

This free forum will provide attendees with information on our different functions - complaints services, mandatory notifications and disability worker registration. It will be a useful session for people with disability, disability workers and service providers, local community and government organisations, and anyone interested in learning more about how VDWC and DSC work.

There will be an opportunity to ask questions and morning tea will be provided.

We look forward to seeing you there!

For more information and to register for the forum visit https://events.humanitix.com/vdwc-public-forum-frankston

25/09/2025

Belonging Matters Inc. and the Belonging Matters Advisory Council (BMAC) have produced a guide on how a support worker can provide good support. The guide is based on the experiences of people with intellectual disability and autism and covers the following topics:

- participating and being included in community
- the role of a support worker
- getting to know the person you are supporting well and treating them as an individual
- good support
- communication
- supported decision making

To download a copy of the guide visit belongingmatters.org/product-page/pdf-guide-support-workers

22/09/2025

Since the founding of World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) in 1951, the Australian Deaf community has celebrated National Week of Deaf People to align with International Week of Deaf People (IWDP) and International Day of Sign Languages (IDSL).

The theme for 2025 is ‘No Human Rights Without Sign Language Rights’ and is an opportunity for Deaf people to celebrate their communities, language, culture and history.

Sign interpreters are extremely important and highly skilled disability workers, and this week, VDWC recognise and thank them for the valuable work they do.

We also wanted to shine a light on the many deaf people who are disability workers and recognise their significant contribution to the sector. We urge these disability workers to become registered to recognise the important work they do.

For more information about the week, head to their website - https://wfdeaf.org/international-week-of-deaf-people-2025/

19/09/2025

In working with disability workers, co-regulators, and our partners, our focus is to prevent, minimise, or avoid harms of concern and achieve our desired regulatory outcomes.

We expect all disability workers to:

• Comply with their legal obligations
• Meet mandatory standards
• Adopt practices that actively manage the risk of harm to people with disability

We recognise that most disability workers are committed to delivering quality services, meeting regulatory requirements, and continually improving their practice. Where workers fail to comply, we will take action and, when necessary, escalate our compliance and enforcement response to ensure people with disability are protected.

To read more visit vdwc.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-05/VDWC%20Regulatory%20approach.pdf

18/09/2025

There is still time to sign up and have your say in strengthening the disability sector for First Nations people with disability.

First Peoples Disability Network, in partnership with Jumbunna Research UTS, is launching a national survey on the First Nations Disability Sector. Follow the links below for more information and to register your interest in participating in the survey.

15/09/2025

Commissioner Dan Stubbs is speaking this morning at an online roundtable as part of the review of the Disability Discrimination Act. This forum will focus on the importance of the review for community safety and the potential impact from the recommended changes to the Act.

Key points the Commissioner will highlight are:

- The right of people with disability to be safe and free from fear and violence
- Vilification experienced by people with disability, and
- The confidence people with disability must be able to have in police and other law enforcement bodies.

This roundtable is part of a series of consultation events supporting the review. For more information on the review please visit the review page below.

The Attorney-General’s Department is reviewing the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth). The purpose of the review is to implement 15 recommendations from the Disability Royal Commission and ensure the Disability Discrimination Act remains fit for purpose.

10/09/2025

Ask R U OK? Any Day because life happens every day.

A lot can happen in a year, a month, a week. Whether it’s your friend, family member, colleague, partner, or teammate, the people you care about go through life’s ups and downs every day.

By having regular, meaningful conversations, you build trust and normalise talking about what’s really going on, so when the people in your world find themselves struggling, they know you’re someone they can talk to.

So whilst today is the National Day of Action, we encourage you to Ask R U OK? Any Day of the year because a conversation could change a life.

09/09/2025

We regulate all disability workers providing services in Victoria, no matter how those services are funded. Our aim is to minimise harm to people with disability and deliver on our desired regulatory outcomes.

We are successful when:

- we reduce harm, abuse and neglect of people receiving a disability service from a disability worker
- we drive an increase in the quality of disability services provided by workers and
- people with a disability choose high quality, safe workers.

People with disability have the right to live free from harm and abuse which includes physical, psychological, emotional, and financial harm as well as impacts on the rights and dignity of disability service recipients.

We seek to minimise these harms and the risk of them occurring through direct regulation of disability workers, and by working with co-regulators and other partners.

Swipe to see more about the harms we seek to prevent, minimise and where possible eliminate.

To read more visit www.vdwc.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-05/VDWC%20Regulatory%20approach.pdf

05/09/2025

What is CPD? CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development and all registered disability workers are required to undertake CPD activities as part of their registration.

Come registration renewal time, registered disability workers need to provide details of 10 hours of CPD completed in the past registration year.

CPD activities can be in many forms and may be free or paid. Some activities that count are online courses, training provided by an employer, webinars and workshops, formal mentoring, conferences, higher education and reading relevant books or journals.

Our Training and Development Catalogue can assist workers to find appropriate training. It provides easy access to information about free and paid training and development resources from a range of course providers to assist workers to complete their CPD requirements. Check it out by visiting www.vdwc.vic.gov.au/courses-overview

For more information on CPD visit www.vdwc.vic.gov.au/registration/CPD