Participant Handbook
National Positive Behaviour Support
NDIS Participant Handbook
Thank you for choosing National Positive Behaviour Support as a provider of supports.
National Positive Behaviour Support are registered for the registration groups Therapeutic Supports and Behaviour Support.
National Positive Behaviour Support is committed to providing a transparent and ethical service to all participants.
Details of the local advocacy services
The following organisations are funded through the Disability Advocacy Program:
Action on Disability within Ethnic Communities
Association for Children with a Disability
Barwon Disability Resource Council
Blind Citizens Australia
Brain Injury Matters
Collective of Self Help Groups
Communication Rights Australia
Cystic Fibrosis Victoria
Deaf Victoria
Disability Advocacy and Information Service
Disability Resources Centre
Disability Resources Centre South East
Gippsland Disability Advocacy
Grampians disAbility Advocacy Organisation – Ararat, Ballarat and Horsham
Migrant Resource Centre, North West Region
New Horizons Self Advocacy Group, auspiced by Eastern Access Community Health (EACH)
Regional Information & Advocacy Council – Bendigo, Shepparton and Mildura Reinforce
South West Advocacy Association
STAR Victoria
Victorian Advocacy League for Individuals with Disability (VALID)
Women with Disabilities Victoria
Youth Disability Advocacy Service, auspiced by Youth Affairs Council of Victoria.
Conflict of interest policy
A conflict of interest occurs when a person’s personal interests conflict with their responsibility to act in the best interests of the organisation and the people supported. Personal interests include direct interests as well as those of family, friends, or other organisations a person may be involved with or have an interest in (for example, as a shareholder, board member or business owner). A conflict of interest may be actual, potential or perceived and may be financial or non-financial. These situations present the risk that a person will make a decision based on, or affected by, these influences, rather than in the best interests of the organisation and must be managed accordingly.
Organisation responsibilities
- ensure organisational or ethical values do not impede a participant’s right to choice and control
- manage, document and report on individual conflicts of interest as they arise
- ensure that advice to a participant about support options (including those not delivered directly) is transparent and promotes choice and control.
Responsibilities of representatives
- avoid conflicts of interest where possible
- identify and disclose any conflicts of interest
- carefully manage any conflicts of interest
- adhere to the conflict of interest policy and respond to any breaches.
Key management personnel responsibilities
– work with all representatives to avoid or manage any conflict of interest
– record all reported conflicts of interest in a register of interests document.
Gifts and benefits
– representatives of the organisation must not accept any offer of money, gifts, services or benefits that could cause them to act in a manner contrary to the interests of a participant
– representatives must have no financial or other personal interest that could directly or indirectly influence or compromise the choice of provider or provision of supports to a participant—this includes the obtaining or offering of any form of commission.
Examples of conflicts of interest
- financial interests
- personal and family relationships between employees/volunteers
- decisions regarding appointments, promotions or other decisions relating to employees
- acceptance of gifts or benefits e.g. monies, jewellery, make up, clothing, flights or holidays
- use of confidential and official information
- reproduction or use of copyright information for organisation’s purposes only
- membership of, or employment in, another organisation that comes into serious competition with another organisation
- use of the organisation’s facilities and equipment for personal benefit or the benefit of a third party.
What is not conflict of interest
- membership or affiliation with other organisations where there is no possible benefit or perception of benefit
- union representation or membership
- approved collaboration with other organisations.
Breach of conflict of interest policy
- failure to disclose a potential, perceived or actual conflict of interest is a breach of this policy
- disciplinary action may follow if it is deemed to be an incident of misconduct, wrongdoing or an abuse of power.
Conflict of Interest Declaration
National Positive Behaviour Support confirms that there is no conflict of interest, with regard to being an NDIS Service Provider.
Preventing abuse and neglect
We will provide supports and services in an environment free of abuse and neglect
We will ensure people with high support needs and/or communication difficulty are well supported to enable detection and prevention of abuse and neglect
We will ensure staff are trained to recognise, prevent or minimise the occurrence or recurrence of abuse and neglect of participants.
Responding to abuse and neglect
We will respond to any case of abuse, neglect or exploitation by:
- promoting a culture of no retribution for reporting of suspected cases of abuse or neglect
- escalating all alleged or suspected incidents of abuse or neglect to key management personnel immediately
- ensuring any victim of suspected or alleged abuse or neglect is adequately supported by an independent person such as a relative, friend, advocate or legal practitioner
- responding promptly and sensitively where an alleged case of abuse or neglect has occurred, to protect the person from further harm, and coordinating appropriate responses in line with duty of care obligations
- where relevant (especially for criminal acts), preserving and recording the evidence, maintain the scene of the incident, by taking photos and protecting any person articles involved
- recording what is known about the incident including the services and people involved and any witnesses
- informing participants about what is going to happen before taking action and throughout any response to abuse and neglect
- ensuring appropriate physical, emotional and psychological support is available to and easily accessible by a person following a report or allegation of abuse or neglect
- ensuring the victim, family, guardian or other support person has the choice of pursuing the matter through the legal system and be supported to access advice and services required.
Abuse and neglect responsibilities
- all staff are responsible for providing supports and services in a manner consistent with the Code of Conduct and treating participants with respect and dignity at all times
- all staff are responsible for responding promptly and sensitively to protect the victim from further harm
- key management personnel are responsible for ensuring all staff and volunteers are aware of, trained in, compliant with, and implement the policies and processes to prevent and respond to abuse, neglect and exploitation of participants
- key management personnel are responsible for informing the appropriate authorities (e.g. police), and the victim’s family, guardian or substitute decision maker of alleged or suspected incidents of abuse or neglect, unless the guardian or decision maker is the alleged or suspected perpetrator
- all staff and witnesses will cooperate with the investigations of police or other external agency.
What is not abuse and neglect
- to restrain a participant in accordance with an approved behaviour support plan authorised by a restricted practices authorisation mechanism
- to take reasonable steps to disarm a participant seeking to harm themselves or others
- to separate participants who are fighting
- to move a participant out of harm’s way
- to restrain a participant from causing intentional damage to property, in self- defence, or in the defence of others.
Breach of abuse and neglect policy
Any workers found to be perpetrating any form of abuse or neglect will lead to disciplinary action including termination of employment. Any attempt to cover up or failure to report suspected or actual incidents of abuse will lead to disciplinary action including termination of employment.
Privacy and confidentiality
Guidelines
- we are fully committed to complying with the privacy requirements of the Privacy Act, the Australian Privacy Principles and for Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) as required by organisations providing disability services
- we are fully committed to complying with the consent requirements of the NDIS Quality and Safeguarding Framework and relevant state or territory requirements
- we provide all individuals with access to information about the privacy of their personal information
- individuals have the right to request access to their personal records by requesting this with their contact person
- where we are required to report to government funding bodies, information provided is non-identifiable and related to services and support hours provided, age, disability, language, and nationality
- personal information will only be used by us and will not be shared outside the organisation without your permission unless required by law (e.g. reporting assault, abuse, neglect, or where a court order is issued)
- images or video footage of participants will not be used without their consent
- participants have the option of being involved in external NDIS audits if they wish.
Security of information
- we take reasonable steps to protect the personal information we hold against misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification and disclosure.
- personal information is accessible to the participant and is able for use by relevant workers
- security for personal information includes password protection for IT systems, locked filing cabinets and physical access restrictions with only authorised personnel permitted access
- personal information no longer required is securely destroyed or de-identified.
Data breaches
– we will take reasonable steps to reduce the likelihood of a data breach occurring including storing personal information securely and accessible only by relevant workers
– if we know or suspect your personal information has been accessed by unauthorised parties, and we think this could cause you harm, we will take reasonable steps to reduce the chance of harm and advise you of the breach, and if necessary the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
Breach of privacy and confidentiality
- a breach of privacy and confidentiality is an incident—follow the Manage incident process to resolve
- a breach of privacy and confidentiality may require an investigation
- an intentional breach of privacy and confidentiality will result in disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.
Service Exit and Transition
Our commitment to ensure service accessibility
- non-discriminatory access for all participants enquiring or requesting access to our services
- maximum accessibility to our services for all NDIS participants who need our services
- proactively communicate information about our supports and services as part of broader community engagement activities
- identify and reduce barriers and provide equal access for all NDIS participants who need our services
- regularly review the accessibility of our services and take action to improve access whenever possible
- ensure advertised contact phone number is accessible during business hours and has active voicemail
- ensure advertised contact email account is working and checked at least daily
- ensure all enquiries by participants are responded to in a timely manner
- provide accurate information about gaining access to and exiting from our services to assist participant decision making
- make all reasonable adjustments to accommodate participant cultural/language needs and those of family, significant others, advocates
- monitor the diversity of the people accessing our services to ensure we reach the whole community particularly those groups known to experience additional barriers i.e. because of gender, culture or ethnicity
- provide participants with all options we are aware of in the community that could benefit them and expand their choices in any aspect of their life.
Entry to services
- entry and access to our services is provided on the basis of relative need and availability of resources
- each participant requesting access to services is informally assessed before they commence services
- each participant requesting access should be provided a timely response regarding their request
- a formal assessment may be necessary when more information is required to assist in deciding a participant’s request to access services
- written notification must clearly communicate one of the following: – acceptance of a request for access to our services
- refusal of a request to access of services based on the applicant not being a priority
- refusal of a request for access of services based on the applicant not being eligible for the NDIS
- request for additional information (such as when a formal assessment is required).
Exit from services
- participants have the right to leave our services at any time they choose
- participants are supported to investigate more appropriate services if they are likely to enable positive outcomes
- participants are required to provide four weeks’ notice of their intention to exit our services
- our exit process is fair and transparent and upholds the rights of participants
- if a participant is leaving due to dissatisfaction with the service, they are encouraged and supported to raise a complaint about their dissatisfaction
- we will understand, accept and learn from a participant or family’s decision to exit our service
- we will support participants with an exit plan after we become aware of a participant who will exit our services participants are offered the opportunity of an exit interview
- participants are provided information on how they can re-enter our services.
Transition plans
When participants enter the service or exit the service:
- consult with the participant, family/carer/supporter and key workers to develop a transition plan taking into account the participant’s needs and preferences including cultural needs, values and beliefs
- develop a risk management plan to manage any identified risks during transition
- ensure all workers involved in the transition are aware of the transition plan and identified risks that need to be managed
- review the transition plan regularly during the transition to ensure that are no unplanned circumstances or unmanaged risks
- following the transition, follow up with the participant and their family/carer/ supporter for feedback.
Exit from services without consent
- we may implement an exit process for a participant without their consent under the following circumstances: – a participant’s inability or unwillingness over a period of time to work towards agreed goals
- other participants, workers or the participant themselves are at risk of harm
- financial requirements are not being met
- if there are changes in the participant’s condition resulting in support needs above what we can deliver.
Withdrawal of services
- we will properly assess matters that lead to withdrawal of services and provide affected participants reasons for the withdrawal of services e.g. shortage of resources
- if we withdraw services for a participant, we will support the participant to find services from another provider.
Organisation and client rights
Client Rights
Person-centred supports
- each participant can access supports that promote, uphold and respect their legal and human rights
- each participant is enabled to exercise informed choice and control
- supports provided promote, uphold and respect individual rights to freedom of expression, self-determination and decision-making.
Individual values and beliefs
- each participant can access supports that respect their culture, diversity, values and beliefs
- each participant’s autonomy is respected, including their right to intimacy and sexual expression.
Privacy and dignity
– each participant can access supports that respect and protect their dignity and right to privacy.
Independence and informed choice
– each participant is supported to make informed choices, exercise control and maximise their independence in relation to the supports provided.
Freedom from violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation or discrimination
– each participant can access supports free from violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation or discrimination.
Local interpreting and translation services
The Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) is an interpreting service provided by the Department of Home Affairs for people who do not speak English and for agencies and businesses that need to communicate with their non-English speaking clients. Website:
Phone Interpreting
Immediate phone interpreting
(24 hours, every day of the year)
Phone: 131 450 (within Australia)
Phone: +613 9268 8332 (outside Australia)
ATIS phone interpreting
(24 hours, every day of the year)
Phone: 1800 131 450
Pre-booked phone interpreter bookings
(existing booking enquiries)
Phone: 1300 655 081
Email: [email protected]
Interpreter enquiries
Interpreter Liaison
(enquiries from interpreters)
Phone: 1300 132 621 (within Australia)
Email: [email protected]
Interpreter pay enquiries
(enquiries from interpreters)
Phone: 1300 655 080 (within Australia)
Email: [email protected]
On-site interpreting
Channel Support
(TIS Online and existing on-site booking enquiries)
Phone: 1300 655 082 (within Australia)
Email: [email protected]
General and account enquiries
Client Liaison
(general enquiries and feedback)
Phone: 1300 655 820
Email: [email protected]
Free Interpreting Service
(enquiries about free services)
Phone: 1300 575 847
Email: [email protected]
Finance Administration
(Invoice payment enquiries)
Phone: 1300 304 604
Email: [email protected]
Postal address
TIS National
GPO Box 241
MELBOURNE VIC 3001
