This policy outlines Safe Hands Disability’s obligations and processes for identifying, responding to, documenting, and reporting incidents involving NDIS participants to ensure participant safety and regulatory compliance.
Safe Hands Disability is committed to the safety and wellbeing of every participant we support. This policy ensures that all incidents — particularly those that cause harm or pose a risk to participants — are identified, responded to immediately, documented accurately, and where required, reported to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission within legislated timeframes.
This policy satisfies our obligations under:
This policy applies to all Safe Hands Disability staff (full-time, part-time, and casual), contractors, subcontractors, and volunteers who deliver supports to NDIS participants. It covers all incidents that occur:
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Incident | An event or circumstance that results, or could have resulted, in unintended harm to a participant, staff member, or visitor. Includes near-misses. |
| Reportable Incident | A specific category of incidents defined in the NDIS (Incident Management and Reportable Incidents) Rules 2018 that must be notified to the NDIS Commission. |
| Near Miss | An unplanned event that did not result in harm but had the potential to do so under slightly different circumstances. |
| Restrictive Practice | Any practice that restricts the rights or freedom of movement of a participant, including seclusion, chemical, mechanical, physical or environmental restraint. |
| NDIS Commission | The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission — the regulator responsible for registering NDIS providers and investigating incidents. |
Incidents are classified into two categories based on severity and mandatory reporting obligations:
Death of a participant during or related to the delivery of NDIS supports.
Injury requiring hospitalisation, medical treatment, or resulting in permanent impairment.
Physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, or financial abuse, or neglect of a participant.
Any non-consensual sexual contact or sexual misconduct involving a participant.
Any use of restrictive practices not authorised in the participant’s behaviour support plan.
Incidents without serious harm — falls, medication errors caught before harm, property damage, behavioural incidents managed safely.
Zero Tolerance: Safe Hands Disability has a zero-tolerance position on all forms of abuse, neglect, violence, exploitation, and unlawful restrictive practices. Any allegation or suspicion — even if unconfirmed — must be reported immediately to the Manager and to the NDIS Commission.
In the event of any incident, the attending worker must take immediate action to ensure safety before documenting or reporting.
Remove the participant and any others from immediate danger. Call 000 (police, ambulance, or fire) if there is any risk to life or the incident involves a criminal act. Provide first aid if trained and if it is safe to do so.
Contact your direct supervisor or the on-call manager by phone. Do not wait until the end of your shift. For death, serious injury, or abuse: call immediately regardless of the time of day.
Stay with the participant, provide comfort, and explain what is happening in a calm manner. Notify the participant’s emergency contact and/or nominee as appropriate. Offer access to an advocate if requested.
Where the incident may require investigation (e.g., suspected abuse or death), do not disturb the scene unless necessary for safety. Retain any relevant equipment, materials, or CCTV footage.
Complete an Incident Report Form as soon as possible after the event — while details are fresh. Be factual, objective, and thorough. Include date, time, location, witnesses, actions taken, and injuries observed.
Once a manager is notified of an incident, reporting obligations are triggered. The NDIS Commission must be notified as follows:
| Incident Type | Report to NDIS Commission | Further Report |
|---|---|---|
| Death of a participant | Within 24 hours of becoming aware | Full written report within 5 business days |
| Serious injury (hospitalisation) | Within 24 hours of becoming aware | Full written report within 5 business days |
| Abuse or neglect | Within 24 hours of becoming aware | Full written report within 5 business days |
| Unlawful sexual contact | Within 24 hours of becoming aware | Full written report within 5 business days |
| Unauthorised restrictive practice | Within 5 business days | Reviewed quarterly report |
| Near miss / minor incident | Not required (internal record only) | Monthly review by management |
How to Report to the NDIS Commission: Use the NDIS Commission Portal (my.ndiscommission.gov.au), call 1800 035 544, or submit via written correspondence. A senior staff member authorised by the Director must submit all Commission reports.
All incidents — regardless of severity — must be documented in the Safe Hands Disability Incident Register. The incident report must include:
Incident records must be retained for a minimum of 7 years (or until the participant reaches 25 years of age if they were a minor at the time), in accordance with NDIS and state health records requirements.
Following any reportable incident or significant near-miss, Safe Hands Disability will conduct an internal review to identify root causes, contributing factors, and opportunities for systemic improvement.
Where the NDIS Commission or police conduct an external investigation, Safe Hands Disability will fully cooperate with the investigation. Staff involved must not destroy, alter, or withhold any documents or records related to the incident. The Director / CEO will appoint a liaison contact to coordinate with investigators.
Safe Hands Disability is committed to open and transparent communication with participants and their families following an incident. We will:
If a participant wishes to make a formal complaint about how an incident was handled, they may do so under our Feedback & Complaints Policy (POL-CMP-001) or directly with the NDIS Commission on 1800 035 544.
Safe Hands Disability recognises that the use of restrictive practices must be avoided wherever possible and can only occur in limited, authorised circumstances as a last resort to prevent harm.
The following practices are strictly prohibited at all times:
Any approved restrictive practice must be documented in the participant’s Behaviour Support Plan, approved by the relevant state or territory authority, and implemented by trained workers only. Every use must be recorded in the Incident Register and reported to the NDIS Commission within 5 business days.
Important: If a worker uses a restrictive practice in an emergency to prevent immediate harm and no authorisation exists, this must still be reported as an incident immediately. The use of an unapproved restrictive practice is always a reportable incident, even if it prevented harm.
Safe Hands Disability acknowledges that being involved in a serious incident can be traumatic for workers. Following any significant incident, we will:
Workers involved in incidents will not face adverse action for reporting in good faith, even if the report reveals their own error. Deliberate concealment of incidents, however, is treated as serious misconduct.
| Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| All Workers | Respond to incidents immediately; notify manager; complete incident report; cooperate with review process; never conceal an incident |
| Team Leaders / Supervisors | Receive incident notifications; support worker to complete documentation; escalate reportable incidents to management; initiate internal review |
| Manager / Operations | Determine incident classification; notify NDIS Commission within required timeframes; coordinate investigation; implement corrective actions; maintain Incident Register |
| Director / CEO | Final accountability for incident management system; sign off on Commission reports; ensure board-level reporting; policy review |
All staff must complete training in incident identification, reporting, and first response as part of their induction. Ongoing training requirements include: