Safeguarding the rights of people with disability

Learn about the safeguards that prevent harm to people with disability and how to report concerns about the quality of disability services or providers.

Safeguards help prevent harm and reduce the risk of violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation.

Learn about safeguards to prevent harm to people with disability and how to report concerns about disability services or providers.

Safeguards can include:

laws, regulations and service standards to protect your rights
different ways to report concerns about how you are treated
people who can investigate your complaints.

Concerns about the quality of disability services and providers

If it’s an NDIS registered service provider

You, and your family or carers, can contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.

The commission makes sure registered providers follow NDIS Practice Standards. The standards describe the quality of support and services you should get.

You can also:

check the NDIS Worker Screening Database to see if a worker has a clearance.
ask workers who provide your supports and services to have an NDIS Worker Screening Check.

Get help from the NDIS Commission.

If the provider is not registered with NDIS

You can get support from the ACT Human Services Registrar.

The registrar will:

make sure a specialist disability service provider follows the ACT Disability Services Approved Standards
investigate your complaint.

Contact the ACT Human Services Registrar.

You can also ask if the person providing disability services has a Working with Vulnerable People Registration.

Concerns about the services you get where you live

You, your family or carers can contact the Disability Official Visitor to report concerns about the services you receive.

The Disability Official Visitor can visit you if you live in accommodation for:

respite or long-term residential care including your own home where you receive specialist disability services
aged care and you are under 65 with disability or over 65 in receipt of NDIS funding.

If you agree, the Disability Official Visitor will:

investigate your concerns
visit where you live, or at another location
talk privately with you about the services you are getting
observe the environment and how staff interact with residents
talk with the service provider management about your issue
try to resolve the issue with the service provider or refer it to another body to resolve.

Arrange a visit from the Disability Official Visitor.

Protection from restrictive practices

A restrictive practice is an action that restricts a person’s rights or freedom of movement. Its main purpose is to manage a behaviour that may cause harm to the person or others.

A law called the Senior Practitioner Act 2018 controls how restrictive practices are used in the ACT. The law’s aim is to reduce and end the use of restrictive practices.

A restrictive practice can only be used:

if it is agreed to in a Positive Behaviour Support Plan or in an emergency
as a last resort
in only a few situations
for the shortest time possible.

A person called the Senior Practitioner:

monitors the use of restrictive practices
investigates when someone complains about a restrictive practice.

You can complain to the Senior Practitioner about:

a positive behaviour support plan that allows the use of a restrictive practice
any restrictive practice used by a disability service provider.

To complain about a restrictive practice, contact the Office of the Senior Practitioner.

Help to make decisions about your life: legal guardians and managers

If a family member or carer thinks you need someone to make decisions for you, they might ask the ACT Civil & Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) for help.

ACAT can decide if you need a:

guardian to help you make decisions about your health, welfare and where you live
manager to help you make decisions about your property and your money.

Find out what happens if you need a guardian or manager.

Unfair treatment because of your disability

It is against the law to treat you unfairly because of your disability. This is called discrimination.

There are federal and ACT laws that protect you from disability discrimination.

Discrimination complaints

If you want to complain about discrimination, you can complain to:

Help to make a discrimination complaint

You can get free legal help from Disability Discrimination Law at Canberra Community Law.

Help to understand your rights or make a complaint

You can get help from a disability advocate to speak, act or write for you.

In the ACT you can contact:

Help with legal issues

You can get help from a lawyer and social worker at the Socio-Legal Practice Clinic.

Learn more about legal safeguards in the ACT

If you want to read what the law says about protecting the rights of people with disability, read: