Last issue we highlighted that the Victorian Code of Conduct for disability workers overseen by the Victorian Disability Worker Commission will commence on 1 July 2020. The Code applies to all disability workers employed or otherwise engaged to deliver disability services in Victoria, regardless of their funding source. The Code of Conduct mirrors the seven elements in the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission’s Code of Conduct.

Complaints
People with disability will be able to make complaints about any disability worker in Victoria. Complaints may be about:

• the standard of work
• the knowledge, skill or judgement of the disability worker
• their capacity to provide services safely
• an alleged breach of the Disability Service Safeguards Act 2018 (Vic) or the Disability Service Safeguards Code of Conduct.

Complaints can be made filling out a webform, calling or writing to the Victorian Disability Worker Commission.

Notifications
Employers and disability workers must notify the Victorian Disability Worker Commission if they believe that a worker has engaged in certain types of misconduct. The notifications are aimed to help make the Victorian Disability Worker Commission aware of potential risks to people with disability.

Four types of conduct must be notified to the Commission:

1. practising as a disability worker while intoxicated by alcohol or drugs,
2. engaging in sexual misconduct while practising as a disability worker,
3. placing the public at risk of harm because the disability worker has an impairment that detrimentally affects (or is likely to affect), the disability worker's capacity to practise as a disability worker, or
4. placing the public at risk of harm because the disability worker practised, or is practising, as a disability worker in a manner that constitutes a significant departure from accepted professional standards.

From 1 July, notifications will be able to be made via a webform or by calling the Commission. Detailed guidance about the Code of Conduct will be available on the Disability Worker Commission website by July 1 2020, where providers can also subscribe for periodic updates.