NDIS Incident Reporting: A Provider’s Guide

Incidents and accidents happen from time to time. As an NDIS provider, it’s essential to have an effective incident reporting system in place to protect yourself, your workers, and your clients.

Understanding NDIS incident reporting

The NDIS incident reporting process is a structured approach designed to ensure that incidents involving NDIS participants are documented, addressed, and resolved in line with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) guidelines. The process helps maintain the safety and well-being of participants while ensuring service providers meet their legal and regulatory obligations.

As an NDIS provider, you must have an incident management system in place to record and manage incidents.

Key steps include:

1. Identifying an incident: Any event that involves harm, abuse, neglect, or injury to a participant or poses a serious risk to their safety is classified as an incident that must be reported. This can include both physical and psychological harm.
2. Immediate action: Once an incident occurs, service providers must take immediate steps to ensure the safety and well-being of all involved. This may include medical intervention, contacting emergency services, or removing potential risks.
3. Reporting the incident: The provider must notify the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission within specified timeframes (24 hours for serious incidents). A detailed incident report must include information on what happened, when and where it occurred, those involved, and immediate actions taken.
4. Follow-up and investigation: Depending on the severity of the incident, further investigation may be required. This could involve gathering more details, interviewing witnesses, or conducting a formal review to identify causes and areas for improvement.
5. Resolution and review: The final step is resolving the incident, implementing corrective actions, and reviewing procedures to prevent future occurrences. Providers are also encouraged to use these reports to continuously improve the quality and safety of their services.

What’s considered a reportable incident?

A reportable incident under the NDIS refers to any serious event that occurs in connection with NDIS services and supports that has a significant impact on the health, safety, or well-being of an NDIS participant. These incidents must be reported to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission within specific timeframes.

Reportable incidents include:

• Death: If a participant passes away while receiving NDIS services, this must be reported, regardless of the cause.
• Serious injury: Any injury that requires medical treatment or hospitalisation, including fractures, severe cuts, or head injuries.
• Abuse or neglect: This includes physical, emotional, psychological, or financial abuse, as well as the neglect of an NDIS participant by a provider or staff member.
• Unlawful sexual or physical contact: Any form of unlawful or non-consensual sexual contact, physical assault, or inappropriate behaviour toward a participant.
• Sexual misconduct: Any form of inappropriate sexual behaviour, including grooming, harassment, or exploitation involving an NDIS participant.
• Unauthorised use of restrictive practices: The use of physical, mechanical, or chemical restraints or seclusion without proper consent or authorisation to manage a participant’s behaviour.

As an NDIS provider, not only are you expected to notify the NDIS of reportable incidents, but you also need to inform them of any alleged incidents. There may also be times when you need to involve other relevant authorities, like the police if you suspect a crime has been committed.

How to submit an incident report to the NDIS

The first step in reporting incidents to the NDIS is to log in to your PRODA account and submit an Immediate Notification Form via the My Reportable Incidents page.

While you’ll need to submit an Immediate Notification Form within 24 hours, you have up to five business days to complete a Five Day Form. Completing this form can be a time-consuming process, so it’s important to have all the necessary information on hand to help you complete the report.

This report should include:

• A full description of the incident,
• The date, time, and location,
• The people involved, and
• Immediate actions taken.

In some instances, the NDIS may require you to complete a final report. If this is the case, they’ll contact you via email to let you know when the final report is due and what’s required. Download our comprehensive NDIS Indicent Reporting Template & Guide for more information.

Implementing an incident reporting system

As part of your obligations as an NDIS provider, you must have an incident management system in place to help record and manage incidents.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you create your own incident reporting system.

1. Establish clear policies and procedures

Clearly outline what constitutes an incident, especially those that are considered reportable to the NDIS Commission (e.g., serious injury, abuse, neglect, etc.).

Develop detailed, step-by-step instructions on how incidents should be reported, including timeframes, responsible parties, and required documentation.

2. Create incident report templates

Develop standardised incident report templates to capture important information such as the date, time, location, description of the incident, people involved, and immediate actions taken.

Include variations of templates for different types of incidents, such as serious injury, abuse, or restrictive practice use.

3. Provide staff training

Regularly train staff on how to recognize, document, and report incidents. Include instructions on both minor and major incidents, emphasizing the importance of accurate and timely reporting.

Regularly train staff on how to recognize, document, and report incidents. Include instructions on both minor and major incidents, emphasizing the importance of accurate and timely reporting.

Provide refresher courses and updates whenever policies change, ensuring staff remain informed.

4. Develop a centralised reporting system

Implement a central system where all incidents can be reported, logged, and tracked. This could be a software platform or a physical logbook, depending on the size and needs of your organization.

Ensure that all relevant staff have access to the reporting system and know how to use it effectively.

5. Create a culture of safety and transparency

Foster an environment where staff feel comfortable reporting incidents, including near misses, without fear of retaliation or negative consequences.

Allow staff to provide feedback on the incident reporting process and suggest improvements. This encourages buy-in and helps identify system weaknesses.

How to create an effective incident report form

As part of your incident reporting system, it’s essential to design an NDIS incident report template to help guide your workers when writing their own incident reports. These incident report templates should outline the relevant details to include in an NDIS incident report.

Your incident report template should include the following essential details:

• The date, time, and location of the incident,
• The contact details of those involved, including the participant and other individuals,
• A description of the incident,
• The impact of the incident on the participant,
• The immediate actions that were taken,
• Any witness information.

As part of the incident reporting process, you may also be required to provide additional information, so it can be worth including the following details in your incident report template:

• A description of any ongoing support to be provided in response to the incident,
• Details on why you believe this was a reportable incident,
• Details on any follow-up actions or investigations, and
• An updated risk assessment outlining how you plan to prevent future incidents.

Use our incident report template to help you create your own incident report document.

Implement an incident management system with CareMaster

Implementing an incident management system is a necessary step in providing NDIS supports and services.

At CareMaster, our comprehensive NDIS software has been designed with a fully integrated incident management solution that allows you to record and manage incidents efficiently.

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