Incident Management

At First Peoples Disability Care, the safety, wellbeing, dignity and rights of participants are central to the way we provide supports.

 

We are committed to responding to incidents promptly, respectfully and transparently, with a strong focus on participant safety, cultural safety and preventing incidents from happening again.

 

What Is an Incident?

An incident is an event or circumstance that has caused, or could have caused, harm to a participant while receiving supports or services.

 

This may include:

• Injury, illness or an unexpected health event

• Abuse, neglect, exploitation or discrimination

• Violence, aggression or threatening behaviour

• Medication incidents

• Privacy or confidentiality breaches

• Missing person or participant safety concerns

• Damage that creates a risk to health or safety

• Unauthorised use of restrictive practices

• Other events that affect, or could affect, a participant’s safety, wellbeing or rights

 

How We Respond

When an incident occurs, our immediate priority is the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved.

 

Depending on the circumstances, we may:

• Provide immediate assistance and make the environment safe

• Contact emergency services where required

• Ensure appropriate medical or other professional support is provided

• Notify the participant, nominee or relevant representative where appropriate

• Record and assess the incident

• Investigate or review what occurred

• Identify corrective and preventative actions

• Provide ongoing support to those affected

• Review relevant support plans, risk assessments, policies or practices

 

Reportable Incidents

Certain serious incidents involving NDIS participants may be classified as reportable incidents under the NDIS regulatory framework.

 

Where required, these incidents will be reported to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission within the applicable reporting timeframes and managed in accordance with relevant NDIS requirements.

 

We will also cooperate with emergency services, police, safeguarding authorities and other relevant agencies where notification is required.

 

Participant Rights

Participants have the right to feel safe and be treated with dignity and respect.

 

If you are involved in an incident, we will aim to ensure you:

• Are listened to and taken seriously

• Understand what is happening

• Can participate in the incident management process where appropriate

• Have access to an advocate or support person

• Have your privacy and confidentiality respected

• Receive information in a way you can understand

• Are supported in a culturally safe and respectful manner

 

Cultural Safety

We recognise the importance of culture, family, community and connection to Country when responding to incidents involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants.

 

Our response will consider each participant’s individual cultural and communication needs and, where appropriate and agreed to by the participant, involve family, advocates, Elders or other trusted supports.

 

Learning and Prevention

Incident management is not only about responding when something goes wrong. It is also an important part of improving the quality and safety of our services.

 

We review incidents to identify contributing factors, emerging risks and opportunities to strengthen our practices. Where necessary, we implement corrective actions, update support arrangements and provide additional training or guidance to our team.

 

Our goal is to create an environment where participants feel safe, respected, culturally supported and confident to speak up about any concerns.