What the NEW SIL Practice Standards Mean for NDIS Providers

5 Areas Providers Should Start Working on Now

The new SIL Practice Standards may have surprised some people.

It's a lot.

Not necessarily because the concepts are new. Many of the themes have been discussed across the sector for some time. What may be surprising for some, is the level of detail and the extent to which these concepts have now been translated into specific Practice Standards and indicators.

For providers that have not yet reviewed the draft standards, we are looking at four draft additional Practice Standards specifically focused on Supported Independent Living:

• Supported Decision Making Standard

• Safeguarding Standard

• Practice Governance Standard

• Agreements About Tenancy, Housing and Support Arrangements

The themes throughout these standards are clear: participant safety, human rights, informed decision making, stronger governance and greater accountability.

For existing SIL providers, this is not simply a matter of updating a few policies.

For providers who are not yet registered, there is potentially a significant body of work ahead.

The biggest challenge for many providers will not be documentation. It will be demonstrating that these requirements are embedded into everyday practice.

Here are five areas we believe providers should start focusing on now.

1. Safeguarding

The Safeguarding Standard sends one very clear message: providers must be able to actively identify, prevent, respond to and learn from situations that place participants at risk.

Many providers already have incident management, complaints and risk management systems in place. The draft standards go further.  Providers will need to demonstrate that workers understand abuse, neglect, exploitation, discrimination and restrictive practices, and know exactly what to do when concerns arise.  This is not simply about reporting incidents. It is about creating a culture where participant safety is everyone's responsibility.

If we were prioritising one area immediately, it would be workforce capability in safeguarding.

Staff should be confident in:

• recognising signs of abuse and neglect

• responding appropriately

• reporting concerns

• supporting participant safety

• understanding their obligations under NDIS requirements

The standards suggest that safeguarding will become a core organisational capability rather than simply a compliance requirement.

2. Supported Decision Making

Supported decision making appears throughout the draft standards and is one of the strongest themes within the proposed framework.  How can you demonstrate that participants are genuinely supported to make decisions about their lives, supports and home environment.

This goes beyond asking participants what they want and making a case note.  The focus is on ensuring information is provided in a way participants understand, supporting participants to consider options and respecting decisions even when they differ from what others may prefer.

Many providers already do this well.  The challenge (as always) will be documenting and demonstrating it consistently.  Auditors are likely to be looking for evidence that participants:

• receive information they can understand

• are involved in decisions affecting them

• understand their rights

• are supported to exercise choice and control

Supported decision making is moving from a philosophy to an operational expectation.

3. Governance Oversight

One of the less talked about aspects of the draft standards is the increased expectation placed on governing bodies.  The Commission is clearly signalling that safeguarding, participant rights and SIL quality are governance responsibilities, not just operational responsibilities.

Boards, directors and senior management teams will need greater oversight of:

• participant safety

• incidents and complaints

• safeguarding trends

• participant outcomes

• quality improvement activities

• workforce capability

Many organisations will need to review how information is reported to management and governing bodies.  And how they respond.

Having good systems is no longer enough.  Providers will need evidence that leaders understand what is happening within their services and are actively monitoring performance.

4. Workforce Capability and Training

The draft standards place considerable emphasis on workforce knowledge and capability.  We will be expecting our (support) workers to increase their skills markedly.

Several areas are specifically referenced, including:

• Trauma-informed practice

• Positive Behaviour Support

• Frontline Active Support

• Supported decision making

• Safeguarding

This reflects a broader shift in expectations around SIL service delivery.  Support workers are no longer viewed as simply providing care and supervision.  The expectation is that workers actively support participants to build independence, participate in daily life, exercise choice and achieve meaningful outcomes.

Positive Behaviour Support and Frontline Active Support are evidence-based approaches that support exactly this.  When these frameworks are embedded into everyday practice, participants are more engaged, more independent and more likely to experience positive outcomes.

Any easy win for Providers right now, is to review current training and if you’re not already delivering training in the areas listed above, get to work on sourcing and implementing appropriate training.  Remember that once staff complete training, you'll need to ensure they are competent in using their new skills to support participants, and we think there’ll be a strong focus on evidencing how you are doing this.  An auditor's question might be “How can you demonstrate that support workers are providing trauma informed support?”

5. Housing, Tenancy and Support Arrangements

This is likely to be one of the biggest areas of change for some providers.  Historically, housing, tenancy and support arrangements have often been managed in very different ways across the sector.  We are moving to a space where much stronger emphasis on participant rights within their home environment.

Participants should:

• understand their housing arrangements 

• understand their support arrangements

• understand their rights

• be involved in decisions affecting their home

• have their preferences considered when vacancies occur

[Questions to ask yourself here is how can we evidence this, how can we demonstrate that participants do understand their support arrangements?]

Perhaps most importantly, the standards reinforce that tenancy arrangements and support arrangements must remain separate.  A participant's tenancy cannot depend on accepting support from a particular provider.  Likewise, support arrangements cannot depend on maintaining a tenancy with a particular housing provider.

This has always been an expectation, but the draft standards make it clear that providers will need evidence demonstrating how this separation operates in practice.

Final Thoughts

The draft SIL Practice Standards are not simply introducing additional paperwork.  They are raising expectations around participant safety, participant rights, workforce capability and governance accountability.

For some providers, this will involve strengthening existing systems.

For others, particularly those planning to enter registration for the first time, there may be substantial work ahead.  

The providers who start preparing now will be in a much stronger position when the final standards are released.

If you're unsure where to start, begin by reviewing the draft standards and asking a simple question:

Can we demonstrate this in practice, or can we only describe it on paper?

 ie., is it just written into Policy?

That question alone will tell you a lot about your registration readiness.

Need some help?

At Canopy Provider Systems, we help providers translate compliance requirements into practical systems that work for you. From policy reviews and service agreements through to audit readiness tools, implementation guides and hands-on support, we offer a range of options to help providers embed compliance in day to day practice.

We’ve recently updated our free NDIS Audit Readiness Checklist to include items relating to the new draft SIL Practice Standards.  This free download provides additional detail in how to review and respond to the new indicators.

If you’d like to discuss your specific needs relating to compliance, registration and audit, contact us and book a FREE 30 MINUTE CONSULTATION.

Canopy Provider Systems

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