The purpose of the Office of The Public Guardian’s Community Visitor Program is to protect the rights and interests of adults, children and young people living at visitable sites. To ensure Community Visitors can continue visiting certain adults, children and young people participating in the NDIS after the full roll out of the NDIS scheme on 1 July 2019, the definition of visitable site is being amended.
Changes to the definition of a visitable site (adult Community Visitor Program)
Pre 1 July 2019, the definition of a visitable site included “a place where a funded NDIS participant lives”. From 1 July 2019 this has been amended to cover “sites, other than private dwelling houses, where an NDIS participant is in receipt of high levels of support and care (a relevant class of supports) from a registered NDIS provider”.
The Public Guardian Act defines relevant class of supports as any of the following classes of supports under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cwlth) (NDIS Act):
Changes to the definition of a residential facility (child Community Visitor Program)
The Public Guardian Act 2014 also provides a new definition for residential facility (a category of visitable site for community visitors (child)) to include “a place at which respite services are provided to a child NDIS participant”.
New mandatory reporting requirements
To ensure that the Public Guardian can continue to administer the Community Visitor Program in relation to the NDIS, all service providers that meet the new definition of visitable site must notify the Public Guardian of the physical location of visitable sites for funded NDIS participants (see new sections 49A and 72A of the Public Guardian Act 2014). This includes sites that are currently included in the visiting program, as well as any new sites that now meet the updated definition of visitable site. Please use the form below to submit the details of the visitable site.
As an NDIS provider or registered NDIS provider you must give the required information (outlined below) within 14 days after the end of each quarter. The first reports are due by 14 October 2019 (i.e. within 14 days after the end of quarter 1 July 2019 to 30 September 2019). It’s important to note that penalties apply if reporting timeframes are not met.
Adult Community Visitor Program
A registered NDIS provider that provides a relevant class of supports to an adult NDIS participant at a visitable site must provide the following information to the Public Guardian:
(i) the name, contact telephone number and email address of the provider;
(ii) the address of each visitable site at which the provider provides the services or supports.
Child Community Visitor Program
An NDIS provider or registered NDIS provider that provides a child accommodation service to a child NDIS participant for the purpose of providing respite services in relation to the child must provide the following information to the Public Guardian:
(ii) the address of each place at which the NDIS provider or registered NDIS provider provides the child accommodation service in relation to respite services.
Required fields are marked with an asterisk (*).
