Both the NDIS Commission and the NDIA contribute to ensuring the delivery of the NDIS. The NDIS Commission does not regulate the NDIA. Complaints about the NDIA or the participant's plans should be submitted directly to the NDIA. For the first time, the NDIS Commission brings together several quality and safeguards functions in a single agency, with a set of educational and regulatory powers that apply across Australia.
This will improve consistency in the regulation and registration of suppliers in different states and territories. The NDIS Commission will monitor the NDIS market by collecting, analyzing and advising on a series of unique data to identify trends and changes in the NDIS market. The market oversight function of the NDIS Commission will complement, not replace, the plan planning and management function of the NDIA. The NDIS Commission will publish more information on this important function over time.
The Commissioner also has the power to initiate his own investigations into the supports and services provided to an NDIS participant under his NDIS plan, if he suspects that there are problems. As the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission comes into force across Australia, participants will see changes in the complaints process and in the way restrictive and behavioral support practices are managed. All NDIS suppliers and their employees must comply with the NDIS Code of Conduct, which sets expectations for how suppliers and workers behave when providing supports and services. For example, many NDIS participants receive services that are not provided under the NDIS (known as “general services”), such as dental or hospital care, and the Commissioner can ask questions about this if necessary to deal with a complaint or a reportable incident.
As leader of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, the Commissioner advocates for the health, well-being and safety of people who access the NDIS and related services.
