A Girrawheen man has been fined $3,500 plus $5,763 in court costs in the Perth Magistrates Court for continuing to be engaged by a registered NDIS provider business while subject to a NDIS Worker Screening Check (NDIS Check) exclusion certificate.
The court found the man guilty of breaching the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Worker Screening) Act 2020 by maintaining a key personnel position as director of a registered NDIS provider after he had been issued with a NDIS Check exclusion notice.
An investigation by the Department of Communities’ NDIS Worker Screening Unit identified that for a period of 10 months he continued to operate as key personnel of a business which provided services to NDIS participants.
The court accepted that he maintained a position of authority over the entity, having access to NDIS funds, influence over service delivery and contact with NDIS participants.
Section 68(2) of the Act makes it a criminal offence to work in a risk-assessed role for a registered NDIS provider while subject to an NDIS Check exclusion certificate.
The NDIS Check is a nationally consistent screening requirement for people who work in risk-assessed roles for registered NDIS providers.
As stated by Lisa Edenburg, Acting Executive Director, Regulation and Quality, Department of Communities:
“The NDIS Worker Screening Check is an important safeguarding tool designed to uphold the rights of people with disability, in particular their right to live free from abuse, violence, neglect and exploitation.
“Importantly, the NDIS Check provides a level of safeguarding for people with disability by ensuring that people working in these risk-assessed roles across the sector do not pose an unacceptable risk to the safety and wellbeing of NDIS participants.
“Any NDIS Check exclusion holder that continues to undertake work in contravention to the notice can expect to face prosecution action.”
