SRS and NDIS services often align, as many people who choose to live in an SRS are eligible to receive NDIS funding to access individualised support services. About 30 per cent of SRS residents in Victoria are currently NDIS participants.
As residents may choose to access a range of services, it is important that the boundaries between fee-for-service SRS and NDIS funded services are carefully maintained.
Where residents receive NDIS funded services, proprietors should ensure that residents:
- receive what they pay for
- have agency and choice in the delivery of services
- have access to adequate number of appropriately trained staff to meet their needs
- have support plans that clearly outline what services will be provided.
Regulatory oversight
SRS providers need to meet requirements in the Social Services Regulation Act 2021 (the Act), the Social Services Regulations 2023 (the Regulations) and the Social Services (Supported Residential Services) Regulations 2024 (the SRS Regulations).
The Regulator works with co-regulators to oversee compliance of SRS proprietors who deliver or facilitate NDIS funded services to residents. This includes sharing information with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and National Disability Insurance Agency to protect the safety and wellbeing of SRS residents who are also NDIS participants.
The Regulator may take regulatory action where an SRS does not have sufficient processes in place to separate its SRS and NDIS supports.
Compliance guidance
The Regulator has developed the following guidance to support SRS proprietors to comply with relevant regulatory requirements in the context of NDIS funded services.
Proprietors must also comply with a range of other requirements in the Social Services Regulation Act 2021, the Social Services Regulations 2023 and the Social Services (Supported Residential Services) Regulations 2024.
Updated