Reporting changes to your organisation and operations

Notifying the Regulator

Registered social service providers (service providers) must notify the Regulator of certain organisational and operational matters. This is in section 47 of the Act. This requirement helps to ensure the rights, safety and wellbeing of social service users in Victoria.

You can find out about your obligations for reporting incidents that occur during service delivery on our reporting notifiable incidents page. It provides details about reporting incidents to the Regulator.

You do not need to notify the Regulator about changes to services which are not in scope of the Regulator.

What do I need to tell the Regulator about?

Service providers need to report some changes to the volume and type of social services provided. They also need to report changes to staffing, premises and organisational structure to the Regulator if they meet criteria for materially impacting service delivery.

This is generally a new reporting requirement for the social services sector. But some elements may be familiar to some providers.

There are notification requirements for all registered service providers and additional requirements for providers who:

had their registration transferred from the Human Services Regulator
the Regulator has exempt from a registration requirement.

Notification requirements for all registered service providers

The table below outlines the information and changes registered service providers must tell the Regulator about. This is in section 47(1) of the Act, Regulation 35.

If a service provider had their registration transferred from the Human Services Regulator, in addition to Table 1: Notification requirements for all registered service providers, they must also meet the requirements in Table 2: Additional notification requirements for certain service providers

Table 1: Notification requirements for all registered service providers
Change type	Information you must tell the Regulator about	Notification timelines
Services provided	Changes to type of social service you provide Changes to the volume of social service you provide	28 days
Staffing	Staffing changes that materially impact service delivery	7 days for supported residential service providers and providers that are an unincorporated body that does not have a board of management 28 days for all other providers
Key personnel (see our Suitability requirements fact sheet for details on who is considered key personnel)	If there has been a change to key personnel, information about new key personnel, in line with information required at the point of registration Note: Notifications for new key personnel must attach a completed Information about new key personnel form for each new individual. A notification does not need to be made where a person is engaged or employed to act as a member of key personnel for a period of 28 days or less.	28 days
Organisational changes	Organisational changes that materially impact service delivery	28 days
Premises	Changes to premises where you provide services that materially impact service delivery	28 days
Registration information	Changes to information you provided to the Regulator when you registered Any change to information recorded in the Register about the registered provider	28 days
Criminal history	Any conviction for an indictable offence, findings of misconduct, or offence for fraud and dishonesty punishable by imprisonment of 3 months or more committed by the provider (if the provider is an individual), a director of the provider, or its key personnel	7 days after the conviction becomes known to the provider

Service providers the Regulator has exempt from registration and those who had their registration transferred from the Human Services Regulator

Table 2: Additional notification requirements for certain service providers outlines details of the information and changes service providers must tell the Regulator about as a registered service provider who:

was previously registered with the Human Services Regulator, or
the Regulator has exempt from a registration requirement (in Schedule 2 of the Regulations).

These requirements are in addition to those listed in Table 1: Notification requirements for all registered service providers above.

Table 2: Additional notification requirements for certain service providers
Change type	Information you must tell the Regulator about	Notification timelines
Exemption information (if applicable)	Any changes to the information that formed the basis for the exemption	28 days
Criminal history	Any change to the relevant criminal history of: the registered social service provider its key personnel	7 days
Civil history	Any relevant findings or decisions in relation to fraud, misrepresentation or dishonesty in any civil proceedings about the registered social service provider its key personnel	7 days
Misconduct and other findings	Any finding by a relevant regulator or tribunal of misconduct of: the registered social service provider its key personnel	7 days
Regulatory sanctions	Any revocation, sanction, condition or restriction is placed on a social service provider which is owned or managed (wholly or in part) by: the registered service provider its key personnel	7 days
Governance	If any business or service owned, provided or managed (wholly or in part) by the registered social service provider or their key personnel is placed under administration	7 days
Organisational changes	Any significant reduction in insurance a service provider holds related to the operation and management of the social service Any change to the financial capacity of the registered social service provider to provide the social service in compliance with the Act and the Regulations	28 days

What is ‘material impact’?

Some notifications require service providers to consider if the change will cause a ‘material impact’ to service delivery. These matters must be reported to the Regulator.

A ‘material impact’ is real, significant and quantifiable, where it can easily be demonstrated to have positively or negatively impacted the provider’s service delivery.

There are key criteria that determine where ‘material impact’ may impact service delivery and trigger a notification. Table 3: Indicators of material impact includes indicators for changes that may create a material impact on the delivery of services. The list below is not exhaustive.

Table 3: Indicators of material impact
Change	Example indicators of material impact
Staffing	not being able to meet the staff ratio requirements required by the Act not being able to roster staff with appropriate training required by the Act (e.g. first aid)
Organisational changes	an organisational restructure that results in a significant change in the way services are delivered
Physical premises	major alterations made to the property which require: relocation residents to move rooms alteration of service delivery moving currently delivered services to a new location establishing new services at a new premises

How do I notify the Regulator?

Service providers need to complete the Reporting changes to your organisational and operational information form (at the bottom of this page). The form asks you to explain:

what the change is

its impact on service delivery
what risks may result from the change
the service provider’s plan to mitigate any risk resulting from the change
what actions you have taken to ensure change is in line with the Social Services Standards, the Act and any other SSR regulatory requirements.

Service providers must review the form and sign the declaration to verify the information provided is true and correct.
Service providers can submit the completed the form by emailing it to registration@ssr.vic.gov.au.

If service providers are reporting new key personnel, they must also attach a completed Information about new key personnel form (at the bottom of this page) for each new individual.

When to submit

If a service provider wants to make significant changes that will impact service delivery (such as to add a new class of social service or add a new accommodation site), it should contact the Regulator for advice and to confirm the relevant process. This is because there may be implications for the service provider’s registration and/or conditions.

The timelines for notifying the Regulator depend on the type of notification and the structure of the service provider. Providers should check specific timeframes in Table 1: Notification requirements for all registered service providers and Table 2: Additional notification requirements for certain service providers above.

What is the Regulator’s role?

Our response to notifications may include:

a request for further information about the change
identifying that a service provider may need to apply for a variation or revocation of a condition of its registration
identifying compliance or non-compliance with Social Services Standards.

We treat all service providers equally and focus on procedural fairness.

We are committed to protecting the privacy of all individuals. We collect, use, disclose and store personal, sensitive, health and commercially sensitive information in compliance with our obligations under relevant legislation. Please review the Regulator’s Privacy webpage for further information.

Useful resources and contacts

Resources

You can find further information on the Regulator’s website about:

Reporting notifiable incidents for service providers
Social Service Regulator registration requirements
Meeting Suitability requirements
Complying with the Social Services Standards

Contact us

For further information about registration and notifications to the Regulator not covered by this fact sheet, email the Social Services Regulator.

For general enquiries about the Social Services Regulator, email the Social Services Regulator.

Examples of changes requiring notification to the Regulator

Table 4: Example notifications for registered service providers includes some examples of notifications for a registered service provider. These examples are indicative only and are not exhaustive.

Table 4: Example notifications for registered service providers
Notification requirements	Examples of notifications that service providers must make to the Regulator
Changes to services provided	a significant increase or decrease (since registration or most recent notification of change) in the number of service users being provided with social services within service category (for example disability services or homelessness support services) any increase or decrease of 25% or more in total funding for the delivery of social services that has materially impacted service delivery within a 12-month period a provider begins providing services and/or supports to a new group of service users that is different from the service that the provider is registered to deliver a change in the scale of the supports or services the provider is registered to provide
Staffing changes that materially impact service delivery	the provider is unable to staff a facility in line with any requirements under the Act, the Regulations, funding requirements or program requirements the provider is unable to have a staff member on duty who has completed required first aid training (where this role is required by the SRS Regulations) a change of director or of key personnel (including Chief Executive Officer or President of a body corporate)
Changes to premises at which services are provided that materially impact service delivery	any relocation of premises/change to location from which services are provided any relocation of service users to a new site any substantial renovations or modifications to the premises that interrupt continuity of service if the building becomes uninhabitable (for example is unfit for habitation or has been rendered unsafe) if the provider receives a notice from council regarding the premises (for example in relation to fire safety compliance issues)