The EFQC Enquirer: 9 December 2025

In this edition

News

• Highlights from the NDS Executive Leaders Conference 2025

Important Information

• Federal Court Issues Record $2.5 Million Penalty: A Wake-Up Call for All NDIS Providers
• New Bill Introduced: What Providers Should Know About the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Integrity and Safeguarding) Bill 2025
• Innovative, Employer-Led Workforce Development for the Care Sector

Ask the Experts

• NDIS End-of-Year Compliance — What Providers Need to Do Now (Sharon Floyd, Director Engels Floyd Quality Consulting)

News

Highlights from the NDS Executive Leaders Conference 2025

The Engels Floyd Quality Consulting team recently returned from the NDS Executive Leaders Conference held in Brisbane on 24–25 November 2025. The event brought together over 650 sector leaders with a strong focus on quality, compliance, and continuous improvement in disability services.
 
We were honoured to sponsor the event and proud that our Director, Sharon Floyd, had the privilege of speaking at the conference. Sharon shared valuable insights on common audit non-conformances and emphasised what it truly means to build systems that keep providers audit-ready all year round.

As Aristotle wisely said, “Quality isn’t an act, it’s a habit.”
 
Some key reflections and highlights over the two days include:

• The government is intensifying efforts toward stronger market stewardship and regulation, with Bill #2 introduced during the conference.
• The proportion of unregistered providers continues to rise, though mandatory registration remains unresolved.
• Price differentiation reforms are progressing.
• Provider viability is a significant concern, with 85% reporting worsening conditions this year.
• Uncertainty persists around Foundational Supports and Thriving Kids programs.
• Over 60% of participants require supported decision-making, underscoring the critical need for accessible information and skilled support workers.
• Co-design is reaffirmed as essential, contributing to better governance, usability, and outcomes.
• Evidence supports active support, stronger practice leadership, and renewed investment in frontline capability.
• Leaders trained in Quality of Life frameworks report real improvements, including fewer complaints, reduced reportable incidents, and lower staff turnover.
• There is a notable shift back to in-person training, particularly in areas such as behaviour support, communication, and legislation.
• The Fair Work Commission has commenced its four-year inquiry into the NDIS.
• A strong push for inclusive governance was evident, including governance training specifically for people with disability.

We extend our gratitude to National Disability Services for convening this vital forum. It was a privilege to engage in these important conversations and to witness the sector’s collective commitment to building a safer, quality-driven, and sustainable NDIS.
 
For those who could not attend, the full conference program is available online. We encourage NDIS providers to participate in future events to benefit from the sector’s leading expertise and networking opportunities.
November proved to be an inspiring month of leadership and collaboration, setting a positive tone for the year ahead.

Highlights from the NDS Executive Leaders Conference 2025

Important Information

1. Federal Court Issues Record $2.5 Million Penalty: A Wake-Up Call for All NDIS Providers

The Federal Court has handed down a record $2.5 million penalty to Lifestyle Solutions (Aust) Pty Ltd after finding participants and workers were exposed to ongoing violence and abuse in a Supported Independent Living (SIL) home. This is the highest penalty ever imposed in an NDIS Commission case — and the first of its kind involving abuse of this nature in supported accommodation.

What Went Wrong?

• Lifestyle Solutions admitted to:
• 96 breaches of the NDIS Act, Practice Standards and Code of Conduct
• 13 breaches by the facility Manager
• 1,811 failures to report serious incidents over five years
• Failing to manage or respond appropriately to escalating violence
• Participants suffered repeated harm — including biting, physical restraint and hair being forcibly pulled out — while staff were also assaulted.

Justice Abraham was unequivocal:
“Violence and abuse in supported living accommodation settings is never acceptable… The Residents were entitled to be safe and protected, but they were not.”

The Court also ordered Lifestyle Solutions to pay $150,000 in legal costs.

Key Lessons for NDIS Providers

1. Safeguarding in SIL requires strong, active governance
   High-risk environments need clear escalation pathways, oversight from skilled leaders and regular review of incident data.
2. Incident reporting is mandatory — always
   The scale of reporting failures in this case reflects systemic breakdown. Workers must understand what to report and when.
3. Participant safety and dignity are non-negotiable
   Providers must respond quickly to emerging risks. A “wait and see” approach will not meet NDIS obligations.
   Associate Commissioner Natalie Wade emphasised that the Commission will use every regulatory power necessary to protect people with disability.

Actions Providers Should Take Now

• Review your incident management system and reporting timeframes
• Check that staff understand Reportable Incident Rules
• Strengthen frontline supervision and safeguarding practices
• Ensure leaders receive regular safety and risk data
• Reassess culture — do staff feel safe to raise concerns?

If you need any help understanding your compliance responsibilities, the team at Engels Floyd Quality Consulting is here to support you. Feel free to reach out anytime at info@engelsfloyd.com or call 1300 790 194. We would love to hear from you and help your team stay confident, compliant, and competent!

2. New Bill Introduced: What Providers Should Know About the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Integrity and Safeguarding) Bill 2025

A major new reform package has been introduced to Parliament: the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Integrity and Safeguarding) Bill 2025 or unofficially called Bill 2. The Bill proposes to significantly strengthen the regulatory powers of the NDIS Commission — with the aim of improving protections for people with disability and ensuring the integrity and long-term sustainability of the NDIS.

These reforms draw on broad consultation and reflect recommendations from the recent NDIS Review and the Disability Royal Commission. The Commission reports strong support from stakeholders for the proposed measures.

What the Bill Aims to Do
The reforms are designed to:

• Improve participant safety
• Strengthen system integrity
• Equip the NDIS Commission with clearer, stronger enforcement tools
• Address gaps in regulatory powers
• For providers, this means a more assertive regulatory environment — and a greater expectation that compliance systems are robust, proactive, and able to withstand scrutiny.

Key Changes Providers Should Be Aware Of:

1. Tougher Penalties for Non-Compliance
   The Bill introduces higher civil penalties and new criminal offences for the most serious breaches. This signals a clear shift towards stronger consequences for unsafe or unethical behaviour.
2. Anti-Promotion Orders
   A new regulatory tool will give the Commission the ability to prohibit harmful or predatory marketing practices, including promotions that mislead participants, create dependency, or undermine scheme sustainability.

This measure targets providers who pressure participants into unnecessary services or exploit vulnerabilities for commercial gain.

3. Expanded Banning Powers
   The Commission will be able to issue banning orders not only against providers and workers, but also auditors and consultants.

This Bill will also stop banned NDIS providers and workers from re-entering the system to work as Approved Quality Auditors (AQAs).

This closes loopholes where unsuitable individuals could influence compliance outcomes despite posing risks to participants.

4. Strengthened Information-Gathering Powers
   The Bill clarifies and expands the Commission’s powers to require documents, data and information quickly. This supports faster investigations and reduces delays when safety issues arise.
   Providers will need to ensure their record-keeping, audit trails and internal systems are organised, accessible and up to date.

What This Means for Providers
If the Bill becomes law, providers can expect:

• A more powerful and intervention-ready regulator
• A sharper focus on safeguarding, governance and reporting
• Increased scrutiny in areas historically under-regulated (e.g., marketing, consulting, auditing)
• Greater consequences for poor or unsafe practice
• In practical terms, now is a good time to review:
• Your compliance and governance frameworks
• Incident management capabilities
• Marketing and participant engagement practices
• Contractor and consultant arrangements
• Record-keeping and document readiness
• The reforms aim to ensure that participants are protected not only by good practice, but by a regulatory system with the tools to act quickly when things go wrong.

What Happens Next?
The Bill will undergo further Parliamentary debate and committee scrutiny before becoming law. Providers should stay alert to updates as amendments or transitional requirements may follow.
EFQC will continue to monitor the Bill’s progress and share updates in future newsletters.

3.  Innovative, Employer-Led Workforce Development for the Care Sector

We recently met Emily Melgar from Enable College, who filled us in on their innovative approaches to employer-led workforce development for the care sector.

Workforce challenges across the care sector require training solutions that are innovative, employer-driven, and tailored to your real service delivery needs. At Enable College, you work closely with industry-informed training partners to design pathways that reflect your client profiles, operational requirements, and quality standards—ensuring both new entrants and existing staff are equipped for the environments they work in.

Entry-level preparation programs are developed collaboratively with training experts so that new support workers arrive with the right foundations. This includes communication expectations, WHS responsibilities, role clarity, understanding the NDIS system, and the fundamental concepts of care. When paired with essential practical skills such as First Aid, CPR, and Manual Handling, this employer-aligned preparation reduces onboarding pressure for you and strengthens overall workforce readiness.

For your existing staff, you can access comprehensive upskilling options that support compliance with regulatory and accreditation standards. This includes mandatory refresher training, qualification pathways (Certificate III and IV), and a growing range of specialised CPD offerings—such as complex care, diabetes management, restrictive practices, and medication assistance.

This model places you, the employer, at the centre of the training design process. By aligning content and delivery with your organisation’s needs, you build confident, compliant, and capable teams prepared for high-quality care now and into the future.

Ask the Experts

NDIS End-of-Year Compliance — What Providers Need to Do Now (Sharon Floyd, Director Engels Floyd Quality Consulting)

As 2025 draws to a close, many NDIS providers are asking the same question: “What should we be doing right now to stay compliant and ready for the year ahead?”

To help cut through the noise, we sat down with EFQC Director Sharon Floyd to answer the most common end-of-year compliance questions asked by providers across Australia.

Q: Why is the end of the year such an important time for NDIS compliance activities?

A: The end of the year naturally creates a pause point. Operations slow down, rosters change, and leadership teams often have more space to step back and review what worked well — and what didn’t — across the year.

It’s the ideal time to check alignment with the NDIS Practice Standards, reset internal audit plans, and ensure anything outstanding doesn’t follow you into the new year. A tidy compliance slate in December means fewer surprises in January.

Q: What’s the first thing providers should review?

A: Internal audit schedules.

Many providers create an audit calendar at the start of the year and never revisit it, even when services expand or risks shift.

At year-end, providers should:

• Check whether all planned audits were actually completed
• Identify gaps (e.g., behaviour support, restrictive practices, worker screening, medication management)
• Adjust next year’s schedule to reflect actual supports provided and your risk profile.

Internal audits are your early-warning system — if you’re not using them, you’re flying blind.

Q: What are the top risks providers should reassess at year-end?

A: Risk profiles change quickly in disability services. At this time of year, revisit your risk register and consider:

• Any new participant cohorts with higher support needs
• Trends in incident data (including near misses)
• Worker screening expiries or onboarding surges
• Environmental safety risks, especially during the holiday period
• Feedback themes you’ve received from participants and families

A fresh risk assessment should feed directly into staff training priorities, policy updates, and your 2026 improvement goals.

Q: Do providers really need to review all their policies every year?

A: Yes — but it doesn’t need to be overwhelming.

A policy review ensures your documents:

• Reflect the latest NDIS Commission requirements
• Match what your staff actually do in practice
• Are accessible, version-controlled, and easy to find

End-of-year is also the perfect time to retire outdated forms or duplicated processes that accumulate over time.

Q: What about staff competency — what should be updated before year-end?

A: Workforce capability is one of the strongest predictors of compliance success. Providers should check:

• Whether mandatory refreshers have been completed
• If new or casual staff received sufficient onboarding
• Whether practice gaps (e.g., incident reporting, record-keeping, behaviour support obligations) emerged during the year

Many organisations now schedule January as “training reset month” based on what emerges during December reviews.

Q: We often struggle with participant feedback and complaints. What should we be doing now?

A: Treat feedback as a compliance asset. At the end of the year:

• Analyse complaint patterns — what are the top three themes?
• Review whether responses met timeframes
• Check that corrective actions have been closed out
• Ensure your compliments and feedback data is also captured — not just complaints
   

This information should directly inform your 2026 continuous improvement plan.

Q: Documentation always feels like the biggest challenge. What are the must-dos?

A: Documentation is where many providers stumble in audits.

At year-end, make sure:

• Records are complete, accurate and up to date
• Incident reports have been finalised and categorised correctly
• Client files include current assessments, agreements, consents and support plans
• Worker files include completed screening, training evidence, and supervision records

A quick internal documentation review now can prevent major audit non-conformities later.


Q: Are there any upcoming regulatory changes we should prepare for?

A: The NDIS landscape continues to evolve, with the Taskforce recommendations and Practice Standards updates expected to drive changes throughout 2026.

Providers should stay across updates from the NDIS Commission, and ensure their organisations can adapt quickly — especially regarding behaviour support obligations, expected strengthened requirements for supported independent living, worker screening, and incident management.

Q: What is your top piece of advice for providers at this time of year?

A: Don’t try to fix everything at once.

Instead, focus on:

1. Reviewing what you already have
2. Updating what is outdated
3. Closing the loop on incomplete actions
4. Setting clear priorities for the new year

Compliance is a continuous cycle — and this is simply the reset point.

Need Support?
If you’re unsure about your compliance responsibilities or want help preparing for 2026, contact EFQC for a complimentary, no-obligation consultation at 1300 790 194 or info@engelsfloyd.com.