Capacity update: I remain at full capacity and am not currently accepting new referrals at this time. I have also made a subtle change to my front page to clarify that my area of expertise is working with adults and older teenagers. If my intake inbox is anything to go by, there is a heap of work available if you are a male psychologist interested in working with children!

More generally as the 2018-2019 financial year concludes, so too does the transition phase for the NDIS in Queensland. The scheme is now fully implemented, believe it or not.

Related to this, The Quality and Safeguards Commission commences in Queensland from 01 July. This will include significant changes to way that Positive Behaviour Support is delivered.

If you have an interest in the NDIS, you have no doubt heard about the commission. Its website is here:

https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/

Their page most relevant to the future of behaviour support is here

https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/providers/provider-responsibilities/behaviour-support

I am looking forward to linking into the commission’s webinar on Monday 17 June, during which there will be discussion around the new requirements in the PBS space. I am particularly looking forward to hearing how the Commission’s PBSP template is working in practice in NSW and SA. The last time I checked, their blank template for a comprehensive plan was 60 pages long!!

Over the next 12 months I also need to learn more about the requirements for auditing / compliance for behaviour support providers. There are some complicated parameters relating to the types of service provided (e.g. behaviour support is considered one of the higher risk services) and the business model of providers (e.g. sole traders are considered lower risk than other models).

Whilst I expect that the auditing and compliance systems will involve considerable cost, I hope that the resulting system will be robust and thorough enough to discriminate between providers that are doing the right thing and those that aren’t. That way you as the customer, client, participant, person, can have more confidence in the system as a whole. Being an “NDIS registered” provider will then mean a lot more than it does now.