Victorian Numbered Acts Victorian Numbered ActsAfter Division 6 of Part 6 of the Principal Act insert —
In this Division—
"Commissioner" means the Disability Services Commissioner.
(1) The Commissioner, on the Commissioner's own initiative, may conduct an investigation into—
(a) the provision of disability services or regulated disability services; or
(b) the provision of—
(i) a disability service to a person with a disability; or
(ii) a regulated disability service to a person with a disability.
(2) The Commissioner may conduct an investigation under subsection (1)(a) if the Commissioner identifies a persistent or recurring systemic issue about abuse or neglect in the provision of the services.
(3) The Commissioner may conduct an investigation under subsection (1)(b) if the Commissioner receives information that abuse or neglect may have occurred in the provision of the service to the person with the disability.
(4) The Commissioner must not conduct an investigation under this section unless the Commissioner considers that the investigation—
(a) will assist the improvement of the provision of the services; and
(b) can be conducted within the resources of the Commissioner.
(5) The Commissioner must not conduct an investigation under this section about a provision of services by an exempt service provider.
(1) If the Commissioner decides to conduct a systemic initiated investigation, the Commissioner—
(a) must give written notice of the investigation, to any service provider whom the Commissioner decides to investigate within 14 days after making the decision to investigate the service provider; and
(b) may give written notice of the investigation, within 14 days after making the decision to conduct the investigation, to any person with a disability who is the subject of the investigation, or, if the person does not have legal capacity, the guardian of the person, or, if none, the next of kin of the person.
(2) Within 14 days after deciding to conduct an individual initiated investigation, the Commissioner must give written notice of the investigation to—
(a) the person with a disability who is the subject of the investigation or, if the person does not have legal capacity, the guardian of the person, or, if none, the next of kin of the person; and
(b) any person who is alleged to have abused or neglected the person with a disability; and
(c) the service provider who provided the service.
(3) If the Commissioner or an authorised officer is exercising a power under Subdivision 3 or 4 of Division 8 and notice under subsection (1) or (2) has not been given to the person in respect of whom the power is being exercised, the notice must be given at the same time as the Commissioner or authorised officer begins to exercise the power.
(4) The Commissioner is not required to comply with subsection (1) or (2) if the Commissioner considers that—
(a) if the notice is given, the health, safety or welfare of a person to whom the service provider being investigated is providing services may be affected; or
(b) the proper investigation of the matter would be prejudiced.
(5) If subsection (4) applies, the Commissioner must give written notice to any person specified in subsection (1) or (2) without delay after the Commissioner is satisfied that—
(a) the risk is at an end; or
(b) there is no further likelihood of prejudice to the proper investigation of the matter—
but in any case not later than 6 months after the investigation is completed or, if the investigation ends before that time, before the end of the investigation.
(1) On completing a systemic initiated investigation, the Commissioner must decide whether or not a persistent or recurring systemic issue about abuse or neglect in the provision of the services exists.
(2) On completing an individual initiated investigation, the Commissioner must decide whether or not abuse or neglect has occurred in the provision of the service to the person with a disability.
(1) If the Commissioner makes a relevant decision in a systemic initiated investigation, the Commissioner must decide if any action should be taken by the service provider, who was given notice under section 128C and investigated by the Commissioner, to improve services or prevent neglect or abuse.
(2) If the Commissioner makes a relevant decision in an individual initiated investigation, the Commissioner must decide if any action should be taken by the service provider to improve services or prevent neglect or abuse.
(3) The Commissioner must not make a relevant decision or determine that action should be taken under subsection (1) or (2) in a way which conflicts with the provisions of any Act or subordinate instrument or any rule of law or practice.
(4) The Commissioner, in making a relevant decision or in determining that action should be taken under subsection (1) or (2), must have regard to the impact on any service provider who may be affected and any other person accessing the services of that service provider.
(5) In this section—
"relevant decision" means a decision of the Commissioner under section 128D that—
(a) a persistent or recurring systemic issue about abuse or neglect in the provision of the services exists; or
(b) abuse or neglect has occurred in the provision of the service to the person with a disability.
(1) Within 14 days after making a decision
on a
systemic initiated investigation the Commissioner—
(a) must give written notice of the decision to any service provider investigated by the investigation; and
(b) may give written notice of the decision to any person with a disability who was the subject of the investigation or, if the person does not have legal capacity, the guardian of the person, or, if none, the next of kin of the person.
(2) At least 14 days before giving a notice under subsection (1)(b), if the notice makes adverse comment on or gives an adverse opinion of an individual or a service provider, the Commissioner must—
(a) give a copy of the relevant part of the notice to the individual or service provider; and
(b) give the individual or service provider a reasonable opportunity to comment on the proposal to give the notice.
(3) Within 14 days after making a decision
on an
individual initiated investigation the Commissioner must give written notice
of the decision to—
(a) any service provider investigated by the investigation; and
(b) the person with a disability who was the subject of the investigation or, if the person does not have legal capacity, the guardian of the person, or, if there is no guardian, the next of kin of the person; and
(c) any person who is alleged to have abused or neglected the person with a disability.
(4) A notice under this section—
(a) must be in writing; and
(b) must set out reasons for the decision.
If the Commissioner, under section 128E, has determined that a service provider should take action, the notice under section 128F must—
(a) specify the action that the Commissioner has determined the service provider should take; and
(b) include a statement setting out the powers of the Commissioner to conduct an investigation under Division 6C into the action, if any, that the service provider takes.
In this Division—
"Commissioner" means the Disability Services Commissioner.
(1) The Commissioner may conduct an investigation into a matter referred to the Commissioner under subsection (2).
(2) The Minister or the Secretary, in writing, may refer to the Commissioner for investigation any matter relating to—
(a) the provision of disability services or regulated disability services; or
(b) complaints about disability services or regulated disability services; or
(c) abuse or neglect in the provision of disability services or regulated disability services.
(3) The Minister or Secretary may refer a matter under subsection (2) for the purpose of—
(a) improving the services to be investigated; or
(b) understanding issues in the services being investigated in order to develop improvements in response to those issues.
(4) In a referral of a matter under subsection (2), the Minister or Secretary may ask the Commissioner, when conducting the investigation, to consider any action that the service provider should take to improve the services provided by the service provider.
(5) To avoid doubt, the Minister or Secretary may refer a matter under subsection (2) that relates to—
(a) a provision of services to one person only; or
(b) a provision of services to a person who dies before the referral takes place; or
(c) general issues about the provision of disability services or regulated disability services or about a specific group of persons with a disability.
(6) The Commissioner must not conduct an investigation under subsection (1) into a provision of services by an exempt service provider.
(1) The Commissioner must publish details of any referral investigation on the Internet site of the Commissioner, within 14 days after receiving the referral.
(2) In publishing details under subsection (1), the Minister or Secretary may require the Commissioner not to publish identifying details of any person.
(1) If the Commissioner decides to conduct a referral investigation to which section 128I(4) applies, within 14 days after that decision, the Commissioner must give notice of the investigation to each service provider being investigated.
(2) If the Commissioner decides to conduct a referral investigation in which a power under Subdivision 3 or 4 of Division 8 will be exercised, the Commissioner must give notice of the investigation to each service provider being investigated—
(a) before the exercise of the power or when starting to exercise the power; or
(b) within 14 days after the decision to conduct the investigation, if the power is not exercised before then.
(3) The Commissioner is not required to comply with this section if the Commissioner considers that—
(a) if the notice is given to a service provider, the health, safety or welfare of a person to whom the service provider is providing services may be affected; or
(b) the proper investigation of the matter would be prejudiced.
(4) If subsection (3) applies, the Commissioner must give written notice to the service provider without delay after the Commissioner is satisfied that—
(a) the risk is at an end; or
(b) there is no further likelihood of prejudice to the proper investigation of the matter—
but in any case not later than 6 months after the investigation is completed or, if the investigation ends before that time, before the end of the investigation.
On completing a referral investigation the Commissioner may make recommendations and give advice to the Minister or the Secretary on the improvements that may be made to the services investigated.
(1) If the Commissioner has conducted a referral investigation to which section 128I(4) applies, the Commissioner may decide that any service provider so investigated should take action to improve the services investigated.
(2) The Commissioner must not make a decision under subsection (1) in a way which conflicts with the provisions of any Act or subordinate instrument or any rule of law or practice.
(3) The Commissioner, in making a decision under subsection (1), must have regard to the impact on any service provider who may be affected and any other person accessing the services of that service provider.
(1) Within 14 days after making a decision under section 128M on a referral investigation that a service provider should take action, the Commissioner must give notice of the decision to the service provider.
(2) A notice under this section must be in writing and must—
(a) specify any action that the Commissioner has decided that the service provider should take under section 128M; and
(b) include the reasons for the decision; and
(c) include a statement setting out the powers of the Commissioner to conduct an investigation under Division 6C into the action, if any, that the service provider takes.
In this Division—
"Commissioner" means the Disability Services Commissioner.
(1) A service provider, who has been given notice to take action, must report in writing to the Commissioner about the action the service provider has taken to comply with the notice.
Penalty: 60 penalty units.
(2) A report under subsection (1) must be given within—
(a) 45 days of receiving the notice; or
(b) before the end of any extension of time given under subsection (4).
(3) A service provider may apply to the Commissioner to extend the period of time within which the report must be given.
(4) On application under subsection (3), the Commissioner may extend the period of time within which the report must be given by no more than 15 days, if the application is made before the expiry of the time within which the report must be given.
(1) Whether or not a service provider reports to the Commissioner as required by section 128P, the Commissioner may give notice in writing to the service provider requiring the service provider to report in writing about any action the service provider has taken to comply with a notice to take action.
(2) A notice under subsection (1)—
(a) may require the service provider to produce any information required by the Commissioner, whether or not in addition to any information already reported to the Commissioner; and
(b) may specify the time within which the information must be given to the Commissioner; and
(c) must not be given unless the time specified in section 128P(2) has expired; and
(d) must include a statement setting out that the Commissioner may conduct an investigation under Subdivision 3 into the action, if any, the service provider has taken.
(3) The Commissioner may continue to give notices under subsection (1) until the Commissioner is satisfied that the notice to take action has been complied with.
(4) A service provider to whom a notice under this section has been given must comply with the notice, within the period specified in the notice.
Penalty: 60 penalty units.
(1) If the Commissioner has issued a notice under section 128Q and the time specified in the notice under section 128Q(2)(b) has passed, the Commissioner, may conduct an investigation into what action the service provider has taken on a complaint, including action the service provider has taken in response to the notice to take action.
(2) The Commissioner must not conduct an investigation under subsection (1) about a provision of services by an exempt service provider.
(1) Within 14 days after deciding to conduct a follow up investigation, the Commissioner must give notice of the investigation to the service provider.
(2) The Commissioner is not required to comply with subsection (1) if the Commissioner considers that—
(a) if the notice is given to the service provider, the health, safety or welfare of a person to whom the service provider is providing services may be affected; or
(b) the proper investigation of the matter would be prejudiced.
(3) If subsection (2) applies, the Commissioner must give written notice to the service provider without delay after the Commissioner is satisfied that—
(a) the risk is at an end; or
(b) there is no further likelihood of prejudice to the proper investigation of the matter—
but in any case not later than 6 months after the investigation is completed or, if the investigation ends before that time, before the end of the investigation.
(1) On completing a follow up investigation, the Commissioner must decide whether or not the service provider has taken the action set out in the notice to take action.
(2) The Commissioner must not make a decision under subsection (1) in a way which conflicts with the provisions of any Act or subordinate instrument or any rule of law or practice.
(3) The Commissioner, in making a decision under subsection (1), must have regard to the impact on any service provider who may be affected and any other person accessing the services of that service provider.
(1) Within 14 days after making a decision on a follow up investigation the Commissioner must give written notice of the decision to the service provider.
(2) A notice under this section must be in writing and must—
(a) specify whether or not the notice to take action has been complied with; and
(b) specify the reasons for the decision.".