terms to know when complaining about a service provider in the NDIS

This is something to consider very carefully before a complaint about as some people’s service providers will encourage “feedback,” but if they see it as a  complaint they, unfortunately, have the power to make your life very difficult and challenging and it can be very hard to prove it is due to complaining but if you have decided that it is the way to go there is a right way and a wrong way to go about it, and it is important to have these followed to be effective in your complaint.

Unfortunately, the way to complain isn’t always straight forward but I hope to put a few tips down to be able to help you navigate the situation. So the first tip is to speak to the people involved and ask what they can do to resolve the complaint, most providers do need it in writing due to the fact if it’s against a particular team, or support workers we see that they can use it as evidence against the person and to have that evidence on record if they need to escalate it or to talk to the person, it is uncomfortable so if your not comfortable do you have someone in your life who can advocate for you so this is good to have identified ahead of time, knowing who you can go to if you need someone to speak for you and to have them officially identified as an advocate for you.

As I have found that often my mum listened to a lot more than me and this annoys me as it shows how I am treated like a number and a cash cow not as a full human but we see many providers feel that they have power over the client's lives and this isn’t ok you need to be able to advocate for yourself and be heard, so if you don’t have anyone in your life that can advocate for you there are advocacy services that you can go to and that you can work with, and these are trained professionals that are trained to help you resolve the issues, that you are facing and I am not talking about issues and going up against the NDIS I am talking about complaining against service providers, that aren’t doing the right thing.

 

So these advocacy services are, and this is not an exhaustive list at all but some starting points.

Disability Advocacy Network Australia | Disability Advocacy Network Australia (dana.org.au)

Spark Neurocare – Spark Neurocare

Home Page - Epilepsy Queensland supporting people with epilepsy

AEIOU - For Children with Autism | autism early intervention | AEIOU Foundation

 

However, if these don’t work then it is time to go to the NDIS itself there is the option to go anonymous if it is a serious risk to your safety this is a post I will do about considering your safety as a vulnerable adult.

For participants | NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (ndiscommission.gov.au)

They have lots of good information about how to complain and when and why as a lot of people feel that they don’t want to speak up or a pressured to keep silent because they might risk losing support and they can’t afford it but I hope by following these tips they help you and I am also going to put down some general tips about how to complain and to get what you want out of the situation.

·       Know what you want out of the situation

·       Be prepared to put it in writing and back it up

·       Are you prepared to go public who are you going to go to, and why?

·       Know what you will and won’t accept such as a public apology or compensation for time lost or for harm caused in the case of a provable lack of support. 

·        If you go public do you have a place to stay how are you going to stay safe from doxing?  

I know that these things can be scary to talk about but there is a reason to speak up and it is to keep change happening to eliminate the bad practices and providers in the NDIS and take control of the situation as if you are prepared to put it in writing we see that it is worth complaining about and this is something to be considered are you willing to follow through to the end of complaining and that might end with going to the police and this can be scary for some people.

Know that you can be supported through this process as well and yes we need to be aware that some people will need to have extra assistance to back it up.