A change in scale or service area: is it notifiable?
Change in scale or service area: the notification lines the clauses we hold attach to it, the requirements it touches with why each applies, and the evidence to keep. Each line names its clause and the edition we hold; the decision to notify stays with you.
- notification lines
- 2 possible, depending on the answers
- requirements
- 9 mapped across 5 frameworks
- questions it asks
- 8
What the clauses say: the notification lines
| To | By when | Clause | Applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission | within 14 days of becoming aware question | Aged Care Act s 167 and Rules 167-5 to 167-70 | Aged care |
| NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission | as soon as practicable after the earlier of becoming aware it will occur and its occurring question | Registration Rules Rules s 13 | NDIS |
The questions it asks
8 questions- Up or down? (up, down)
- Which registration does this change sit under? (aged care and NDIS, aged care only, NDIS only)
- Participants or recipients before
- Participants or recipients after
- Workers before
- Workers after
- New geographic areas served?
- Does it change resident numbers in a residential care home under the Act?
Each has not sure: a line resting on it stays, as a question.
What your change log usually carries for it
A date, a label of your own (a site, a role, a service, never a person's name), the date you became aware, and often a status or an owner. Paste it as it is: the type column reads words such as “scale”, “change in scale”, “growth”, “expansion”, “contraction” and “new area”. The answers go in one cell as key=value pairs.
The requirements it touches, and the evidence to keep
9 rowsAged Care Quality Standards
- ACQS Rules s 15-15(14): Workforce needs change with scale.
evidence to keepWorkforce plan revision. - ACQS Rules s 15-15(15): Workers at the new scale are skilled, qualified and experienced for their roles.
evidence to keepSkills check of the workforce at the new numbers.
Aged Care Act 2024
- Aged Care Act s 167 and Rules 167-5 to 167-70: Section 167 lists changes in scale among the prescribed changes. Whether this change is one is your judgement, so the line is a question.
evidence to keepChange-of-circumstances entry. - Aged Care Act s 176 and Rules 176-5 to 176-35: The care minutes test is a per-resident daily average; a change in resident numbers changes the total direct care time needed to keep it. (when: Does it change resident numbers in a residential care home under the Act)
evidence to keepCare minutes recalculated for the new resident numbers.
NDIS Practice Standards
- NDIS Practice Standards Core 9.4: Strategic and business planning accounts for the change.
evidence to keepBusiness plan revision. - NDIS Practice Standards Core 16.1: Operations are managed so supports are not disrupted.
evidence to keepContinuity check at the new scale. - NDIS Practice Standards Core 16.2: At the new scale, absences and vacancies are still covered by suitably qualified people.
evidence to keepCover arrangements at the new numbers.
NDIS Provider Registration Rules
- Registration Rules Rules s 13: Rules s 13 names a significant increase or decrease in participants or workers, and new areas served. The clause says significant; the checker shows your numbers and leaves the call to you.
evidence to keepNotification entry with the numbers before and after.
NDIS Worker Screening Rules
- Worker Screening Rules s 11: New roles at the new scale are assessed for whether they are risk assessed roles.
evidence to keepRole assessment for each new role.
Check one changeSee the specimen registerThe one-page sample register