NDS Hot Topics - What is keeping providers awake at night? (CLOSED)

Date: Thursday, September 23, 2021

Time: 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM (AEST)

Presented by: Laurie Leigh, Interim CEO, NDS; Philippa Angley, Head of Policy, NDS; Karen Stace, Senior Manager State & Territory Operations, NDS and Kerrie Langford, Head of Employment and ACT Manager, NDS.

NDS members will be able to access the ‘NDS hot topics briefing’ on-demand free of charge when any other briefing or masterclass ticket is purchased. Only one briefing ticket can be added per transaction. Please note: this session will be capped at 1,000 participants.

HR Hot Topics (CLOSED)

Date: Monday, September 27, 2021

Time: 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (AEST)

Presented by: Anna Pannuzzo, Director, WorkPlacePLUS

Join WorkPlacePLUS, NDS’s IR/HR partner for a briefing on several of the biggest employment law issues that may impact on providers. Topics will include wage increase, changes to superannuation, shutdown and redundancy as a result of the pandemic, mandating vaccinations, wage theft laws, respect at work – sexual harassment, changes to casual employment, OHS and on spot fines for VIC small businesses and changes to mental health workers compensation.

Sponsored by: WorkPlacePLUS  

Outcomes of the review of the SCHADS award (CLOSED)

Date: Thursday, September 30, 2021

Time: 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM (AEST)

Presented by: Michael Pegg, Industrial Relations Consultant

Significant changes to the SCHADS award have been determined by the Fair Work Commission during 2021.  The changes have particular impacts for disability services. This session will explain the changes, and what employers need to do in response.

Sponsored by: Avanti Accountants

Health Risks for People with Disability (CLOSED)

Date: Tuesday, 28 September, 2021

Time: 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (AEST)

Presented by: Donna Gillies, Director Research and Practice Evidence, NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and Dr Jeffrey Chan, Senior Practitioner, NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. Facilitated by Sarah Nicoll, National Practice lead – Quality and Safeguards, NDS

In response to a review of the deaths of people with disability, the NDIS Commission has developed a suite of Provider Practice Alerts that provide guidance on i) how to identify risks to the health of participants and ii) best practice guidance on how to address those risks. The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission have published a range of alerts to date but this work is ongoing as new priorities are identified. This presentation will give an overview of i) the findings that lead to this work; ii) an overview of currently published alerts; and iii) plans for ongoing work on Practice Alerts.

Disability Royal Commission Panel Discussion (CLOSED)

Date: Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Time: 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (AEDT)

Presented by: Laurie Leigh, Interim CEO, NDS; John Cleary, Founder and Managing Director – Virtus Corporate Solutions, Tom Griffith, Partner, Piper Alderman and Henry Newton, Senior Policy Officer, NDS

Sponsored by: Gallagher

Difficult Conversations: Vaccine hesitancy (CLOSED)

Date: Monday, October 11, 2021

Time: 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (AEDT)

Presented by: Natalie Lang, Branch Secretary, Australian Services Union; Barbara Dow, Executive Lead Covid Response Unit & National Incident Controller, Life Without Barriers; Nick Maley, Partner, Holman Webb and Heather McMinn, Disability Sector Consultant, NDS.

How service providers can utilise the supports in employment pricing to enable NDIS participants greater choice and control in their pursuit of employment options (CLOSED)

Date: Friday, October 1, 2021 

Time: 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM (AEST)

Presented by: Jo Collins, Branch Manager Market Innovation & Employment, NDIA and Mary Hawkins, Branch Manager Quality and Provider Network, NDIA. Facilitated by Kerrie Langford, Head of employment and ACT Manager, NDS

Sponsored by: PwC

The Job Ahead: how can we increase the employment of people with disability? (CLOSED)

Date: Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Time: 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (AEDT)

Presented by: Jo Collins, Branch Manager Market Innovation & Employment, NDIA and Ken Baker, Strategic Advisor, Employment, NDIA. Facilitated by Kerrie Langford, Head of employment and ACT Manager, NDS

#Methree: Consent and Women with Disability (CLOSED) 

Date: Friday, October 8, 2021

Time: 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (AEDT)

Presented by: Gillian O'Brien, Manager, WWILD Sexual Violence Prevention Assn. Inc; Professor Leanne Dowse, Chair in Intellectual Disability and Behaviour Support University NSW; Nadia Mattiazzo, Acting CEO, Women with Disabilities Victoria; Sarah Hirst, NDS Practice Support Network and Zero Tolerance presenter; Lisa Laing, Senior Manager Marketing, Communications & Partnerships and Karen Stace, Senior Manager State & Territory Operations, NDS. 

Called #meThree, this session will tease out the issues that relate to consent for women with disabilities: what impacts on women with disabilities being able to exercise the full range of consent, what are the complexities when it comes to those women with disabilities who may need support to navigate issues of consent? And of course how we as a sector and more broadly as a community ensure that we are engaged with these issues. 

Disability Employment Services Reform (CLOSED)

Date: Thursday, September 30, 2021

Time: 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM (AEST)

Presented by: Ben Gauntlett, Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Australian Human Rights Commission and George Sotiropoulos, Group Manager, Disability Employment Services Taskforce, DSS. Facilitated by Kerrie Langford, Head of employment and ACT Manager, NDS

Work Health and Safety and Clients: A new frontier for WHS? (CLOSED)

Date: Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Time: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM (AEST)

Presented by: Dr. Dru Marsh, lawyer and President of Golden City Support Services; Melissa Doran, Special Counsel in WHS with Clyde & Co. lawyers; Clare Amies, CEO, genU and former CEO of WorkSafe Victoria and Alan Hough, Director, Purpose at Work.

Three recent cases suggest that work health & safety regulators are increasingly active in relation to harm to clients. This challenges the common - but false - assumption that WHS law only applies to harm to employees. The personal and organisational liabilities under WHS law can be many times greater than those under the NDIS quality and safeguarding system, including the possibility of criminal penalties and imprisonment. In this Masterclass we will hear from three experts in WHS law.  

- Dr Dru Marsh, a lawyer and Chair of disability support provider Golden City Support Services, will compare the requirements of the NDIS quality and safeguarding system with those of WHS law. 

- Ms Melissa Doran, Special Counsel in WHS with Clyde & Co. lawyers, will speak on organisational and personal duties and how to discharge them. 

- Ms Clare Amies, CEO of genU and former CEO of WorkSafe Victoria, will offer reflections from leading both a human services provider and a health and safety regulator. 

The Masterclass will be facilitated by Dr Alan Hough of Purpose at Work.

This session may discuss issues which might cause distress for some audience members. It’s okay to take a break if you need to. Think about who you can talk to if you need extra support. Beyond Blue 1300 224 636; Lifeline 13 11 14; your organisation’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP), if available.

Sponsored by: StreetFleet

Disability Royal Commission: How can we respond immediately? (CLOSED)

Date: Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (AEDT)

Presented by: Henry Newton, Senior Policy Officer, NDS; Mary Lou McPherson, National Practice Lead - Zero Tolerance Initiative, NDS and Sarah Nicoll, National Practice lead – Quality and Safeguards, NDS

NDS has been monitoring themes emerging from the Disability Royal Commission since it commenced in April 2019. In this Essential Briefing we’ll put the spotlight on key themes and discuss the ways all providers can, and should, continue to improve service quality to ensure the safety of people with disability. We’ll look at select material from NDS’s suite of Zero Tolerance resources, developed collaboratively with the sector since 2013, and show you how you can use these to respond to lessons from Royal Commission. 

Participants will: learn about Royal Commission service provider hearing themes; learn about NDS’s suite of Zero Tolerance offerings; use interactive videos to hone reflective practice; and understand how to utilise the Zero Tolerance within their organisations.

Sponsored by: HDAA

Emotional Intelligence Masterclass (CLOSED)

Date: Thursday, October 7, 2021

Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (AEDT)

Presented by: Peter Agnew, Director, People Development Australia

The Introduction to Emotional Intelligence Masterclass provides an easy to understand framework for participants to understand the building blocks of emotional intelligence through an interactive and enjoyable workshop on emotions, thinking, feeling, and self-awareness. Through a series of activities, discussion and interactive facilitation participants will explore how well they are aware how their emotions affects their behaviour and the behaviour of others. The workshop will also explore self-management techniques to build resilience. 

Unpacking Practice Leadership and other determinants of good practice. (CLOSED)

Date: Thursday, October 14, 2021

Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (AEDT)

Presented by: Professor Christine Bigby, Director, Living with Disability Research Centre Chair, La Trobe University

The workshop will review the evidence about the nature of frontline practice leadership in the context of supported accommodation services for people with disabilities and consider its significance to quality support and good quality of life outcomes for service users. The five tasks of frontline practice leadership will be illustrated using clips and others materials from new online training resources. There will be the opportunity for small group discussion and some practice exercises. 

Sponsored by: Perfect Ward

Person Centred Emergency Preparedness (CLOSED)

Date: Friday, October 15, 2021

Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (AEDT)

Presented by: Michelle Villenueve, Associate Professor, Centre for Disability Research and Policy, The University of Sydney

This masterclass will introduce the Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness (P-CEP) toolkit which you can use in partnership with the people you support to prepare their person-centred emergency preparedness plans.

Supported Employment Masterclass (CLOSED)

Date: Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Time: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM (AEDT)

Presented by: Andrew Hamilton, Director, Social Scaffolding. Facilitated by Kerrie Langford, Head of Employment and ACT Manager, NDS

Supported employment will look a lot different for providers and people with different abilities after December this year. The future of supported employment offers a bright future for people of different abilities providing greater opportunities for skills development and career achievement. Providers will need to meet the expectations of young people with disability (especially young people) whose employment aspirations have shifted dramatically. Providers may also need to make a cultural shift internally in terms of language, the training and onboarding of staff, as well as a focus on business fundamentals including sales forecasting and attracting and retention rates of supported employees. This all coinciding with the need for providers to become more efficient in their business operations and embrace evolutions in support provision such as assistive technology and robotics. In attending this masterclass, participants will hear of inspiring case studies, and the opportunity to deep dive on key themes in breakouts rooms.