{"id":"sl-2014-12","name":"Disability Services Regulation 2014","slug":"disability-services-regulation-2014","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"act","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"12 of 2014","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":173339,"registerId":"act-sl-2014-12-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Disability Services Regulation 2014","content":"Australian Capital Territory\nDisability Services Regulation 2014\nSL2014-12\nmade under the\nDisability Services Act 1991\nRepublication No 1\nEffective: 1 July 2014\nRepublication date: 1 July 2014\nRegulation not amended\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel\n\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\nAbout this republication\nThe republished law\nThis is a republication of the Disability Services Regulation 2014, made under the Disability\nServices Act 1991 (including any amendment made under the Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3\n(Editorial changes)) as in force on 1 July 2014. It also includes any commencement, repeal or\nexpiry affecting this republished law.\nThe legislation history and amendment history of the republished law are set out in endnotes 3\nand 4.\nKinds of republications\nThe Parliamentary Counsel’s Office prepares 2 kinds of republications of ACT laws (see the\nACT legislation register at www.legislation.act.gov.au):\n authorised republications to which the Legislation Act 2001 applies\n unauthorised republications.\nThe status of this republication appears on the bottom of each page.\nEditorial amendments\nThe Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3 authorises the Parliamentary Counsel to make editorial\namendments and other changes of a formal nature when preparing a law for republication.\nEditorial changes do not change the effect of the law, but have effect as if they had been made\nby an Act commencing on the republication date (see Legislation Act 2001, s 115 and s 117).\nThe changes are made if the Parliamentary Counsel considers they are desirable to bring the law\ninto line, or more closely into line, with current legislative drafting practice.\nThis republication does not include amendments made under part 11.3 (see endnote 1).\nUncommenced provisions and amendments\nIf a provision of the republished law has not commenced, the symbol U appears immediately\nbefore the provision heading. Any uncommenced amendments that affect this republished law\nare accessible on the ACT legislation register (www.legislation.act.gov.au). For more\ninformation, see the home page for this law on the register.\nModifications\nIf a provision of the republished law is affected by a current modification, the symbol M\nappears immediately before the provision heading. The text of the modifying provision appears\nin the endnotes. For the legal status of modifications, see the Legislation Act 2001, section 95.\nPenalties\nAt the republication date, the value of a penalty unit for an offence against this law is $140 for\nan individual and $700 for a corporation (see Legislation Act 2001, s 133).\n\nR1\n01/07/14\nDisability Services Regulation 2014\nEffective: 01/07/14\ncontents 1\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\nAustralian Capital Territory\nDisability Services Regulation 2014\nmade under the\nDisability Services Act 1991\nContents\nPage\n1 Name of regulation 2\n3 Dictionary 2\n4 Notes 2\n5 Offences against regulation—application of Criminal Code etc 2\n6 Provider must comply with standards 3\n7 Requirement to provide information 3\n8 Notice about noncompliance with standards 4\n9 Direction to comply with standards 4\n10 Critical incident reporting 5\n11 Ongoing disclosure obligation 6\n12 Director-general may share information 6\n\nContents\nPage\ncontents 2 Disability Services Regulation 2014\nEffective: 01/07/14\nR1\n01/07/14\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\nDictionary 8\nEndnotes\n1 About the endnotes 9\n2 Abbreviation key 9\n3 Legislation history 10\n4 Amendment history 10\n\nR1\n01/07/14\nDisability Services Regulation 2014\nEffective: 01/07/14\npage 1\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\nAustralian Capital Territory\nDisability Services Regulation 2014\nmade under the\nDisability Services Act 1991\n\nSection 1\npage 2 Disability Services Regulation 2014\nEffective: 01/07/14\nR1\n01/07/14\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\n1 Name of regulation\nThis regulation is the Disability Services Regulation 2014.\n3 Dictionary\nThe dictionary at the end of this regulation is part of this regulation.\nNote 1 The dictionary at the end of this regulation defines certain terms used in\nthis regulation.\nNote 2 A definition in the dictionary applies to the entire regulation unless the\ndefinition, or another provision of the regulation, provides otherwise or\nthe contrary intention otherwise appears (see Legislation Act, s 155 and\ns 156 (1)).\n4 Notes\nA note included in this regulation is explanatory and is not part of\nthis regulation.\nNote See the Legislation Act, s 127 (1), (4) and (5) for the legal status of\nnotes.\n5 Offences against regulation—application of Criminal\nCode etc\nOther legislation applies in relation to offences against this\nregulation.\nNote 1 Criminal Code\nThe Criminal Code, ch 2 applies to all offences against this regulation\n(see Code, pt 2.1).\nThe chapter sets out the general principles of criminal responsibility\n(including burdens of proof and general defences), and defines terms\nused for offences to which the Code applies (eg conduct, intention,\nrecklessness and strict liability).\nNote 2 Penalty units\nThe Legislation Act, s 133 deals with the meaning of offence penalties\nthat are expressed in penalty units.\n\nSection 6\nR1\n01/07/14\nDisability Services Regulation 2014\nEffective: 01/07/14\npage 3\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\n6 Provider must comply with standards\nA specialist disability service provider must comply with a standard\nthat applies to the provider.\nMaximum penalty: 10 penalty units.\n7 Requirement to provide information\n(1) The director-general may, by written notice given to a specialist\ndisability service provider (a show cause notice), require the\nprovider to give the director-general information the\ndirector-general reasonably needs to—\n(a) monitor the quality of services provided by the provider to a\nperson with disability; or\n(b) investigate any alleged failure to comply with a standard that\napplies to the provider.\n(2) The information required under subsection (1) may include\ninformation about the provider’s arrangements with other entities in\nrelation to the provision of specialist disability services.\n(3) The show cause notice must state the time within which the\ninformation must be given to the director-general.\n(4) The time stated must be reasonable in the circumstances.\n(5) A specialist disability service provider must comply with a\nrequirement made of the provider under this section.\nMaximum penalty (subsection (5)): 10 penalty units.\nNote The Legislation Act, s 170 and s 171 deal with the application of the\nprivilege against self-incrimination and client legal privilege.\n\nSection 8\npage 4 Disability Services Regulation 2014\nEffective: 01/07/14\nR1\n01/07/14\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\n8 Notice about noncompliance with standards\n(1) The director-general may give a specialist disability service provider\na notice under this section (a noncompliance notice) if the\ndirector-general has reasonable grounds for believing that the\nprovider is not complying with a standard.\n(2) The noncompliance notice must be in writing and must—\n(a) state the standard the director-general considers the provider is\nnot complying with; and\n(b) state the particular matters the director-general considers the\nprovider needs to address; and\n(c) invite the provider to discuss those matters with the\ndirector-general; and\n(d) state the time within which the provider must respond to the\nnoncompliance notice.\n(3) The time stated must be reasonable in the circumstances.\n(4) The provider responds to the noncompliance notice if the provider—\n(a) responds in writing to the director-general in relation to the\nmatters identified in the noncompliance notice; or\n(b) takes action to address the matters identified in the\nnoncompliance notice and tells the director-general in writing\nof that action.\n9 Direction to comply with standards\n(1) This section applies if—\n(a) the director-general has given a specialist disability service\nprovider a noncompliance notice under section 8; and\n(b) the provider—\n(i) has not responded to the notice; or\n\nSection 10\nR1\n01/07/14\nDisability Services Regulation 2014\nEffective: 01/07/14\npage 5\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\n(ii) has responded to the notice but the director-general\nbelieves on reasonable grounds that the provider is still\nfailing to comply with a standard.\n(2) The director-general may give the provider a direction, in writing\nto—\n(a) stop the conduct that is in breach of the standard; or\n(b) provide the specialist disability service in accordance with the\nstandard; or\n(c) take action to rectify any consequence of the noncompliance\nwith the standard.\n(3) The direction must state the particular matters the director-general\nconsiders the provider needs to address to remedy the breach or\ncomply with the standard.\n(4) The direction must state the time within which the provider must\ncomply with the direction.\n(5) The time stated must be reasonable in the circumstances.\n(6) A specialist disability service provider must comply with a direction\ngiven to the provider under this section.\nMaximum penalty (subsection (6)): 10 penalty units.\n10 Critical incident reporting\n(1) This section applies to a specialist disability service provider if the\nprovider—\n(a) is providing a specialist disability service to a person with\ndisability; and\n\nSection 11\npage 6 Disability Services Regulation 2014\nEffective: 01/07/14\nR1\n01/07/14\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\n(b) has reasonable grounds to believe there is a serious risk to the\nlife, health or safety of the person.\nExample—serious risk\ncircumstances requiring action by the provider to ensure the person with\ndisability’s health and safety\nNote An example is part of the regulation, is not exhaustive and may extend,\nbut does not limit, the meaning of the provision in which it appears\n(see Legislation Act, s 126 and s 132).\n(2) The provider must notify the director-general of the circumstances\nof the risk.\nNote A person must comply with this requirement as soon as possible after\nthe serious risk to life, health or safety arises (see Legislation\nAct, s 151B).\n11 Ongoing disclosure obligation\nA specialist disability service provider must notify the\ndirector-general in writing of any of the following matters if they\ncould have an adverse effect on the provider’s ability to comply\nwith the standards:\n(a) an investigation of the provider;\n(b) an arbitration, litigation or other adjudicative proceeding\ninvolving the provider.\n12 Director-general may share information\nThe director-general may disclose information that is given to the\ndirector-general under this regulation if the information—\n(a) is disclosed to a territory authority or an agency of the\nCommonwealth or a state that has functions in relation to\npeople with disabilities (the other agency); and\n(b) relates to the health, safety or wellbeing of a person with\ndisability; and\n\nSection 12\nR1\n01/07/14\nDisability Services Regulation 2014\nEffective: 01/07/14\npage 7\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\n(c) is relevant to the functions of the other agency in relation to\npeople with disabilities.\nNote The Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997 and the Information\nPrivacy Act 2014 set out circumstances in which personal information\nabout a person may be disclosed.\n\nDictionary\npage 8 Disability Services Regulation 2014\nEffective: 01/07/14\nR1\n01/07/14\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\nDictionary\n(see s 3)\nNote 1 The Legislation Act contains definitions and other provisions relevant to\nthis regulation.\nNote 2 For example, the Legislation Act, dict, pt 1, defines the following terms:\n director-general (see s 163)\n may (see s 146)\n must (see s 146)\n territory authority.\nNote 3 Terms used in this regulation have the same meaning that they have in\nthe Disability Services Act 1991 (see Legislation Act, s 148). For\nexample, the following terms are defined in the Disability Services\nAct 1991, dict:\n specialist disability services (see s 4 (1))\n specialist disability service provider (see s 5 (1)).\nstandard means a standard approved by the Minister under the Act,\nsection 5A.\n\nEndnotes\nAbout the endnotes 1\nR1\n01/07/14\nDisability Services Regulation 2014\nEffective: 01/07/14\npage 9\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\nEndnotes\n1 About the endnotes\nAmending and modifying laws are annotated in the legislation history and the\namendment history. Current modifications are not included in the republished\nlaw but are set out in the endnotes.\nNot all editorial amendments made under the Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3 are\nannotated in the amendment history. Full details of any amendments can be\nobtained from the Parliamentary Counsel’s Office.\nUncommenced amending laws are not included in the republished law. The\ndetails of these laws are underlined in the legislation history. Uncommenced\nexpiries are underlined in the legislation history and amendment history.\nIf all the provisions of the law have been renumbered, a table of renumbered\nprovisions gives details of previous and current numbering.\nThe endnotes also include a table of earlier republications.\n2 Abbreviation key\nA = Act NI = Notifiable instrument\nAF = Approved form o = order\nam = amended om = omitted/repealed\namdt = amendment ord = ordinance\nAR = Assembly resolution orig = original\nch = chapter par = paragraph/subparagraph\nCN = Commencement notice pres = present\ndef = definition prev = previous\nDI = Disallowable instrument (prev...) = previously\ndict = dictionary pt = part\ndisallowed = disallowed by the Legislative r = rule/subrule\nAssembly reloc = relocated\ndiv = division renum = renumbered\nexp = expires/expired R[X] = Republication No\nGaz = gazette RI = reissue\nhdg = heading s = section/subsection\nIA = Interpretation Act 1967 sch = schedule\nins = inserted/added sdiv = subdivision\nLA = Legislation Act 2001 SL = Subordinate law\nLR = legislation register sub = substituted\nLRA = Legislation (Republication) Act 1996 underlining = whole or part not commenced\nmod = modified/modification or to be expired\n\nEndnotes\n3 Legislation history\npage 10 Disability Services Regulation 2014\nEffective: 01/07/14\nR1\n01/07/14\nAuthorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au\n3 Legislation history\nDisability Services Regulation 2014 SL2014-12\nnotified LR 30 June 2014\ns 1, s 2 commenced 30 June 2014 (LA s 75 (1))\nremainder commenced 1 July 2014 (s 2 and see Disability Services\n(Disability Service Providers) Amendment Act 2014 A2014-27 s 2)\n4 Amendment history\nCommencement\ns 2 om LA s 89 (4)\n© Australian Capital Territory 2014","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is the original 2014 regulation made under the Disability Services Act 1991. It appears to maintain its original scope of operationalising the Act by setting out specific compliance, reporting and enforcement mechanisms for disability service providers. No evidence of scope creep beyond the original intent of regulating service quality and provider accountability."},"complexity_factors":["Short length (12 sections plus dictionary and endnotes)","Minimal defined terms (only 1 term defined in the regulation itself: 'standard')","Relies on external definitions from the parent Disability Services Act 1991 for key concepts like 'specialist disability services' and 'specialist disability service provider'","Simple sequential structure without nested exceptions or complex conditional logic","Straightforward penalty structure (uniform 10 penalty units for offences)","Cross-references limited to the parent Act and general ACT legislation (Criminal Code, Legislation Act)"],"plain_english_summary":"This regulation requires specialist disability service providers in the ACT to meet Minister‑approved quality standards and empowers the director‑general to investigate, demand information, issue notices and binding directions, and share wellbeing information with other agencies. Providers must report serious incidents and disclose legal or investigatory matters that could affect service safety or quality.\n\nIt protects people with disabilities by creating enforcement mechanisms and information‑sharing to ensure timely action when services put health, safety or wellbeing at risk."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The republished regulation sets out compliance, reporting, enforcement and information‑sharing mechanisms under the Disability Services Act 1991. The text contains no apparent substantive expansion or narrowing of scope compared with implementing rules: editorial and commencement annotations are recorded in the endnotes, and substantive definitions and standards remain anchored to the parent Act and Minister‑approved standards."},"complexity_factors":["Delegated enforcement power concentrated in the director‑general (notices, directions, information sharing) (ss 7–9, 12) increases administrative discretion.","Multiple mandatory reporting and disclosure duties (information on request, critical incident reporting, ongoing disclosure) create recurring compliance burdens on providers (ss 7, 10, 11).","Penalties use penalty units and link to general Criminal Code principles, importing broader criminal concepts (s 5 and notes).","Core obligations reference external instruments and definitions (standards approved by the Minister; terms from the Disability Services Act 1991 and Legislation Act), requiring cross‑reference for full effect (dict; notes).","Many timings and thresholds are qualified by reasonableness (timeframes must be reasonable), creating uncertainty and potential for challenge (ss 7(4), 8(3), 9(4)–(5)).","Information‑sharing permission is limited to other government agencies and confined to matters relevant to health, safety or wellbeing, but intersects with privacy/permitted disclosure regimes (s 12 and note).","Enforcement scope is administrative (not licensing revocation in this text), so remedies are largely notices, directions and fines (ss 6, 9).","References to privilege and self‑incrimination rules point to procedural protections outside this instrument, requiring practitioners to navigate other statutes when responding to notices (s 7 note)."],"plain_english_summary":"This regulation requires specialist disability service providers in the ACT to meet Minister‑approved service standards, to supply information when asked, to report serious risks to a client’s life, health or safety, and to notify the director‑general of legal or investigative matters that could affect compliance. The director‑general may issue show‑cause and noncompliance notices, give directions to remedy breaches, and share relevant information with other agencies; providers bear compliance costs and risk penalties for non‑compliance (up to 10 penalty units)."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/disability-services-regulation-2014","history":"/api/acts/disability-services-regulation-2014/history","analysis":"/api/acts/disability-services-regulation-2014/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/disability-services-regulation-2014/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/disability-services-regulation-2014/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/disability-services-regulation-2014/documents"}}