Australian Capital Territory
Disability Services Regulation 2014
SL2014-12
made under the
Disability Services Act 1991
Republication No 1
Effective: 1 July 2014
Republication date: 1 July 2014
Regulation not amended
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
About this republication
The republished law
This is a republication of the Disability Services Regulation 2014, made under the Disability
Services Act 1991 (including any amendment made under the Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3
(Editorial changes)) as in force on 1 July 2014. It also includes any commencement, repeal or
expiry affecting this republished law.
The legislation history and amendment history of the republished law are set out in endnotes 3
and 4.
Kinds of republications
The Parliamentary Counsel’s Office prepares 2 kinds of republications of ACT laws (see the
ACT legislation register at www.legislation.act.gov.au):
authorised republications to which the Legislation Act 2001 applies
unauthorised republications.
The status of this republication appears on the bottom of each page.
Editorial amendments
The Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3 authorises the Parliamentary Counsel to make editorial
amendments and other changes of a formal nature when preparing a law for republication.
Editorial changes do not change the effect of the law, but have effect as if they had been made
by an Act commencing on the republication date (see Legislation Act 2001, s 115 and s 117).
The changes are made if the Parliamentary Counsel considers they are desirable to bring the law
into line, or more closely into line, with current legislative drafting practice.
This republication does not include amendments made under part 11.3 (see endnote 1).
Uncommenced provisions and amendments
If a provision of the republished law has not commenced, the symbol U appears immediately
before the provision heading. Any uncommenced amendments that affect this republished law
are accessible on the ACT legislation register (www.legislation.act.gov.au). For more
information, see the home page for this law on the register.
Modifications
If a provision of the republished law is affected by a current modification, the symbol M
appears immediately before the provision heading. The text of the modifying provision appears
in the endnotes. For the legal status of modifications, see the Legislation Act 2001, section 95.
Penalties
At the republication date, the value of a penalty unit for an offence against this law is $140 for
an individual and $700 for a corporation (see Legislation Act 2001, s 133).
R1
01/07/14
Disability Services Regulation 2014
Effective: 01/07/14
contents 1
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at
Australian Capital Territory
Disability Services Regulation 2014
made under the
Disability Services Act 1991
Contents
Page
1 Name of regulation 2
3 Dictionary 2
4 Notes 2
5 Offences against regulation—application of Criminal Code etc 2
6 Provider must comply with standards 3
7 Requirement to provide information 3
8 Notice about noncompliance with standards 4
9 Direction to comply with standards 4
10 Critical incident reporting 5
11 Ongoing disclosure obligation 6
12 Director-general may share information 6
Contents
Page
contents 2 Disability Services Regulation 2014
Effective: 01/07/14
R1
01/07/14
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
Dictionary 8
Endnotes
1 About the endnotes 9
2 Abbreviation key 9
3 Legislation history 10
4 Amendment history 10
R1
01/07/14
Disability Services Regulation 2014
Effective: 01/07/14
page 1
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
Australian Capital Territory
Disability Services Regulation 2014
made under the
Disability Services Act 1991
Section 1
page 2 Disability Services Regulation 2014
Effective: 01/07/14
R1
01/07/14
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
1 Name of regulation
This regulation is the Disability Services Regulation 2014.
3 Dictionary
The dictionary at the end of this regulation is part of this regulation.
Note 1 The dictionary at the end of this regulation defines certain terms used in
this regulation.
Note 2 A definition in the dictionary applies to the entire regulation unless the
definition, or another provision of the regulation, provides otherwise or
the contrary intention otherwise appears (see Legislation Act, s 155 and
s 156 (1)).
4 Notes
A note included in this regulation is explanatory and is not part of
this regulation.
Note See the Legislation Act, s 127 (1), (4) and (5) for the legal status of
notes.
5 Offences against regulation—application of Criminal
Code etc
Other legislation applies in relation to offences against this
regulation.
Note 1 Criminal Code
The Criminal Code, ch 2 applies to all offences against this regulation
(see Code, pt 2.1).
The chapter sets out the general principles of criminal responsibility
(including burdens of proof and general defences), and defines terms
used for offences to which the Code applies (eg conduct, intention,
recklessness and strict liability).
Note 2 Penalty units
The Legislation Act, s 133 deals with the meaning of offence penalties
that are expressed in penalty units.
Section 6
R1
01/07/14
Disability Services Regulation 2014
Effective: 01/07/14
page 3
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
6 Provider must comply with standards
A specialist disability service provider must comply with a standard
that applies to the provider.
Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.
7 Requirement to provide information
(1) The director-general may, by written notice given to a specialist
disability service provider (a show cause notice), require the
provider to give the director-general information the
director-general reasonably needs to—
(a) monitor the quality of services provided by the provider to a
person with disability; or
(b) investigate any alleged failure to comply with a standard that
applies to the provider.
(2) The information required under subsection (1) may include
information about the provider’s arrangements with other entities in
relation to the provision of specialist disability services.
(3) The show cause notice must state the time within which the
information must be given to the director-general.
(4) The time stated must be reasonable in the circumstances.
(5) A specialist disability service provider must comply with a
requirement made of the provider under this section.
Maximum penalty (subsection (5)): 10 penalty units.
Note The Legislation Act, s 170 and s 171 deal with the application of the
privilege against self-incrimination and client legal privilege.
Section 8
page 4 Disability Services Regulation 2014
Effective: 01/07/14
R1
01/07/14
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
8 Notice about noncompliance with standards
(1) The director-general may give a specialist disability service provider
a notice under this section (a noncompliance notice) if the
director-general has reasonable grounds for believing that the
provider is not complying with a standard.
(2) The noncompliance notice must be in writing and must—
(a) state the standard the director-general considers the provider is
not complying with; and
(b) state the particular matters the director-general considers the
provider needs to address; and
(c) invite the provider to discuss those matters with the
director-general; and
(d) state the time within which the provider must respond to the
noncompliance notice.
(3) The time stated must be reasonable in the circumstances.
(4) The provider responds to the noncompliance notice if the provider—
(a) responds in writing to the director-general in relation to the
matters identified in the noncompliance notice; or
(b) takes action to address the matters identified in the
noncompliance notice and tells the director-general in writing
of that action.
9 Direction to comply with standards
(1) This section applies if—
(a) the director-general has given a specialist disability service
provider a noncompliance notice under section 8; and
(b) the provider—
(i) has not responded to the notice; or
Section 10
R1
01/07/14
Disability Services Regulation 2014
Effective: 01/07/14
page 5
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
(ii) has responded to the notice but the director-general
believes on reasonable grounds that the provider is still
failing to comply with a standard.
(2) The director-general may give the provider a direction, in writing
to—
(a) stop the conduct that is in breach of the standard; or
(b) provide the specialist disability service in accordance with the
standard; or
(c) take action to rectify any consequence of the noncompliance
with the standard.
(3) The direction must state the particular matters the director-general
considers the provider needs to address to remedy the breach or
comply with the standard.
(4) The direction must state the time within which the provider must
comply with the direction.
(5) The time stated must be reasonable in the circumstances.
(6) A specialist disability service provider must comply with a direction
given to the provider under this section.
Maximum penalty (subsection (6)): 10 penalty units.
10 Critical incident reporting
(1) This section applies to a specialist disability service provider if the
provider—
(a) is providing a specialist disability service to a person with
disability; and
Section 11
page 6 Disability Services Regulation 2014
Effective: 01/07/14
R1
01/07/14
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
(b) has reasonable grounds to believe there is a serious risk to the
life, health or safety of the person.
Example—serious risk
circumstances requiring action by the provider to ensure the person with
disability’s health and safety
Note An example is part of the regulation, is not exhaustive and may extend,
but does not limit, the meaning of the provision in which it appears
(see Legislation Act, s 126 and s 132).
(2) The provider must notify the director-general of the circumstances
of the risk.
Note A person must comply with this requirement as soon as possible after
the serious risk to life, health or safety arises (see Legislation
Act, s 151B).
11 Ongoing disclosure obligation
A specialist disability service provider must notify the
director-general in writing of any of the following matters if they
could have an adverse effect on the provider’s ability to comply
with the standards:
(a) an investigation of the provider;
(b) an arbitration, litigation or other adjudicative proceeding
involving the provider.
12 Director-general may share information
The director-general may disclose information that is given to the
director-general under this regulation if the information—
(a) is disclosed to a territory authority or an agency of the
Commonwealth or a state that has functions in relation to
people with disabilities (the other agency); and
(b) relates to the health, safety or wellbeing of a person with
disability; and
Section 12
R1
01/07/14
Disability Services Regulation 2014
Effective: 01/07/14
page 7
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
(c) is relevant to the functions of the other agency in relation to
people with disabilities.
Note The Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997 and the Information
Privacy Act 2014 set out circumstances in which personal information
about a person may be disclosed.
Dictionary
page 8 Disability Services Regulation 2014
Effective: 01/07/14
R1
01/07/14
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
Dictionary
(see s 3)
Note 1 The Legislation Act contains definitions and other provisions relevant to
this regulation.
Note 2 For example, the Legislation Act, dict, pt 1, defines the following terms:
director-general (see s 163)
may (see s 146)
must (see s 146)
territory authority.
Note 3 Terms used in this regulation have the same meaning that they have in
the Disability Services Act 1991 (see Legislation Act, s 148). For
example, the following terms are defined in the Disability Services
Act 1991, dict:
specialist disability services (see s 4 (1))
specialist disability service provider (see s 5 (1)).
standard means a standard approved by the Minister under the Act,
section 5A.
Endnotes
About the endnotes 1
R1
01/07/14
Disability Services Regulation 2014
Effective: 01/07/14
page 9
Authorised by the ACT Parliamentary Counsel—also accessible at www.legislation.act.gov.au
Endnotes
1 About the endnotes
Amending and modifying laws are annotated in the legislation history and the
amendment history. Current modifications are not included in the republished
law but are set out in the endnotes.
Not all editorial amendments made under the Legislation Act 2001, part 11.3 are
annotated in the amendment history. Full details of any amendments can be
obtained from the Parliamentary Counsel’s Office.
Uncommenced amending laws are not included in the republished law. The
details of these laws are underlined in the legislation history. Uncommenced
expiries are underlined in the legislation history and amendment history.
If all the provisions of the law have been renumbered, a table of renumbered
provisions gives details of previous and current numbering.
The endnotes also include a table of earlier republications.
2 Abbreviation key
A = Act NI = Notifiable instrument
AF = Approved form o = order
am = amended om = omitted/repealed
amdt = amendment ord = ordinance
AR = Assembly resolution orig = original
ch = chapter par = paragraph/subparagraph
CN = Commencement notice pres = present
def = definition prev = previous
DI = Disallowable instrument (prev...) = previously
dict = dictionary pt = part
disallowed = disallowed by the Legislative r = rule/subrule
Assembly reloc = relocated
div = division renum = renumbered
exp = expires/expired R[X] = Republication No
Gaz = gazette RI = reissue
hdg = heading s = section/subsection
IA = Interpretation Act 1967 sch = schedule
ins = inserted/added sdiv = subdivision
LA = Legislation Act 2001 SL = Subordinate law
LR = legislation register sub = substituted
LRA = Legislation (Republication) Act 1996 underlining = whole or part not commenced
mod = modified/modification or to be expired