11th November 2021
The Disability Services Commissioner’s Annual Report, including A review of disability service provision to people who have died 2020-21 has now been officially tabled in Victorian Parliament.
Our Annual Report highlights the impact of COVID-19 and the extended lockdown periods in Victoria had on people with disability, with many people contacting the DSC office expressing distress at, and seeking clarification of, how the restrictions and guidelines would impact them.
Download the 2020-21 Annual Report (PDF 931 KB)
Download the 2020-21 Annual Report (RTF 15462 KB)
What the Annual Report says
- 553 new enquiries; 72 were in-scope and 481 were out-of-scope
- 103 new complaints, including 51 in-scope and 52 out-of-scope
- 404 new incident reports, plus 70 reviews from last year making a total of 474 incident reviews to be managed this year
- We finalised 429 reviews, ensured 2 out-of-scope reviews were notified to the NDIS Commission and will carry over 43 reviews into next year
- 51 CVB referrals relating to five service providers
- 223 disability service providers submitted a complaints report (ACR) to the DSC.
- ACR process included a total of 460 in-scope complaints.
- 284 new complaints and 176 complaints carried over from the previous year.
A review of disability service provision to people who have died 2020-21
This year was the DSC’s fourth annual review of disability service provision to people who have died in Victoria. It includes details of the 86 finalised and closed investigations, and 5 finalised investigation reports with a Notice to Take Action (NTTA) remaining open.
The key issues of concern in our finalised investigations were:
- service quality – communication supports, mealtime supports, bowel management, behaviour supports
- managing specific conditions – health plans, illness prevention and monitoring
- managing deteriorating health
- record keeping.
Importantly, in 23 finalised investigations the DSC found that disability services were provided in a manner that sufficiently promoted the rights, dignity, wellbeing and safety of the person who had died. Additionally, a further 38 investigations were reviewed as having implemented service improvements or had a plan to do so. Therefore, no action by the DSC was required and a NTTA was not issued. This demonstrates a consolidation of improved practice and a commitment from service providers to continuous quality improvement.
