Reporting abuse in disability services: speaking up safely

Staff speaking up more about abuse in disability services

By Victorian Disability Services Commissioner · Originally published 19 October 2016

A person walking across a marked parking area

Original article

_This is the third of a series of three articles published by the Victorian Disability Services Commissioner (DSC) on Clickability. The DSC is an independent organisation that promotes the rights of people with disability and resolves complaints about disability services in Victoria. Last week, DSC wrote a blog about how to respond to a negative review, and the week before that, they shared valuable insights on how to choose a service provider. We decided to publish this piece as well because it’s so important. _

The DSC collates all the complaints that they receive and audits them each year. They collected 1009 complaints in the last 12 months.

[Clickability update, October 2026: These figures belong to the historical DSC reporting period. They are not current national incident statistics or a measure of how often abuse occurs.]

In their recent audit, they found that the number of complaints about assault, abuse or neglect has grown by over 300% in the past two years! It’s gone from an average of 6% of all complaints two years ago to 21% in the past 12 months.

Laurie Harkin AM, Disability Services Commissioner, said that greater public awareness about assault, abuse and neglect was one of the factors that contributed to the huge growth in the proportion of complaints that were made about those particular issues.

This includes awareness among disability support workers, who are now speaking up more often if they see a co-worker behaving inappropriately. In fact, in the past year alone, only 1 of the complaints about assault, abuse and neglect was made by a person with a disability, whereas 33% were from disability support staff. The other complaints were made by family members, friends, or other people close to the victim.

The Commissioner said, “This reinforces the importance of mandatory reporting of abuse by disability staff. They work with people with a disability every day and can see if something is not right.”

[Clickability update, October 2026: For current NDIS services, distinguish raising a concern from registered-provider reportable-incident notification. Duties and timeframes depend on the incident; an internal report does not replace a required Commission notification.]

It also underlines the importance of having a rigorous Quality and Safeguarding framework around the NDIS, and of investing in staff who are trusted and well trained.

Last Friday, the DSC put their annual report into Parliament. The report highlights the role disability support staff play in reporting about the abuse of people with disability. To check out the whole report, click here.

Clickability editorial update: October 2026

Act on the concern and keep a factual record

If someone is in immediate danger, call 000. Otherwise, record what you saw or were told, when it happened and the action taken. Use the service’s reporting process promptly and do not wait to prove an allegation yourself. Avoid sharing sensitive details beyond those who need them to respond.

You can raise an NDIS service concern with the Commission. If your organisation is responsible for a formal notification, make sure the concern reaches the designated person. Do not assume an internal discussion has completed that duty or promise a person absolute anonymity.

Keep notification duties separate from your investigation

Respond to the participant’s immediate needs and identify whether a reportable incident has happened or is alleged. Commission guidance says registered providers must notify reportable incidents even where their own incident system has responded. Check the incident-specific deadline; investigating internally is not a reason to delay notification.

Give workers a clear escalation route and explain to the participant how they can obtain support and raise concerns. Use factual records and preserve relevant information. A rise in reports can reflect awareness or access to reporting, so examine what the data actually represents before claiming services have become more or less safe.

Questions readers ask

Does reporting internally replace a required Commission notification?

No. Registered providers have separate formal notification duties. Official guidance

Where should someone turn in an immediate emergency?

Call 000. The Commission complaints route is not an emergency response. Official guidance

Find a provider and ask how concerns are handled

When comparing Clickability’s reviewed and rated profiles, ask about safe support, reporting concerns and responding to participant feedback.

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