Queensland Projects
Restrictive practices (legislative amendments)
Introduction
The Disability Services and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2008 amends the Disability Services Act 2006 and the Guardianship and Administration Act 2000. These amendments commenced on 1 July 2008. A transitional period has been established to give relevant service providers and other parties time to prepare for the full requirements of the Act (1 January 2010).
The new legislation strengthens safeguards to uphold the human rights of adults with an intellectual or cognitive disability who exhibit challenging behaviour. The new legislation also regulates the use of restrictive practices and provides a positive behaviour support system to improve the quality of life of these adults.
The new legislation applies to:
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adults 18 years or older; and
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who have an intellectual or cognitive disability; and
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who are receiving a Disability Services (DS) provided and/or funded service; and
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whose behaviour represents a serious risk of harm to themselves or others.
The intention of the legislation is to support the elimination or reduction of the use of restrictive practices and to reinforce that if restrictive practices are used, they are to be the least restrictive way of ensuring the safety of the adult or others (as is practicable in the circumstances).
An NDS guide for service providers is now available and more information on the amendments to the Disability Services Act 2006 is available from the Disability Services website or via this overview.
Our position on the legislative amendments
To read our position on the legislative amendments to restrictive practices, please download the NDS Queensland Discussion Paper: Restrictive Practice Legislation and Chemical Restraint Policy Framework in PDF.
Last updated: 27 October 2009 |