Complying with the NDIS Practice Standards - Internal Audits

Under the Quality Management Clause (Provider Governance and Operational Management Standard), there’s a little indicator that says “The provider’s quality management system has a documented program of internal audits relevant (proportionate) to the size and scale of the provider and the scope and complexity of supports delivered.”

But after some six years of auditing the NDIS Practice Standards, I am still seeing providers without a documented program of internal audits! This is one of the most explicit indicators in the standards, and is really easy to implement, so let’s take a look at how you can get this done.

Now if we break down this indicator and look at it literally, you’ll note the very important word ‘proportionate’, and you’ll also note what is missing - the indicator doesn’t tell you HOW to document your internal audit program, or what FORMAT it needs to be in.

That means your documented internal audit program (or schedule, or timetable, whatever you want to call it) can be as simple as a Word document, an Excel spreadsheet, or a diagram or visual tool, like the example one below. You can decide how often you conduct an internal audit, and what you audit. Now the smart thing to do is base internal audits on risk - if you operate SILs, a monthly home inspection might be appropriate; if you have participants with mealtime management needs, you may want to review mealtime preparation practices monthly as well. Or your internal audit program might be as simple as the one below. It’s up to you to decide what is best for your organisation, your participants, and your staff.

Of course, part of your external audit will be to verify that you have an internal audit program, and that you are IMPLEMENTING it - that is, you’re actually conducting audits. I know this can be hard to do when organisations already have a lot going on, and perhaps limited resources. Best practice is to have someone who does not conduct the service/job to complete the audit, but not every organisation has the capacity to have a separate quality management/internal audit team. Engaging someone from outside your organisation (like me!) can help you. But if your resources are limited, then my suggestion is always - it’s better to audit in small amounts than wait all year and frantically do it before your external auditor shows up. Set aside an hour a week/fortnight/month to review participant files, conduct participant interviews about services, review staff files, or do WHS checks. The more you know, the more you can prevent issues and improve services.

Thanks for reading,

Clarisa