Participant risk assessment

What is a participant risk assessment?

A participant risk assessment is a documented review, done with an NDIS participant, of the risks to their health, safety and wellbeing in the supports a provider delivers, and the strategies agreed to manage them. It sits in the participant's support plan and is reviewed regularly. The NDIS Practice Standards require registered providers to do it in collaboration with each participant, not about them.

It is different from a provider's organisational risk register, which tracks business-wide risks such as finance, workforce and information security. A participant risk assessment is about one person: their health, their home, their community activities, how they communicate and how much they depend on the provider. It is how a provider turns the Core module's Risk management outcome, "risks to participants, workers and the provider are identified and managed", into practice for each individual (see NDIS Practice Standards).

What the NDIS Practice Standards require

The Support planning outcome in the Quality Indicators Guidelines sets the core expectations. In collaboration with each participant:

• Risk assessments are regularly undertaken and documented in their support plan, and strategies are planned and put in place to treat known risks.
• Assessments consider how much the participant relies on the provider for daily living, and how their health and safety would be affected if those services were disrupted.
• Periodic reviews check whether the risk strategies are working, with changes made when needed.
• Support plans are reviewed at least annually, or earlier if the participant's needs or circumstances change.
• Plans anticipate responses to individual, provider and community emergencies and disasters, and are understood by each worker supporting the participant.

Providers audited under the Verification module have a shorter risk standard, but it still requires regular risk assessments that consider how much participants rely on the provider and the effect of a disruption. The Core module's Safe environment outcome adds protocols for each participant's medical emergencies, clear arrangements for how they show emerging health concerns, and escalation systems for urgent health situations.

How a participant risk assessment works

There is no mandated NDIS form. The Practice Standards do not prescribe a risk matrix, so providers choose a method, document it and use it consistently. A practical process looks like this:

Many providers score each risk by likelihood and consequence, for example on a 1 to 5 scale, and use the rating to decide how quickly to act and who needs to know. Whatever method you use, the strategies matter more than the score: each identified risk should have a clear description of what it looks like, how to prevent it, and what to do if it happens.

Who should be involved

The participant leads, with whoever they want involved. With their consent, that can include family, an advocate, their support coordinator and the workers who know them best. The Practice Standards also expect providers to work with other providers, including health care and allied health providers, to share information and manage risks. A speech pathologist's mealtime plan, a physiotherapist's manual handling plan or a GP's seizure plan should feed straight into the assessment rather than being rewritten from memory.

Transitions are a high-risk time. The Practice Standards require providers to identify and respond to risks when a participant moves to or from the provider, including temporary moves such as a hospital stay. The NDIS Commission's practice alert on transitions between home and hospital explains why medicines, mobility and eating needs often change at discharge, so review the assessment when the person comes home.

What a participant risk assessment covers

The assessment should be specific to the person and to the supports you deliver. Common areas include:

Risk information has to reach workers in time to use it. A clear shift handover passes on new or changing risks between shifts, and incidents should prompt an update to the assessment.

Participant risk assessment vs related terms

Several documents deal with risk, and they are often confused.

Dignity of risk

A risk assessment is not a list of things the participant cannot do. The Practice Standards require that each participant's right to the dignity of risk in decision-making is supported, and that participants are helped to make informed choices about the benefits and risks of their options. The SIL Practice Standards add that providers must balance dignity of risk with safety in the home and community, and involve participants in safeguarding discussions.

In practice that means recording the choice the person wants to make, the risks you discussed, the person's decision and the controls agreed. If a strategy would limit the person's movement, access or possessions to manage behaviour, it may be a restrictive practice and must be handled under the restrictive practices rules, not through a risk assessment.

Common mistakes

• Copying risk assessments between participants with only the name changed.
• Writing the assessment without the participant, or only with family and staff.
• Rating risks but never writing clear strategies for workers to follow.
• Not updating the assessment after an incident, hospital stay or change in health.
• Ignoring how a missed shift or emergency would affect someone who relies on daily support.
• Using risk as a reason to refuse a choice, instead of planning how to support it safely.

The free NDIS Practice Standards self-assessment can show whether support planning and risk management are weaker areas in your organisation.