Open Care Connect (trading as Open Care Community Services Pty Ltd) is a registered NDIS provider located at 32 Ranfurlie Circuit, Melton West VIC 3337. Our ABN is 22 668 873 694 and our NDIS Provider ID is 4-JU2I9UJ. Our website is https://opencareconnect.com.au/. As a core team member, you carry collective responsibility for everything we do - from the quality of a single support session to our standing with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.

Leadership at OCC means making decisions that consistently align with our vision: to provide quality and inclusive services that empower individuals with disabilities to thrive. Our mission is to passionately deliver comprehensive and accessible services tailored to the unique needs of individuals with disabilities - through collaboration, advocacy, and innovative support.

Governance is not just policies and paperwork. It is how we demonstrate, to participants, families, the Commission, and the broader community, that we are worthy of their trust.

Our Values

The following six values are taken directly from OCC's Participant Handbook (V1.1, approved 01 March 2026). They are not aspirational statements - they are behavioural commitments that every team member is expected to demonstrate.

Our Organisational Structure

OCC operates under a defined management structure documented in GOV-ORG-001. Five core management roles ensure clear accountability and appropriate segregation of duties.

The current core team: Kubir Khanal (OCCS001, Director), Kamal Dhimal (OCCS002), Devi Phuyel (OCCS003), Manoj Khadka (OCCS004), Sumnima Baral (OCCS005). Support worker Kul Chandra Adhikari (OCCS006) commenced on 06 March 2026.

Segregation of Duties

Segregation of duties means no single person controls all aspects of a critical function. The person who recruits a worker should not be the same person who approves their worker screening clearance. The person who schedules an audit should not manage the team being audited. This protects participants, protects the organisation, and protects individual staff from unfair accusations.

Director Sign-Off Authority

The Director holds sole sign-off authority over three critical areas: (1) authorising new staff to work with participants after completing induction; (2) approving all participant service agreements before services commence; (3) signing off on significant incidents reported to the NDIS Commission. These are legal requirements under our registration conditions - not preferences.

Our NDIS registration is a continuous, legally binding commitment to meet the standards set by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. If we fail to meet these standards, the Commission can impose conditions, suspend, or cancel our registration - meaning we could no longer provide services to NDIS participants.

OCC is registered under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth). Registration is governed by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Provider Registration and Practice Standards) Rules 2018 (Cth).

Our Eight Registration Groups

The following registration groups are confirmed from OCC's NDIS Initial Scope of Audit document (02 November 2023). OCC must only deliver supports within these categories.

The NDIS Practice Standards - Core Module

The Core Module applies to all registered providers delivering higher-risk supports. It contains four standards, each with quality indicators that approved auditors assess. As a core team member, you are responsible for demonstrating OCC's compliance with each standard.

In addition to the four core standards, OCC's registration requires compliance with Core Module Standard 4.3 (Management of Medication) and Core Module Standard 4.5 (Management of Waste), due to providing high intensity personal activities (registration group 0104).

High Intensity Daily Personal Activities (HIDPA)

Because OCC is registered for group 0104 (Assist Personal Activities High), workers delivering these supports must hold specific competencies for each high intensity task. These include complex bowel care, enteral feeding, tracheostomy management, subcutaneous injections, and wound management. The HR/Finance Manager and Director must ensure only appropriately trained workers are rostered for 0104 supports. OCC's HIDPA Module policies are held in the Policies and Procedures folder.

Certification Audits

The NDIS Commission requires registered providers to undergo certification audits by an approved quality auditor. For OCC, this means an initial registration audit and recertification every three years, plus surveillance audits between certification cycles. The Quality and Compliance Manager coordinates audit readiness. All core team members must participate fully and provide honest, transparent responses to auditors.

Quality management at OCC is not a compliance exercise. It is how we ensure that every participant receives the standard of support they deserve, every time. Our Quality Management Framework (GOV-QMF-001) sets out the systems, processes, and accountabilities that keep us operating to the standard required by the NDIS Commission and expected by our participants.

The QMF is built on a continuous improvement model. This means that quality is not a destination - it is a process of ongoing monitoring, reviewing, identifying gaps, and improving. Every core team member has a role in this cycle.

The Continuous Improvement Cycle

OCC's quality management follows a Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle: we plan what quality looks like, we implement those plans, we monitor and audit to check whether we're meeting our standards, and then we act on what we find to improve. The CI Register (Continuous Improvement Register) is the central tool for capturing and tracking improvement actions across all areas of the business.

Document Control

Every policy, procedure, form, and register at OCC follows our document control protocol. This ensures staff are always working from the current version of a document, and that outdated versions cannot cause errors or compliance failures.

The OCC document naming convention is: OCC_[DocumentName]_V[X.X].docx - for example, OCC_StaffHandbook_V1.1.docx. Version numbers use whole numbers for major revisions (V2.0) and decimals for minor updates (V1.1). Documents are reviewed annually or when legislation changes. Superseded documents are archived with a clear date stamp and must not be used for active processes.

Monitoring and Performance Indicators

The Quality and Compliance Manager monitors a set of key performance indicators across the year. These include: percentage of incidents reported within required timeframes; percentage of complaints resolved within 28 days; percentage of staff with current mandatory training; and participant satisfaction scores from the bi-annual feedback survey (CMP-PFS-001). These indicators are reported to the Director quarterly and form part of our evidence base at audit.

Compliance at OCC is not something we do at audit time. It is built into how we operate every day, every week, every month. Our Compliance Calendar 2026 contains 20 scheduled compliance activities across the year, assigned to specific role owners with defined frequencies. As a core team member, you are responsible for executing and evidencing the activities in your portfolio.

The compliance calendar is maintained by the Quality and Compliance Manager and reviewed at the start of each quarter. If an activity cannot be completed on time, the responsible manager must notify the Director and document the delay and its reason in the CI Register.

Compliance Activity Categories

How Compliance Is Evidenced

Evidence of compliance is what protects OCC at audit. For every scheduled compliance activity, there must be a dated record: an audit report, a completed checklist, meeting minutes, a training completion record, or a survey result. The Quality and Compliance Manager maintains a compliance evidence folder that is made available to auditors on request. Do not rely on memory - document everything.

NDIS Commission Reporting Obligations

Compliance is not just internal. Certain events must be reported to the NDIS Commission within specific timeframes. These are non-negotiable legal obligations:

Auditing is how OCC tests whether our systems and practices are actually working - not just whether our policies say the right things. The Quality Audit Schedule (CM-QAS-001, V1.2) sets out eight specific audit types conducted throughout the year. As a core team member, you will either conduct audits, participate in them, or be accountable for audit findings in your area.

Internal audits are conducted by OCC personnel. External certification audits are conducted by an approved quality auditor appointed by the NDIS Commission. Both types produce findings that must be addressed and evidenced.

The Eight Audit Types

The Audit Process at OCC

Every audit follows a consistent three-stage process. In the planning stage, the Quality and Compliance Manager confirms the scope and dates with the relevant manager, prepares audit tools (checklists, sample selection criteria), and notifies any staff who will be involved. In the fieldwork stage, the auditor reviews documents, observes practices where relevant, and interviews staff. In the reporting stage, the auditor prepares an audit report with findings, ratings, and recommended actions. The Director reviews and approves all audit reports before they are filed.

Preparing for an External Certification Audit

When the NDIS Commission schedules an external certification audit, the Quality and Compliance Manager leads OCC's preparation. This includes conducting a full self-assessment against each Practice Standard, compiling a document register and evidence portfolio, briefing all staff on the audit process and their roles, and ensuring the CI Register shows that previous audit findings have been actioned. The Director is the primary point of contact with the external auditor. All core team members are expected to participate honestly and constructively in the external audit process.

Every person we recruit, screen, and employ represents OCC to the people we support. Getting human resources right - particularly worker screening and induction - is one of the most significant compliance obligations we carry as a registered NDIS provider. The HR/Finance Manager holds primary responsibility for this area, but the Director has final sign-off authority.

Worker Screening - The Legal Requirement

Under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Worker Screening) Act 2020 (Cth), all workers in Risk Assessed Roles (RAR) at a registered NDIS provider must hold a current NDIS Worker Screening Check before they can work with NDIS participants unsupervised. This is not a discretionary policy - it is a legal requirement.

Risk Assessed Roles (RAR)

The NDIS (Worker Screening) Act 2020 defines Risk Assessed Roles in three categories. All OCC support workers fall into at least one of these categories.

A person in a Risk Assessed Role cannot commence working with NDIS participants until their screening check application has been submitted and they have received either a clearance or an approval to commence work pending clearance. The screening authority in Victoria (Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety) makes the RAR determination within 20 working days of a complete application. The check is valid for five years.

The Five-Stage Induction

OCC uses a structured five-stage induction process (HR-TMI-001) for all new staff before they are authorised to work with participants independently.

Employment Conditions - SCHADS Award

OCC support workers are employed under the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (SCHADS Award, MA000100), the modern award that governs employment conditions in the disability sector. As a core team member, you must understand the key provisions of this award to ensure OCC meets its legal obligations as an employer.

Staff File Requirements

Every staff member must have a complete file maintained by the HR/Finance Manager. This file must contain: signed employment contract; current Worker Screening Check status (clearance or approval); copy of 100 points of ID; evidence of all mandatory training completions (dates and certificates); signed copy of the OCC Code of Conduct; completed induction checklist with Director sign-off; and current professional registration certificates (where applicable). Staff files are audited bi-annually.

Every participant who chooses OCC is placing an enormous amount of trust in us. The participant onboarding process is where we either earn that trust or lose it. Getting it right means the participant understands their rights, feels heard, has a genuine support plan that reflects their goals, and knows exactly how to access help if something goes wrong.

The participant onboarding process is led by the Client Services Manager and requires Director sign-off on the service agreement before any services commence.

The Participant Onboarding Process

Person-Centred Planning

OCC's support planning approach is built on the principle that the participant is the expert on their own life. The support plan is not a document we write about someone - it is a document we write with them. It must reflect their stated goals (using their own words where possible), their preferred routines and communication style, their risk factors and how to manage them, and their preferred support workers where this preference has been expressed.

Support plans are reviewed at least every 12 months, or whenever there is a significant change in the participant's circumstances, NDIS plan, or goals. The Client Services Manager is responsible for scheduling and leading plan reviews.

Participant Rights and Complaints

Every OCC participant is given a copy of the Participant Handbook at onboarding. The handbook contains their rights charter, our service delivery commitments, and information about how to make a complaint. Under our complaints management policy:

Participants may also raise complaints directly with the NDIS Commission. We must never discourage a participant from doing so, and we must cooperate fully with any Commission-led investigation.

Participant Satisfaction Surveys

OCC conducts participant satisfaction surveys twice a year using the standard survey tool (CMP-PFS-001). Survey results are analysed by the Quality and Compliance Manager and reported to the Director. Any area where satisfaction scores fall below the target threshold triggers a quality improvement action in the CI Register. The survey is voluntary and anonymous - participants are encouraged but never pressured to participate.

Incident management is one of our most important compliance obligations and one of the clearest measures of our commitment to participant safety. An incident that is managed well - reported promptly, investigated thoroughly, and used to drive improvement - is evidence of a well-functioning provider. An incident that is hidden, minimised, or poorly managed is a serious compliance failure and a risk to participants.

OCC classifies incidents into three categories. The category determines the reporting pathway and timeframe.

Incident Categories

The Incident Reporting Process

Any staff member who witnesses or becomes aware of an incident must complete an Incident Report Form (INC-IRF-001) within 24 hours of the event. The completed form is submitted to the Operations Manager who classifies it, determines the appropriate response, and escalates to the Director for significant and reportable incidents. The Quality and Compliance Manager maintains the incident register and conducts monthly reviews of all entries.

Risk Management at OCC

OCC maintains a risk register that is reviewed quarterly by the Quality and Compliance Manager and presented to the Director. The risk register covers strategic, operational, participant safety, financial, and compliance risks. Each risk is rated by likelihood and consequence, assigned to a risk owner, and has documented mitigation strategies. High-rated risks require immediate escalation and a documented management plan.

OCC operates within a complex legislative environment. As a core team member, you do not need to be a lawyer - but you do need to understand which laws apply to what we do, what they require of us, and where to look when you need to go deeper. This module is a reference guide to the key legislation governing OCC's operations.

Primary NDIS Legislation

Privacy and Information Handling

The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) contains the 13 Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), which govern how we collect, hold, use, and disclose participant and staff personal information. Key obligations for OCC: we only collect personal information that is necessary for our purposes; we must tell participants what information we collect and how it is used; we must store information securely; and we must not disclose personal information about a participant without their consent, except in limited circumstances (such as risk to safety, or legal obligation to disclose).

Health information is classified as 'sensitive information' under the Privacy Act and attracts higher protections. All participant health information must be stored securely, accessible only to authorised staff, and never shared with third parties without explicit consent or legal requirement. File retention: participant files must be retained for a minimum of seven years, and indefinitely for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants.

Work Health and Safety

As a PCBU (Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking), OCC must so far as is reasonably practicable ensure the health, safety, and welfare of all workers. This includes support workers delivering services in participants' homes - which are considered workplaces under WHS law. Key duties: identifying and managing hazards; providing information, training, and supervision; consulting with workers on WHS matters; and having a documented WHS management plan.

Employment Law

OCC's employment obligations are governed by the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and the SCHADS Award (MA000100). The National Employment Standards (NES) set minimum entitlements - including annual leave (four weeks), personal/carer's leave (10 days), and parental leave - that apply to all employees regardless of award. The SCHADS Award sets minimum pay rates, allowances, and conditions specific to the disability and community services sector.

The NDIS Code of Conduct is one of the primary regulatory instruments that governs how everyone at OCC must behave. As a core team member, you are bound by the Code of Conduct Rules 2018 in everything you do. You are also responsible for ensuring your team understands it, and for responding correctly when a conduct issue arises.

The Seven Conduct Obligations

Worker Conduct Management

When a conduct concern is raised about a staff member, OCC must respond consistently and fairly. The process: receive the report and document it; determine whether to stand the worker down from participant-facing duties pending investigation (for serious allegations, this is the default); conduct a fair, documented investigation; make a finding; implement an appropriate outcome (counselling through to termination); and notify the NDIS Commission if the conduct constitutes a reportable incident or the worker poses an unacceptable risk.

Building a Safe Conduct Culture

Regulatory compliance alone does not create a safe culture. As core team members, you actively build a culture where staff feel safe to raise concerns without fear of retaliation; participant feedback is taken seriously; conduct expectations are communicated clearly from day one; and you model OCC's values - particularly Accountability and Responsibility - in how you manage your teams.