025 Conflict of Interest (COI) Policy | NDIS Disability Services in Brisbane

1. Purpose

Proactive Support actively manages real and possible conflicts of interest that have the potential to negatively impact or influence services. This is part of our commitment to always provide safe and high-quality support. This policy encompasses considerations such as financial interests, family relationships, and conflicting professional affiliations. Avoiding conflict of interest is crucial to maintaining trust and integrity and ensuring participants receive accurate and impartial support. Where personal interest comes into conflict with a person’s work-related responsibilities, Proactive Support exercises good governance, to ensure any conflicts are identified and managed, prevented or resolved.

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2. Scope

This policy applies to:

All staff who work or interact with participants supported by Proactive Support

Administrative staff who may communicate with the participant or carer or nominee or advocate via phone, email, or other means

All types of communications and interactions, not just those made in person

All stages of support provision including assessment, planning, provision, review, and exit

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3. Definitions

In this policy:

Staff means any person employed by Proactive Support, including managers and workers, regardless of pay, status or working hours

Participant means a client or potential client who is receiving supports or services from Proactive Support

Advocate is a person speaking or acting on the participant’s behalf, including associated family members, carers, nominees, independent advocates, and significant others

Conflict of interest (COI) arises when an individual or organisation's personal, financial, or professional interests may influence their ability to prioritise the best interests of another party. In the context of NDIS providers, it refers to situations where their personal or financial interests may influence the support and services offered to NDIS participants.

Real – where a direct conflict exists between current supports and services and existing private interests.

Perceived – where it appears or could be perceived that private interests are improperly influencing the provision of supports and services whether or not that is actually the case.

Potential – where private interests are not but could come into direct conflict with supports and services.

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4. Rights and Responsibilities

All Staff

All staff are required to:

Familiarise themselves with the NDIS Code of Conduct 2019

Not give, ask for, or accept any inducement or gift that impacts or may impact on the way it provides supports or services under the NDIS, including any referral arrangements with other providers

Not allow any financial or commercial interest in an organisation or company providing products, services or supports to people with disability to adversely affect the way in which the staff member engages with the participants.

Not allow any financial or commercial interest in an organisation or company providing products, services or supports to people with disability to adversely affect the way in which the NDIS provider engages with people with disability.

Complete a COI declaration form yearly

Inform the participant, carer and/or nominee of any real, perceived, or potential conflicts of interest.

Management

Managers’ additional responsibility is to:

Engage in recruitment practices, such as probity checks and reference checks, to uncover any potential or real conflicts of interest of people that it is considering employing.

Ensure staff understand their obligations and the consequences for non-compliance.

Make claims for payments that are correct and truthful only.

Provide and charge for supports that are in line with a participant’s plan.

Identify, declare, and manage any conflict of interest including disclosing this information to the participant, carer and/or nominee.

Behave fairly and ethically in all financial dealings.

Prioritise equitable, transparent, and ethical approaches in all aspects of its operations.

Not treat any party more favourably than another because of the real, perceived, or potential conflict.

Support all staff to complete a COI declaration form yearly and encourage the completion of the declaration as potential COI arises

Maintain COI information on each staff member in a Conflict of Interest Register.

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5. Background

The NDIS Code of Conduct Guidance for Service Providers (page 21) states:

‘NDIS providers should disclose to the people with disability they support or who are seeking support, any conflicts of interest – potential or real – that may impact on how they deliver support and services to that person. This would include conflicts of a financial, business, or personal nature, including any financial and/or corporate interest or relationship the NDIS provider may have with other entities, including businesses and organisations, or of a personal nature, including but not limited to cultural, religious, or social relationships.’

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6. Discussion

Conflicts of interest are quite common, and with the right identification and disclosure are not issues at all. In nearly all cases it is not a case of doing something wrong, but simply arises when an individual or organisation is not completely independent.

Avoiding and managing conflict of interest is crucial to maintaining trust and integrity and ensuring participants receive accurate and impartial support.

An example of a conflict of interest would be where Proactive Support provides two different services to a participant – specifically Support Co-ordination and one other. As Support Co-ordinators can have a high level of influence over the services a participant utlises it is important to ensure the participant is supported to exercise choice and control and is presented with all options.

In another scenario a family member of the participant may be employed by Proactive Support to provide services. Household members are classed as informal supports and are not funded by the NDIS, however other relations may be employed by Proactive Support, and it is important to ensure that supports and services are fair with no bias.

Financial conflict of interest may arise where a participant is affiliated with Proactive Support or its staff - whether they are employed by, or an owner or an investor. They may become conflicted as they are benefitting from their own funding. In this situation full transparency is advised and may be discussed with the LAC or Plan Manager.

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7. Process for Managing Conflicts of Interest

Stage 1: Declaration

All staff members must complete a COI declaration form yearly even if they are stating no conflict.

All staff members must complete a COI declaration form out of the yearly cycle where an emerging situation reveals a real, potential, or perceived conflict of interest.

When a written declaration is not immediately practicable, the staff member must verbally declare the interest to relevant parties present as soon as practicable, declare the conflict to management.

The staff member must provide as much information as possible to allow the issue to be adequately assessed to determine whether a conflict that exists is manageable or not.

Management must declare conflicts of interest with participants, carers and/or their nominees, as relevant in a clear and transparent manner at induction.

Stage 2: Identify

Management must:

Discuss any potential conflicts of interest with the employee concerned to obtain as much information as possible from them regarding the situation and circumstances.

Identify and classify all real, potential, and perceived conflicts of interest

Keep a completed copy of the COI declaration on the employee’s file and note it in the Staff Register

Stage 3: Manage

Management must:

Document the assessment or re-assessment of the situation and the surrounding circumstances that could affect any decisions or actions in the matter, including the type of COI.

Provide staff member with written notice of COI as required

Ensure that any action taken/decision made in relation to managing the COI is in accordance with the Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld)

Restrict the staff member’s involvement with the participant or remove the employee from the situation if necessary.

Save any record of all assessments and decisions made in relation to all declared COI.

Stage 4: Monitor

Ongoing monitoring and regular reviews of identified COI (at mutually agreed timeframes or when the employee’s interests change to the extent that the potential for a COI is altered) are essential to allow changes to be made, if necessary,

A Staff member must advise Management as soon as possible if there is a ‘change in interests’ after the initial declaration (to the extent that the potential for a COI is altered).

Management will review all COI every 12 months and the potential for a COI to be altered and maintain all records of any changes made because of the review in the staff member’s personal employment Case Notes.

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8. Mitigating Conflicts of Interest

Proactive Support will abide by the following principles in all its activities to mitigate Conflicts of Interest where possible:

Promote open and transparent communication with participants, carers and nominees.

Proactively disclose any conflicts of interest and ensure participants have all the required information to make informed choices.

Ensure the participant’s best interests are maintained

Support and train staff in identifying and managing conflicts of interest

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9. Documentation

The ‘COI Declaration’ form will be completed in collaboration with management at Proactive Support. This form is an important document as it serves as a reminder of potential conflicts so the staff members can abstain from participating in circumstances that are deemed conflicts of interest. The Declaration and this Policy set boundaries for staff where possible conflicts may arise to protect the company and prevent issues from developing.

The Employment Contract will include a clause about Conflict of Interest

The Conflict of Interest letter will be used where a Conflict of Interest exists and must be discouraged or managed

Proactive Support Service Agreement includes a paragraph about conflict of interest to promote transparency and integrity.

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10. Related Documentation

Proactive Support

001 Participant’s Rights Policy

002 Misconduct Policy

003 Participant’s Privacy, Dignity and Confidentiality Policy

004 Risk Management Framework

005 Risk Management Policy

007 Feedback and Complaints Management Policy

011 Human Resources Management Policy

018 Risk Management Procedure

PS Conflict of Interest Letter

PS Conflict of Interest Declaration Form

PS Conflict of Interest Register

PS Employment Contract

PS Service Agreements

External

Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld)

NDIS Code of Conduct 2019

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