The Minister for the NDIS and Government Services, the Hon. Bill Shorten, has today confirmed that the Federal Court of Australia has granted permission to the Commissioner of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (the Commissioner) to commence civil penalty proceedings against Irabina Autism Services (Irabina), following a hearing on Friday 18th October 2024.
The Commissioner commenced court proceedings against Irabina's former CEO Debra Goldfinch and former General Manager Rebecca Goldfinch in September this year. At the same time, the Commissioner sought, and has now obtained, court approval to also proceed against Irabina, which was placed into liquidation earlier this year.
Minister Shorten said this civil action should be a warning to providers who are not complying with their obligations under the NDIS Code of Conduct and the Practice Standards.
"All NDIS providers and individuals working within the Scheme have a responsibility to respect the rights and freedoms of people with disability and help keep them safe," Minister Shorten said.
"Providers who put participants at risk, or who repeatedly breach the Code of Conduct, will be identified and dealt with very seriously."
NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commissioner, Louise Glanville, said the NDIS Commission would not hesitate to take strong action against providers and individuals who breach the NDIS Code of Conduct, particularly those who put the safety and wellbeing of NDIS participants at risk.
"Providers and individuals who disregard the human rights of people with disability and risk the safety of NDIS participants have no place in the NDIS. We have strengthened our compliance and enforcement approach and are committed to using our legislative powers to identify providers who are doing the wrong thing and take action to prevent them from causing further harm," Commissioner Glanville said.
A further directions hearing has been set down by the Federal Court for December this year.
The court approval means that the Commissioner, if successful in the proceedings, can seek the imposition of financial penalties on Irabina, as well as Debra Goldfinch and Rebecca Goldfinch, for failures to comply with the NDIS Code of Conduct.
The court proceedings follow a comprehensive investigation by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission), which has already resulted in Debra Goldfinch and Rebecca Goldfinch being permanently banned from ever working with people with disability again.
The NDIS Commission alleges that between September 2019 and June 2021, Irabina used prohibited physical restraints on children with disability at Irabina and that both Debra and Rebecca Goldfinch knew of and permitted the use of these prohibited restraints.
The physical restraints involved had been expressly prohibited by the Victorian Senior Practitioner in September 2019.
The NDIS Commission alleges that these unauthorised restrictive practices continued despite Debra and Rebecca Goldfinch, and other staff at Irabina, being directed by the NDIS Commission to cease using the practices in January 2020.
It is also alleged that Debra Goldfinch permitted Irabina to continue to employ and promote her daughter, Rebecca Goldfinch, to positions of responsibility at Irabina despite knowing that she was not qualified, experienced or competent to perform those roles.
The NDIS Commission filed an originating application and concise statement in the Federal Court on 13 September 2024 which can be accessed from the Federal Court.
