Staying safe

This information is not legal advice.

There are some decisions about your life that you might need to get legal advice about.

If you need legal advice, please contact your local state or territory Law Society or Community Law organisation.

You can also ask your family, carer, support worker, Provider or advocate to help you find a service in your local area.

We all need to look out for one another.

Feeling safe and being safe is important. When I am not safe or someone else is not safe, we all need to speak up.

Feeling safe means:

• I am empowered to live my good life
• I can take risks
• I can do things I want to do but other people think I should not do
• I can contribute
• I feel more confident
• I am more independent.

The word safeguard means to keep someone or something safe.

My safeguards are the people, laws, things and actions that support me to live my good life.

My safeguards:

• Protect my rights
• Keep me safe
• Protect my decision making
• Help me to have choice and control in my life.
• There are things I can do to help me stay safe.

I can reduce the chance of something going wrong when I go out by planning ahead. I can:

• Take a mobile phone
• Know who to contact in an emergency
• Have extra money in case I need a taxi to get home
• Know where to sit when I use public transport.
• Making plans to stay safe is called intentional safeguarding.

Safeguards can also be called:

• Informal safeguards
• Formal safeguards.

I need both informal and formal safeguards.

Informal safeguards happen naturally. They are the safeguards people give each other as they go about everyday life.

We stay safe by having people around us who know us and look out for us. People like my:

• Family
• Friends
• Neighbours
• Teachers
• Work mates.

My wider community can help me stay safe. They might be people I don’t know, but see a lot, like:

• The people who wait at my bus stop every day
• The person who serves me at the corner store
• The people who make my coffee.

I am safer in my community when I have people around me who:

• Say hello to me
• Ask me how I am
• Listen to me
• Look out for me
• Miss me if I am not around or don’t turn up.

Belonging in my community and having people recognise my strengths are the natural and informal safeguards in my life.

Formal safeguards are the actions my Providers, support workers, advocates, legal representatives take to keep me safe.

Examples of formal safeguards are:

• Having a complaints process
• Making sure support workers have criminal history screening checks
• Having a fire evacuation plan
• Wearing name tags so workers are easily recognised.

The actions they take follow the rules, laws and policies in place to keep me safe.

Building better safeguards

If I need to develop better safeguards, I can:

1. Ask people I trust to help me
2. Ask my informal and formal networks to help each other find ways to keep me safe.

Resource: My Safety

Informal safeguards happen naturally. They are the safeguards we give each other as we go about our everyday life.

Sometimes, people with disability need help to build their safeguards, or strengthen their existing networks. If you do, this resource on micro-boards and peer support groups might help.

Resource – My Safety

Activity: Mapping my safeguards

Your support network is made up of different people who love and care about you. This activity can help you map who is in your support network and what formal and informal safeguards you have in place.

You can do this activity yourself or with family and friends.

Activity – Mapping My Safeguards

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission is an independent agency that helps to improve the quality and safety of NDIS supports and services.

My Providers and support workers must provide safe and high-quality supports and services to keep me safe.

To keep me safe, my Providers and support workers must:

• Support my choice and control
• Meet my support needs
• Listen to me
• Respect my rights
• Treat me fairly
• Keep me safe from harm, violence and abuse.

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission has rules about protecting my right to get safe and high-quality services from NDIS Providers and support workers. These rules are called the Quality and Safeguarding Framework (or NDIS Framework).

Resource: Staying Safe – Helpful links factsheet

This factsheet has helpful links that you can look at if you want more information about this module.

You can read these resources and links by yourself, or you can ask your family and friends to help you.

Resource – Staying Safe – Helpful links factsheet

EASY READ – The NDIS Code of Conduct: How these rules keep participants safe
Source: NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission

EASY READ – My safety plan
Source: Council for Intellectual Disability

EASY READ – Mental health guide
Source: Council for Intellectual Disability

EASY READ – Tips to help mental health
Source: Council for Intellectual Disability

EASY READ – Viruses and staying healthy
Source: Council for Intellectual Disability

EASY READ – How to cope in a heatwave
Source: Council for Intellectual Disability

EASY READ – Some signs of sickness
Source: Council for Intellectual Disability

EASY READ – What you can do about abuse through technology
Source: eSafety Commissioner

Supporting effective communication
Source: NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission

Every Moment Has Potential: Skills for Active Support
Source: La Trobe University