Department of Premier and Cabinet - Office of the Senior Practitioner

Office of the Senior Practitioner

The Tasmanian Senior Practitioner

The Senior Practitioner is a role established by the Disability Rights, Inclusion and Safeguarding Act 2024 (the Act).

The Senior Practitioner has an important role in protecting and promoting the human rights of people with disability and authorises and oversees the implementation of restrictive practices in Tasmania.

The Senior Practitioner leads practice consultants and policy officers in the Office of the Senior Practitioner who are experts in restrictive practices and behaviour support and who assist the Senior Practitioner to perform their functions.

About the Senior Practitioner

The Senior Practitioner is a senior Tasmanian State Service employee and Allied Health Professional appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet. They are a senior leader who has appropriate qualifications and experience to perform the functions and exercise the powers of the Senior Practitioner as set out in the Act. The Senior Practitioner for Tasmania is Marita O’Connell.

An important part of the role of the Senior Practitioner is to promote the reduction and elimination of the use of restrictive practices by disability services providers to the greatest extent possible.

The Senior Practitioner, with assistance from staff in the Office of the Senior Practitioner:

authorises, oversees and reports on the use of restrictive practices by disability services providers in accordance with the Act

ensures that the rights of people who may be subject to restrictive practices are protected to the greatest extent possible

ensures that disability services providers comply with any applicable guidelines and standards on the use of restrictive practices.

The Senior Practitioner has offices in all three regions of Tasmania.

From 1 July 2025, this webpage will be continuously updated as further information including fact sheets, guidelines and application forms relating to the Act become available.

Contact

For more information on the use of restrictive practices or the Office of the Senior Practitioner, please contact us by:

Email: seniorpractitioner@dpac.tas.gov.au
Phone: 6166 9199

Application Forms

Resources

We are producing additional resources to communicate key messages about the Act and the role of the Senior Practitioner in Easy Read and other accessible formats. These will be added to this website soon.

Prohibited Practices Fact Sheet (Word 252.4KB)
Independent Person Fact Sheet (Word 250.0KB)
Appointed Program Officer Fact Sheet (Word 252.6KB)
Authorisation of Restrictive Practices Fact Sheet (Word 253.8KB)
Restrictive Practices: Information for Providers Fact Sheet (Word 256.1KB)
Restrictive Practices - What has Changed - Overview - Fact Sheet
Restrictive Practices - What has Changed for People with Disability - Fact Sheet
Restrictive Practices – What has Changed for Providers - Fact Sheet (Word 256.4KB)
Senior Practitioner Fact Sheet (Word 249.7KB)
Process Map - Restricted Practice Authorisation (PDF 455.1KB)
Australian States and Territories Restrictive Practices Authorisation Frameworks

Disability Services Act 2011 Resources

For information previously available on this website, please click on the drop-down menu below.

Disability Services Act 2011

Please scroll down the bottom of this page to access all Office of the Senior Practitioner guides

The Disability Services Act 2011 (the Act) describes the functions and powers of the Senior Practitioner.

The role of the Senior Practitioner is to advise the Secretary about the provision of specialist disability services and how services can be improved.

The position of the Senior Practitioner is appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Act requires the appointee to be a State Service officer and have appropriate qualifications and experience to fulfill the role.

The Disability Services Act 2011 is currently under review. If you would like more information please visit the Disability Legislation page.

Functions and Powers of the Senior Practitioner

The Senior Practitioner must provide an Annual Report to the Secretary which includes information about any restrictive interventions that have been approved.

The Senior Practitioner may delegate their functions and powers to other government employees to help them if needed.

They may also ask for any reasonable assistance from a disability services provider, an employee of the provider or a funded private person.

The Act allows for financial penalties against any disability service providers or private funded people who do not give reasonable assistance or "full and true answers" to questions asked by the Senior Practitioner.

Restrictive Interventions

The role of the Senior Practitioner in relation to restrictive interventions is to:

develop 'best practice' guidelines and standards
provide education and information
provide information as to the rights of people with disability
provide advice to the Secretary, the Guardianship and Administration Board, disability service providers and funded private people to improve practices
do research related to the use of restrictive interventions
monitor and evaluate the use of restrictive interventions.

Further information is available in the link to Fact Sheets at the end of this page.

Applying for a Restrictive Intervention

Applications for approval to use a Restrictive Intervention can only be written by a disability service provider or a funded private person and can be sent to the email address listed below.

Download the application form and guidelines from the link to Application Forms, Guidelines and Reporting below.

For more information on how to apply for an environmental restriction watch this short video.

Transcript for the Applying for a Restrictive Intervention video.

If you need any assistance completing the form, please contact the Office of the Senior Practitioner before sending the application.

Please note: The information contained in this document is provided as an initial guide only. It is not intended to be and is not a substitute for legal advice. Service providers should seek their own independent legal advice with reference to the implementation of the legislation.

Email completed forms to: seniorpractitionerdisability@dpac.tas.gov.au

Powers to Investigate

The Senior Practitioner is able to visit any property of a funded service provider if there are concerns about the care and safety of the person with disability living at the property.

The Senior Practitioner is able to:

speak to a person who has a restrictive intervention
look at how the restrictive intervention is being used by the service provider or funded private person
look at why the restrictive intervention is being used by the service provider or funded private person.

The Senior Practitioner can make copies of documents and talk to any anyone involved in the use of a restrictive intervention.

The Senior Practitioner will report to the Secretary and provide recommendations.

The Senior Practitioner will also recommend to the Secretary the future plan to stop or reduce a restrictive practice or suggest other ways to support the person without the need to use restrictive practices.

The Act allows for financial penalties to be applied to any funded service providers or funded private persons who do not follow the directions given by the Secretary about restrictive practices.