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Tasmanian Disability Services Act 2011
The Disability Services Act (DSA) is an Act of the Tasmanian Parliament that sets out how individuals with disability, disability service providers, and researchers are funded. It also provides the rules for the approval and conduct of restrictive practices.
The DSA came into effect, meaning it began operating, from 1 January 2012.
The DSA covers specialist disability services that are:
- funded by the Tasmanian Government or the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
- provided directly by the Tasmanian Government and
- registered with the NDIS in Tasmania.
The DSA is supported by the Disability Services Regulations 2015 which are aligned with the National Standards for Disability Services.
There has been a lot of change in specialist disability services since the DSA began in January 2012.
The biggest change was the start of the NDIS.
This meant:
- a new law came into effect with the NDIS Act 2013
- the Australian Government became responsible for delivering nationally consistent, specialist disability services and
- all eligible people in Tasmania were able to use NDIS from 1 July 2019 and
- the way of funding specialty disability services changed.
Disability support providers no longer receive funding directly from the Tasmanian Government. Instead, eligible people receive funding so they can have choice and control over the support and care they need to help achieve their goals and aspirations.
The NDIS Act 2013 has also changed the way specialised services to people with disability are delivered.
The NDIS Act sets out:
- supports and requirements for providers and
- national rules for the quality of services, safety, and overall experiences of people with disability.
The DSA was reviewed in 2018 and a small number of changes to the DSA were made at this time.
If you are interested in reading the DSA or the Disability Services Regulations (2015) the documents are available on the Tasmanian Legislation website. View - Tasmanian Legislation Online.
2021 Review of the Disability Services Act 2011
A major review of the DSA is currently underway. If you are interested in finding out more please visit Disability Services Act Review section.