Supported Residential Services

Role of the Department

The Department is responsible for administering the Supported Residential Services (Private Proprietors) Act 2010 and Supported Residential Services (Private Proprietors) Regulations 2012.

The objective of this Act is to protect the safety and wellbeing of residents living in private supported residential services. The Act is underpinned by a set of principles that articulate the rights of residents of SRS.

These principles focus on the recognition of residents’ rights, the importance of support residents to live as independently as possible and to participate in decisions regarding the services they receive.

Proprietors are expected to apply these principles in the day to day operation of the SRS, particularly in relation to the provision of accommodation and personal support to residents, in the complaints procedures and other policies and practices in place at the SRS.

How does the department monitor compliance?

Authorised Officers are appointed under the Supported Residential Services (Private Proprietors) Act 2010 and based in the department regions across Victoria. They monitor and enforce compliance with the Act and the Regulations by:

• Undertaking inspections of SRS, these include planned Targeted Compliance Reviews that focus on specific sections of the Act and Regulations
• Prompt and thorough complaint investigation involving announced or unannounced inspections
• Issuing Inspection Reports to proprietors to rectify issues of non-compliance where identified and conduct of follow-up inspections. Refer to Inspection Reports section below.
• Imposing sanctions for continued non-compliance, such as compliance notices, infringements, revocation of Registration and/or prosecution for breaches of the Act or Regulations.

There are three broad inspection types:

• Targeted compliance reviews
• Compliance inspections
• Complaint inspections

In addition, Authorised officers provide advice and education to assist proprietors in:

• Complying with the legislation
• Implementing best-practice measures

Authorised Officers can assist proprietors to understand and implement changes to procedures, practices and documents to ensure compliance with the legislation. This occurs both during inspections and as part of the department’s SRS seminar and training program.

Inspection Reports

Where non-compliance has been identified, Authorised Officers will issue a report identifying what action needs to be taken by the proprietor to meet the regulatory requirement, and a timeframe for when the action should be completed. The timeframe is developed in consultation with the proprietor. Further announced or unannounced inspections may result, such as a compliance inspection, to ensure that actions have been taken to remedy the non-compliance.