Changes incorporated into Service Agreements version 3.0

The Office of the Public Advocate's (OPA) Service Agreements were originally released on the OPA website on Monday 10 February 2025 as service deeds.

Over 250 registrations were received to attend virtual Q&A sessions hosted by OPA between 10 February 2025 and 26 March 2025 to discuss the documents. Q&A sessions enabled the sharing of technical information, thinking and learnings between attendees and OPA staff.

Many service providers also gave feedback and provided suggestions by email or telephone.

In response to all communications between OPA staff and stakeholders, the following changes to the documents were made with Version 3.0.   

1. Service Agreements – were created from the original service deed documents for ease of executing the documents in Western Australia.
    
2. Insurance – the provisions in 4 were changed to align with the expectations set out in NDIS Practice Standards and Quality Indicators. Reference to insurance requirements was deleted from Schedule 1.
    
3. Provider information and business decisions –  3.3.3 and 3.4.4 was added to allow providers to annexe business specific information, including demonstrating how they meet NDIS Quality and Safeguarding requirements, to an OPA Service Agreement.
    
4. Participant specific information and decisions –  3.3.5 was added to enable participant specific decisions to be annexed to the OPA Service Agreement where required (if this is necessary above inclusion in Appendix 1,  Schedule of Supports).  3.3.5A and 3.3.5B were added to clarify responsibility where NDIS funds may be overspent and ongoing requirements that all terms and conditions must remain Lawful, fair and reasonable.
    
5. Provider Terms and Conditions –  3.4.4 was strengthened with addition of the word Lawful in the requirement that Provider terms and conditions must be Lawful, fair and reasonable. 3.4.4A was added to clarify the conflict and precedence provisions of 3.4.4.
    
6. Pricing arrangements – 3.2.5 was updated to include a reference to notional pricing.   8.1.1 was updated to include a reference to indexation which clarifies and aligns with 3.2.5.
    
7. Definitions –  definitions for  Service Agreement, Terms and Conditions and  Indexation were added. Deed was deleted.
    
8. Planned and coordinated transition between providers – the word possible has been added to 3.3.11 to align with NDIS Practice Standards and Quality Indicators.
    
9. Supporting participant understanding of information – the word best has been added to 3.3.1 to accommodate variance in participant understanding, particularly where very minimal understanding may be possible.
    
10. SDA Service Agreement
    1. the participant termination notice period in 7.1 has been changed to 90 days to align with the service provider requirement for termination notice period in 7.3.
    2. A requirement to provide the SDA property address has been added to page 1 of the OPA Service Agreement.
    3. 3.3.11 has been added to meet NDIS Practice Standards and Quality Indicator requirements that where SIL and SDA are funded in the participant’s plan the roles and responsibilities of the SIL and the SDA provider must be agreed and outlined.
    4. An SDA Service Agreement Amendment Schedule has been added to the suite of service agreements to enable the SDA service agreement to be amended across NDIS plan periods to align with a Residential Tenancy Agreement.
        
11. Home and Living (with Occupancy Rights) Service Agreement – 3.3.12 has been added to meet NDIS Practice Standards and Quality Indicator requirements that where SIL and SDA are funded in the participant’s plan the roles and responsibilities of the SIL and the SDA provider must be agreed and outlined.
     
12. Editing
    1. Re-numbered clauses to accommodate  the addition of new paragraphs.
    2. Changes to descriptors in the Parties table on page 1 of each OPA Service Agreement to increase clarity.
    3. Minor editing changes to address typographical errors.
    4. Plan Management Service Agreement – Global editing change wherein the organisation is referred to as Plan Management Provider  and the worker is referred to as Plan Manager.
    5. Support Coordination Service Agreement – Global editing change wherein the organisation is referred to as Support Coordination Provider  and the worker is referred to as Support Coordinator.