The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing and the Department of Health have separate incident reporting systems and requirements.
The incident reporting system that applies to Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) funded organisations that provide in-scope services is the CIMS (Client Incident Management System). Reporting client incidents through CIMS applied to in-scope DFFH funded organisations from 15 January 2018 and for department staff of selected delivered services from 1 October 2018.
The incident reporting system that applies to Department of Health funded organisations is the VHIMS (Victorian Health Incident Management System). Please note – health organisations that do not report in the VHIMS, and who provide the following service types are in-scope for the reporting of client incidents in the CIMS:
- Aged care and carer’s support services
- Alcohol and drug treatment services
- Community palliative care services
- Home and community care (HACC) services (for people aged under 65 and under 50 for Aboriginal people)
- Sexual health prevention and community-based services
- Mental health community support services
- Youth residential rehabilitation
- Adult residential rehabilitation
- Individualised support packages
- Accommodation, respite and community support
Information specific to National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) organisations:
Effective 1 July 2019, NDIS organisations whose supports and services are funded by the NDIS are no longer required to report incidents in CIMS but must now report incidents to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. For those NDIS organisations in receipt of funding from both the DFFH and the NDIS, they will remain subject to both state-based (ie: CIMS and NDIS) reporting obligations. Further information about the reporting obligations of NDIS organisations can be found at https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/providers/reportable-incidents).