Consumer assessment
The Quality Framework requires disability service providers to demonstrate how they support people with a disability, their family members and carers to:
- Participate in decision making in relation to service planning, delivery and evaluation
- Participate in processes to provide feedback against the Standards on the organisation's service delivery.
Consumer assessment may be carried out in many ways. Service providers are encouraged to select an approach that best suits the service type and service user requirements.
The approach selected should encourage and support service users to participate in the consumer assessment. Service providers should consider gaining representation of the diversity of the consumer group that uses the service. In both smaller and larger services the more service users involved, the more representative the feedback will be.
- Service outlets with five or less service users should aim to involve all service users, or people involved in the lives of those service users, in the assessment.
- Large service outlets must aim to involve a significant proportion of consumers (at least 10 to 15% of the total service user group, and no fewer than five service users..
While every effort should be made to encourage people with a disability to actively participate, participation in the consumer assessment is voluntary and should be extended by invitation.
The Quality Framework Resource Guide provides further advice on implementing a consumer assessment, including sample questions relating to the Standards, facilitators and consumer feedback surveys.
Quality Framework Resource Guide Toolkit (PDF 1.1 mb)
Quality Framework Resource Guide Toolkit (RTF 675.3 kb)