Implementation start date: 01/07/2016
Implementation end date: 30/06/2017
DSS specific information:
In the Disability Services National Minimum Data Set (DS NMDS), this refers to hours worked by volunteer/unpaid staff refers to the actual total hours worked by staff, volunteers or students and others who do not receive payment for the work which they perform on behalf of the service type outlet. It collects hours worked, not full-time equivalents or rostered weekly hours. It includes hours worked on behalf of the service type outlet both directly delivered to service users, and indirectly to service users (e.g. indirect hours such as related committee meetings).
This data element is collected twice within the Disability Services National Minimum Data Set (DS NMDS):
- the actual total hours worked by all volunteer/unpaid staff for a service type outlet in the 7-day reference week (i.e. for the week preceding the end of the reporting period); and
- actual total hours worked by all volunteer/unpaid staff for a service type outlet for a typical 7-day week.
Staff hours should be rounded up to the nearest whole hour.
Inclusions and exclusions for the calculation of unpaid/volunteer staff hours:
- Includes:
- staff hours worked as unpaid work by usually paid or contract staff
- staff hours worked by administrative staff, managers etc. (i.e. indirect staff relating to this service type outlet)
- staff hours worked by Board members relating to this service type
- staff hours worked by staff contracted to clean premises
- staff hours worked by staff receiving training relevant to this service type
- staff hours worked while travelling to a location to assist/visit a service user
- Excludes:
- staff hours worked while staff receive payment for sleepover duties
- staff hours worked on committees or at meetings relevant to this service type
- staff hours worked as paid overtime (to be included with paid staff hours)
- staff hours for workers on leave (including public holidays, paid/unpaid sick leave, i.e. this data item relates to staff hours worked, not staff hours paid for)
- staff hours normally worked in positions that are currently vacant staff hours allocated to non-National Disability Agreement (NDA) service users.
For funded agencies with multiple service type outlets (and where staff hours per service type outlet are not known), all staff should be apportioned across service type outlets. To apportion staff across different service type outlets it is recommended that agencies:
- use fortnightly rosters as a starting point apportion total staff hours across funded service types
- divide this figure by two to get weekly staff hours for the week preceding the end of the reporting period.
A funded agency may receive funding from multiple sources, however for DS NMDS purposes, only those services provided using NDA funds should be recorded. Where a funded agency is unable to differentiate all data according to funding source (i.e. NDA or other), they are asked to provide full details (in this case, staff hours) regardless of funding source.
If the service type outlet is funded to provide service type 2.06 Case management, local coordination and development, the following rules for calculating staff hours apply:
- record staff hours relating to the case coordination/management/brokerage activities undertaken (including administrative time, board member time etc. as above)
- do not record the staff hours for the agencies who provide any services arranged, purchased or brokered by your service type outlet as part of providing service type 2.06
- see also data items 17e–f ‘hours received’ per service user, as similar rules apply to the calculation of hours received by service users.
If the service type outlet sub-contracts the provision of part or all of a service type (other than 2.06) they are funded to provide to another agency:
- the service type outlet who is sub-contracting another agency is responsible for providing relevant details about the sub-contracted activity (e.g. in-home accommodation support provider sub-contracting the provision of some in-home accommodation support to another agency, which may or may not be funded under the NDA)
- the service type outlet who is sub-contracting another agency should include an estimate of the staff hours sub-contracted in this way with the staff hours allocation for their service type outlet (and the sub-contractor outlet should not include these hours in their service type outlet return, if they are also included in the DS NMDS)
- see also data items 17e–f ‘hours received’ per service user, as similar rules apply to the calculation of hours received by service users.
