Zero Tolerance is an initiative led by National Disability Services in partnership with the disability sector to assist disability service providers to understand, implement and improve practices which safeguard the rights of people they support.

At Interchange we follow a Zero Tolerance approach to recognise, raise and respond to any deviation from the human rights of people using our services. It is a personal and organisational commitment to always have our eyes open and always be doing better to protect the rights of the people we support.

We commit to the NDS’s Zero Tolerance Framework, which is an evidence-based, five-tiered
approach which sets out strategies for service providers to improve prevention of, early intervention and responses to abuse, neglect and violence experienced by people with disability.

Zero Tolerance is:

• a way for us to understand actions we can follow to prevent and respond to abuse, neglect and violence of people with disability
• a clear message that abuse, neglect and violence are not okay
• a way of thinking about abuse as a human rights issue not a disability issue
• an organisational and personal commitment to act on:

• a collection of resources to educate and train staff at all levels to understand their responsibilities in preventing and responding to abuse
• a way of working collaboratively within and outside the disability sector to prevent and respond to abuse

NDS has developed a Zero Tolerance Guide with a range of free resources to support the
implementation of the Zero Tolerance Framework. These resources are designed to “start the conversation” to
promote positive cultures with respect to speaking up about abuse.

Find the Zero Tolerance Guide HERE and the accessible version HERE