With all the changes and updates made to your documents over time, you’ll soon lose track of who did what and when. That’s when version control comes in.
Version control is a system of managing different versions of a document through a process of file naming and revision record keeping.
Managing and organising your NDIS organisation’s documents and their updated versions should be part of working in a regulated setting. It’s not rocket science once you know how version control works.
Why do I need version control in my NDIS business?
Version control allows your organisation to keep track of the different versions of a document and is particularly important for electronic documents that are open to revisions by multiple contributors.
It allows the key personnel in your NDIS organisation to trace the author, the date and the changes made from the time the document is created. This way, you can easily look up which version of a document, say a policy, is in force at a particular time.
For auditing purposes, version control provides an audit trail and serves to demonstrate that your documents are regularly updated whenever regulatory improvements occur as your NDIS business evolves.
How does version control work?
We recommend that all NDIS providers keep a version control register that shows the name of all the policies, procedures and forms that you use. Keeping a register of changes will provide evidence that you are continually improving your documents and business.
Begin the approved draft of a new document as a version 1. This number increases as the document gets edited. Whenever a minor edit is made, you may name the version as 1.1, then a 1.2 and so on. Where a substantial change is made, the version should be moved to a version 2.
A file naming convention showing the version information should be used to aid in identifying the document. Within the document itself, the header or footer may be used to contain the version information, such as the filename, author and date of creation and revision.
What does a version control table look like?
A version control table gives immediate details of what changes were made, by whom and when. It outlines the new version number, the person making the change, the purpose for the revision and the date of the change.
Below is an example of a version control table you may adopt for all your NDIS policies, procedures, forms and other documentation.
We recommend implementing version control in your NDIS organisation and keeping a register to help identify the latest version of a document, reduce duplication and errors.
