(a) in the course of his or her professional work or other paid employment delivers health care, welfare, education, children’s services, residential services, or law enforcement, wholly or partly, to children, and
(b) a person who holds a management position in an organisation the duties of which include direct responsibility for, or direct supervision of, the provision of health care, welfare, education, children’s services, residential services, or law enforcement, wholly or partly, to children.
Risk of significant harm
Basic physical or psychological needs not met or are at risk of not being met
Parents or other caregivers have not arranged and are unable or unwilling to arrange necessary medical care for the child or young person
Physical or sexual abuse, or ill-treatment
Living with domestic violence
Parent’s or other caregiver’s behaviour resulting in or risk of serious psychological harm
Child was subject of a pre-natal report and birth mother of child did not engage successfully with support services to eliminate the risk
By 1973, the word ‘multiculturalism’ had been introduced and minority groups were forming local and national associations to promote their language and heritage within the mainstream. Now it has progressed to the point where it is central to Australian society.
Learning Topic 1 Demonstrate an understanding of legislation and common law relevant to work role
This topic should provide you with the ability to identify the various legislative requirements that will guide your practices as an ethical community services worker. You will learn to:
demonstrate an understanding of legislation and common law and how it applies to your workplace; and
demonstrate an understanding of how to maintain confidentiality and support clients in making decisions about service provision.
Section 1.7 Laws that support rights
The following Acts which relate to safety, privacy and confidentiality and protection of rights of clients can be accessed at the website www.austlii.edu.au
NSW Anti-discrimination Act 1977 with amendments in 1980, 1996 and 2001 (Carer Responsibilities)
Crimes Act 1900
Occupational Health and Safety Act 1983 and 2000
Workers Compensation Act 1987
Privacy and Personal Information Act 1998
Freedom of Information Act 1989
NSW Disability Services Act 1993
Child Protection (Prohibited Employment) Act 1998
Children (Care and Protection) Act 1998
Young Offenders Act 1997
NSW Community Services (complaints, Appeals and Monitoring) 1993
Guardianship Act 1987
Ethnic Affairs Commission (Amendment) 1996
Health Administration Act 1982
Public Health Act 1991
NSW Poisons Act 1966
Coroner’s Act 1980
Health Care complaints Act 1993
1.7.1 Other Acts
Commonwealth Community Services (complaints, Appeals and Monitoring) Act 1993
This Act oversees an independent complaints mechanism for clients of the CSI, There is a complaints Tribunal to hear complaint cases, including allegations of abuse and neglect by staff towards clients and a Commission to investigate and respond to complaints about the Department of Community Services, the Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care and all of the non-government services funded and administered by these departments. Organisations are expected to have a grievance policy and procedure in place, and the Commission only gets involved if this organisational process fails to resolve the complaint.
Mental health Act 1990
This Act sets out clearly the rights of people with a mental illness. It emphasises community-based care, with hospitalisation only when necessary, and patient rights (such as the right to know about the decisions and orders made of their care and to know and consent to treatment prescribed for them). The Act gives clear guidelines for the involuntary admission of patients and ensures that the mental health Tribunal regularly reviews all patients. The Act also provides a legal definition of mental illness, based on the symptoms the client is experiencing rather than on their diagnosis.
Disability Services Act 1993
This Act sets out the rights of people with disabilities in community based and government programs. The disability standards derive from the Act and give clear guidelines for both organisations and their workers to ensure they provide quality services.
Disability discrimination Act 1992 (Commonwealth)
Anti-discrimination legislation makes it illegal to treat people differently and unfairly based on their race, gender, sexual preference, marital status, age, physical or intellectual impairment or carer responsibilities. discrimination can occur at two levels:
Direct discrimination is any action which excludes or limits a person or a group of people from some opportunity because of a personal characteristic irrelevant to the situation (for example, you think someone is gay or lesbian and you tell them that the service has no vacancies).
Indirect discrimination occurs when an agency’s policies and procedures appear to be fair but in reality, they reduce a minority group member’s chance of obtaining a service (for example, clients have to fill out a lengthy written document in English to obtain a benefit, with no assistance, despite language or literacy difficulties).
Aged Care Act 1997
This Act sets out the rights of people receiving aged care services. The Aged Care Standards derive from this Act and are the guiding benchmark for services in the accreditation process.
1.7.2 Protection of children and young people
The NSW Children (Care and Protection) Act 1998 sets out clearly the rights and guidelines about the way child protection matters are dealt with in NSW.
This Act differentiates between children (persons under 16 years) and young persons (16–18 years). This is in recognition that older adolescents may be physically and emotionally mature.
Activity 1.6
Find the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 at the NSW Government legislation website. From the home page, you can use the search function to click on ‘Search’ to find this Act, or click on ‘Browse’ and then click on ‘C’ to find this Act listed. Scroll down to sections 23 and 27, read and answer the following questions in brief.
1. In what circumstances is a child or young person considered to be at risk?
Anti-discrimination legislation makes it illegal to treat people differently and unfairly based on their race, sex, marital status, age or physical or intellectual impairment. Discrimination can occur at two levels—direct and indirect.
Direct discrimination is any action which excludes or limits a person or a group of people from some opportunity because of a personal characteristic irrelevant to the situation (for example, you don’t like the look of a scruffily dressed client so you tell them that the service has no vacancies).
Indirect discrimination occurs when a set of rules, practices or conditions appear to be fair because it applies to all, but which in reality reduces a minority group member’s chance of obtaining a benefit or opportunity (for example, clients have to fill out a lengthy written document in English to obtain a benefit, with no assistance, despite language or literacy difficulties).
1.7.9 The NSW Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000
This is the main piece of health and safety legislation, with related Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (2001). These can be accessed via WorkCover (the administering body) at www.workcover.nsw.gov.au. On the website go to search (top left side box) and type in Community Services Safety Pack. The booklet can then be downloaded.
The Act and regulations mean that employers must ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of all employees. Employees also have to take reasonable care for the health and safety of others and cooperate with and abide by OHS policies and procedures.
This means that workplaces must put into place systems to assess, control and/or eliminate health and safety risks. It also details how to consult with employees about health and safety matters. The Regulation provides broad coverage for all workplaces along with specified measures for particular hazards and industry activities.
Activity 1.7
1. List particular hazards that might affect workers in the CSI industry?
2. List any legislation and common law you think is the most relevant to the community service sector that interests you, in terms of your roles and responsibilities in supporting clients
1.7.10 Linking legislation to roles and responsibilities of workers
As you can see there is a variety of legislation to be upheld when you are working in the CSI. First and foremost, it is up to the management committee of each organisation to ensure they are aware of all of the relevant legislation affecting their program, to keep up-to-date with changes to legislation and to monitor the impact of legislation on the workplace. If they do not take this responsibility seriously, they could be breaking the law or putting their government funding at risk.
Being aware of legislation is only the first step. Employers must also develop policies and procedures to ensure that work practices are developed that reflect the legislation. Staff need to be consulted in the development of such policy and adequately resourced, trained and supported to fulfil their roles and responsibilities in line with legislated guidelines.
It is also important for you as a worker to network with colleagues and local service providers, attending interagency functions and to generally keep up to date with legislation developments.
Adherence to legislation ensures consistency of practice and high quality service provision across the CSI - something our clients have a right to expect.
