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Stage

Your Rights

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​​Getting the person's agreement (consent) to the service

I have been careful in considering these rights in all parts of my service, including how I treat people and work with them, how I make decisions about my service, and how I respect and value their uniqueness in their backgrounds, life experiences, and beliefs. There are a number of specific ways my service protects the person's rights. Click on each smiley face to see more...  

Supporting the person in decisions involving them

that describe the proper and lawful ways to act towards others to support their values and ability to be treated fairly and have a good life.

Human Rights are a set of standards

Protecting the information the person shares

Having ways for the person to give feedback or make a complaint

Following a range of standards about how services should be provided

Rights

Consent for the service

It's important that the person understands and expresses agreement to my service, in ways that consider the person's preferences and unique needs, particularly  around communication, learning and decision making. For example...
 

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The person can change their consent at any time

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Some people will learn by trying out the service first and then decide

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Some people will talk with me about the service and tell me their choice.

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The person can get support from others they trust, with any of these preferences.

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Some people will discuss, read, and sign a Service Agreement

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Sometimes, I may lack the skill to communicate with people who have more unique ways of communicating. I'm aware of the potential for me to misunderstand their choices.

I will spend time with the person and talk with the person's trusted others to develop my understanding of how they express their decisions and what their preferences are.
 

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Decision making
 

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My service pays extra attention to making sure the person is at the centre of decisions involving them.  

This is the person's right, and also fits with my values and purpose. To live in a welcoming world and get good quality services, people need to have real opportunity to make their own decisions.
 

I will continue to learn and look for ways I can create these opportunities and support the person to make decisions that are preferred and meaningful to them.
 

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Collecting, storing, and getting personal information

As a necessary part of providing a service to the person, I need to collect and record personal information from them such as their name, contact information, and other information relevant to the service.  

 

 

 

 

Sometimes sharing the person’s information can be a helpful part of my service. I will discuss the person’s preferences around this and get the person’s agreement before I share information.

 

 

This information is stored securely (locked filing cabinets, secure electronic storage). If the person wants to get their personal information, they can contact me to discuss how to do this.

 

 

Sharing personal information

 By law, I must keep the person’s personal information confidential (private). This means I can’t discuss it with anyone else, with a few exceptions. If I think the person is likely to harm themselves or someone else, I have a duty of care to make sure they are safe, so I may need to tell other people. Also, I will share the person's information if I am ordered to do so by a court, but this is rare. 

 

 

Protecting the person's information

 

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Feedback and complaints

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For more information about raising a concern with AHPRA or the Health and Disability Services Complaints Office (HaDSCO), the link below has a video and useful information:

https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Notifications/Concerned-about-a-health-practitioner.aspx

Feedback is when a person lets me know what they think about any part of the service they are receiving. Complaints are more serious concerns that the person may have about any part of the service. Feedback and complaints are important to make sure that my service is of a high quality and continues to improve.

 

The person may provide feedback or make a complaint about my service at any time, in a way preferred by them, such as telling me or writing it down, with or without support from others. I will also regularly seek feedback from the person.

 

I will work with the person to respond to their feedback or complaint. If this does not help, the person can get more help by contacting the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) on 1300 419 495.

 

 

The person may also seek further action by calling the NDIS Quality and Safeguarding Commission on 1800 035 544. The link below has useful information to help people ‘speak up’ if they have concerns about their NDIS funded service:

https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/node/1561

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Links to documents

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There are many documents that give information about protecting a person's rights and how services should be provided. Below are links to a range of relevant documents and websites.

 

All people

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights describes the rights all people have. For an easy read book version:  https://www.un.org/en/udhrbook/#61

 

People with disability

The rights of people with disability are described in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (also known as CRPD). For an easy read version: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/345108/easy-read-un-convention.pdf

 

To go to the CRPD website: https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html

 

Responsibilities for psychologists

As a psychologist, I am also guided by the Charter for clients of Australian Psychological Society (APS) psychologists. For a one page summary: https://psychology.org.au/getmedia/5fb479bb-4ab8-49f3-a9eb-1a76a3779ef4/aps-charter-for-clients.pdf

 

I must also keep to the APS Code of Ethics, which is a 31page booklet that sets specific standards for psychologists. For the full booklet: https://psychology.org.au/getmedia/d873e0db-7490-46de-bb57-c31bb1553025/18aps-code-of-ethics.pdf

NDIS funded services

My service is guided by the National Standards for Disability Services -a 25-page document that focus on rights and outcomes for people with disability. For a one-page summary: https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/01_2015/nsds_poster_7_combined_6_standards_poster_wcag.pdf

 

The NDIS Code of Conduct -is a 37-page document that sets out acceptable, appropriate and ethical conduct for NDIS providers and workers delivering supports or services. For a one-page summary:

 

https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2019-07/10848-ndis-coca3posterv6.pdf

 

For more information about the Code: https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/participants/ndis-code-conduct


 

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