Question

explain how the following legal and ethical requirments are applied in the support serives industry.

duty of care

dignity of risk

privacy and confidentiality

discrimination

mandatory reporting

work role boundaries and limitations

Answer 1

1. Duty of care:-

Duty of Care requires us to ensure that all the people we work with are safe and that we abide by relevant legislation. A duty of care exists where someone’s actions could reasonably be expected to affect other people. A duty of care is particularly acknowledged where there is a relationship of power and authority between two people e.g. between a project coordinator and a young peer supporter.

Duty of Care is the legal duty to take reasonable care so that others aren’t harmed and involves identifying risks and taking reasonable care in your response to these risks. Duty of care is reciprocal – the organisation has a duty of care to the clients and peer supporters and the peer supporter has a duty of care in the services that they provide for the organisation

2. Dignity of risk:-

Dignity of risk, on the other hand, is a concept that outlines how people should have the freedom to make decisions and choices that may expose themselves to a level of risk. A more sophisticated approach considers the dignity of risk as a fundamental principle or practice of our duty of care in the first place.

3. Privacy and Confidentiality:-

The terms ‘privacy’ and ‘confidentiality’ are commonly used interchangeably. However, they are related but not identical concepts. Privacy refers to the right to control access to oneself, and includes physical privacy such as ensuring curtains are closed during physical examinations. Privacy may also relate to information about oneself, and information privacy laws regulate the handling of personal information through enforceable privacy principles. Confidentiality relates to information only. The legal duty of confidentiality obliges health care practitioners to protect their patients against inappropriate disclosure of personal health information.

4. Discrimination:-

Federal discrimination laws protect people from discrimination of the basis of their:

•race, including colour, national or ethnic origin or immigrant status.
•sex, pregnancy or marital status and breastfeeding.
•age
•disability
•sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status.

Employers need to be aware of their responsibilities to ensure that the working environment or workplace culture is not sexually or racially hostile. Employers should develop and implement targeted practices to address inappropriate workplace behaviour and deal effectively with any complaints.

5. Mandatory reporting:-

The legal requirement to report suspected cases of child abuse and neglect is known as mandatory reporting.

This is a legal obligation and as such carries with a penalty if you fail to act. It is
important to note that mandatory reporting legislation over-rides any professional
code of conduct or ethical guidelines that may apply to your particular profession.

Mandatory reporting was introduced that mandates certain professionals to report suspected cases of child physical and sexual abuse to child protection to Victoria. These include:
 Medical practitioners, including psychiatrists
 Nurses
 Registered psychologists
 Social workers, youth and welfare workers
 Preschool, primary and post-primary teachers and principals
 Operators, owners and professional employees of children's service centres
(including kindergartens)
 Youth and child care officers for the Department of Human Services
 Police officers, probation officers and parole officers.

6. Workrole boundaries and limitations:-

Effectively managing boundaries in youth peer support programs requires giving adequate attention to the issue of role management. A role boundary is a clear definition of the duties, rights and limitations of facilitators, volunteers and program participants. Clearly defining the purpose of the program as well as the program facilitator’s and the peer volunteers’ roles and responsibilities (inside and outside the program) is important to avoid confusion or misperceptions among all of those involved. This includes what each of these roles encompasses and also what their limitations are.