Policies

Somerset Health Respects Your Privacy

‘Personal information’ relates to any information Somerset Health may hold which is identifiable as being about you.

Somerset Health respects your right to privacy and is committed to safeguarding the privacy of our clients and website visitors. All personal information will be collected, stored, and shared only with consent and in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth) and Information Privacy Act 2009 (Commonwealth). Somerset Health’s Privacy Policy sets out how all staff and volunteers at Somerset Health will respect your privacy and confidentiality of personal information.

Feedback, Complaints, and Ideas

Somerset Health takes all complaints seriously and is committed to promoting a positive attitude and workplace culture towards complaints, recognising that complaints and feedback about our services can provide invaluable information about how we can improve the quality of our services.

Somerset Health acknowledges that people with disability have the same rights as other members of society to pursue any grievances and that empowering people with disability to voice their concerns is likely to make them feel valued and respected.

Somerset Health will manage complaints in a manner that ensures procedural fairness and emphasises quick and fair resolution of complaints.

Complaints, Feedback, and Ideas Form

Mandatory Reporting

Somerset Health believes that everyone is entitled to feel safe and protected from any form of abuse, assault, neglect, and exploitation. Somerset Health is responsible for the safety and wellbeing of clients who have contact with our services, including vulnerable clients at risk. Clients at most risk and vulnerable include aged people, people with disabilities, people suffering from mental health conditions, and people living in remote and very remote areas of Australia.

It is a part of Somerset Health’s role that we provide medical assistance as required, and/or remove the source of harm or potential harm from the person (e.g., other people, harmful objects).

It is also important that Somerset Health and their clients, clients’ families, and their support team (e.g., NDIS support coordinator, carers, support workers etc) are aware of:

  • their rights
  • abuse, assault, neglect and exploitation signs and evidence
  • a service providers’ mandatory reporting requirements.

All allegations of abuse, assault, neglect, or exploitation, including criminal acts or deaths, must be reported to the relevant state Police Service (WA, NT, SA, QLD, NSW, ACT, or TAS), where the incident occurs. All information and reports must be kept confidential and treated sensitively, to protect people’s rights and privacy.

All people, clients, carers, support workers, and other stakeholders involved in our clients’ care should be aware that allegations or suspected incidents of abuse, assault, neglect, or assault may be reported to appropriate authorities.

For further information, please refer to the NDIS Commission or review advice from the NDIA on this link.

Duty of Care

‘Duty of Care’ is the legal obligation of a person or organisation to avoid acts or oversights, which can be reasonably foreseen, which may cause injury or harm to another person.

Somerset Health will balance its Duty of Care to clients with their opportunity to make choices, including those which may involve risk.

Somerset Health will ensure that all clients are treated with dignity and respect and are free to make choices about the care and services provided and the way in which they live their life. Somerset Health is committed to a culture of inclusion, acceptance and respect and will support clients to exercise choice and control.

To ensure that a client’s dignity, decision-making and choice is upheld, where Somerset Health is involved, we will uphold to the following:

  • encourage clients to express their will and preferences
  • ensure that clients understand their right to make choices
  • ensure that clients have access to appropriate support to make choices including the use of an advocate who is either a family member, friend or professional advocacy service
  • recognise strengths and abilities and encourage people to maintain their independence
  • deliver services that are culturally appropriate
  • deliver services that are LGBTI+ responsive, inclusive and sensitive
  • respect an individual’s culture, diversity, religion, spirituality, sexuality, gender, language and ethnicity
  • support the client to make choices in the way that services are provided and the way they live their life.