This statutory review has now been completed and the Final Report was tabled in Parliament on 22 February 2023. The Final Report recommended two substantial amendments to the existing legislation. The first being to expand the scope of the legislation to include a...
Receiving a notice from Ahpra is extremely stressful for practitioners, not just because of the potential impact on reputation and career prospects but it can also cause practitioners to second guess their capabilities. Here are some simple tips for controlling what...
Strengthening privacy rights: The report recommends the introduction of a new "right of erasure" which would allow individuals to request that their personal information be deleted in certain circumstances. This would align Australia's privacy laws with those of the...
The background Mrs Fuller was to have a spinal anaesthetic for the caesarean birth of her second child. The registrar had initially attempted insertion of the introducer (larger needle) and the spinal needle (smaller needle) at the level of L4/5 and then L3/4. He was...
A recent District Court trial of a man accused of grievous bodily harm following his use of force against a security officer trying to prevent him leaving a Perth Hospital has highlighted the difficult position that hospital staff face in this type of scenario. The...
Code of Conduct The Code introduces eight behaviours expected of approved providers, aged care workers and governing persons in the provision of care, support and services, including aged care. They must: act with respect for people’s rights to freedom of expression,...
Responsibilities related to Registered Nurses Under new amendments to the Aged Care Act 1997, an approved provider who provides residential care or flexible care in a residential facility, must ensure that a registered nurse is on site, and on duty, at all times....
SIRS has two key components: Incident Management obligations; and Compulsory Reporting obligations. Incident Management Obligations The SIRS requires all approved aged care providers to have an effective incident management system in place to manage incidents and take...
Code of Conduct Approved providers, aged care workers and governing persons will all be required to comply with the provisions of the Code that are applicable to them. Additionally, approved providers will be required to take reasonable steps to ensure aged care...
Composition of approved provider’s governing body An approved provider must ensure that a majority of members of the governing body are independent non-executive members (the majority requirement) and at least one member of the governing body has experience in the...