Section 3A: Knowledge Activity
1. List seven (7) areas in the workplace, which may be governed by Organisational policies and procedures.
2. List five (5) areas of work practices in ethical codes of conduct or codes of ethics that staff must comply with.
3. List five (5) specific sources of legal and ethical information that you can refer to, in order to learn what your compliance requirements are. (For example: name specific legislation Acts or Service Standards etc.)
4. List three (3) responsibilities that regulatory authorities have.
5. List five (5) ways, you can share up to date knowledge and information with your organisation, colleagues, other community services or clients.
6. List ‘the seven C’s’ in accordance with which you should write organisational policies and procedures.
7. List three (3) formatting requirements for policies and procedures.
8. Identify three (3) ways of monitoring compliance in the workplace.
Section 3B: Performance Activity
1. Identify the legal standards and ethical responsibilities that apply to a community services organisation of your choice. Demonstrate your ability to use the relevant information sources and interpret information relevant to a community services area of work.
Write down all of the legal and ethical requirements that you identify – you may like to reference or attach any relevant documents.
2. Read the scenario and answer questions a and b.
Scenario:
You are employed by a Community Service organisation that is funded under the Department of Social Services (Disability and Carers). The organisation needs to meet the National Standards for Disability Services to maintain their accreditation.
Department of Social Services – Disability and Carers
Since working for the organisation you have not had any training apart from a one-day induction. There was an incident in the workplace and you were unable to find the policies and procedures that explained what to do and the ones that you did find have not been updated for several years. You have not been able to attend team meetings as you are either rostered on shift or they are held on your days off. You are not provided the minutes of the meetings – you are unsure if minutes are taken.
One of the people that you provide support to, who is over the age of 18 years old, is being put in their room with the door shut (the person is unable to open the door).
You were asked by your team manager to do an audit on the residential house that you work in, you are aware that it is the person’s home foremost. When doing the review and completing the audit documentation, you identify there are several things that need fixing and that the emergency fire equipment has not been tested for some time.
https://www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/disability-and-carers/standards-and-quality-assurance/national-standards-for-disability-services
You submitted your audit report and it has taken over 6 months for the items to be fixed and you are are still waiting for the fire extinguishers to be checked. You have talked to your team manager on several occasions about the audit and your report.
To answer this question, access and read the following documents (located on Supplementary Resources or perform internet research):
• National Standards for Disability Services
• Restrictive Practice
a) You are required to answer the following questions, by recording your answers in the table below.
• identify all areas of non-compliance that are occurring within this organisation (in scenario)
• For each non-compliance, suggest a modification to the organisation’s work practices, to ensure they maintain their accreditation (as outlined in the National Standards for Disability Services)
b) Identify who should be contacted about the non-compliance breaches in this organisation. Additionally, identify how work practices can be reviewed and monitored for improvement.
3. Regulatory Bodies are responsible for establishing and maintaining quality standards in the industry. Identify two (2) Regulatory Bodies that have the responsibility for assessing and monitoring the legal and ethical compliance of community services organisations.
For each regulatory body you identify, provide details of their function and operating procedures (the framework and process). Also include information on the types of accreditations and certifications that they offer.