Compulsory Reporting Guidelines for Aged Care Providers
Heather Campbell, Residential Aged Care 26 Feb 08
From July 1 2007, under amendments to the Aged Care Act 1997, approved providers must report allegations or suspicions of unlawful sexual contact or unreasonable force on a resident to either the local police service or the Department of Health and Ageing.
Aged care residents, their families and advocates, visiting medical practitioners, allied health professionals, volunteers and visitors are not required under the Act to compulsorily report assault, but are strongly encouraged to report cases of neglect, abuse or poor quality care.
What is reportable?
A reportable assault is defined in the act as:
- Unlawful sexual contact with a resident of an aged care home, for which there has been no consent
- Unreasonable use of force on a resident, the definition of which captures hitting, punching or kicking of a resident, regardless of whether this has caused visible harm such as bruising or not
Exemptions & exclusions
It is recognised in the Act that residents who have been assessed as having cognitive or mental impairment may not have the capacity to understand their circumstances and may not be able to provide consent. Similarly, in an aged care environment, there may be circumstances where a staff member is genuinely trying to assist a resident and despite the best of intentions, a resident is injured.
The legislation allows limited circumstances where there is discretion not to report. This relates to alleged assaults that are perpetrated by residents with an assessed cognitive or mental impairment and subsequent reports of the same or similar incidents.
Part of the requirements for supporting this discretion "not to report", is a behaviour management plan, developed, documented and regularly reviewed by a suitably qualified health professional. The plan must contain elements of contributing factors, such as environmental, possible health or medical factors, possible communication needs and the approaches considered for managing the behaviour.
Assessment of a resident's cognitive or mental impairment can be undertaken by ACAT, a resident's GP, a registered nurse or other health professional such as a geriatrician or clinical psychologist.
Legal protections
Provisions have been made in the Act to protect approved providers for reporting assaults, however GPs and others who are not required to compulsorily report assault are not afforded statutory protection under the legislation. GPs and others have access to existing protections from defamation action through common law if reporting incidents of abuse or neglect.
More information
Further information on Compulsory Reporting Guidelines can be obtained from the Office of Aged Care Quality and Compliance at http://www.health.gov.au/oacqc.
To report an incidence of abuse, neglect or poor quality care, contact the Aged Care Complaints Investigation Scheme on 1800 550 552.
This article is available online at http://bddgp.org.au/article/2008/02/compulsory-reporting
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