Your Rights and Responsibilities
Thank you for contacting Centacare Townsville. It is our aim to provide you with an appropriate service and, where necessary, referrals to other agencies. In order to ensure a quality service we ask that you read the following information and sign the bottom section.
Please note: some Centacare programs have other client rights and responsibilities as required by the program funding body (e.g. Federal or State Government). If these other rights and responsibilities apply to you, you will be provided with that information in addition to this form.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Centacare respects that information shared by a client belongs to that client. Your information will not be shared with any other organisation or person unless:
- You give permission, in writing, or
- There are significant issues of safety or wellbeing that ethically or legally require the worker to report to another authority. If this is the case, we would endeavour to inform you first, where possible.
- It is required by law or it is subpoenaed by a court (exceptions: Family Law Act Sections 10D and 10E [relationship counselling programs], and Sections 10H, 10J and 10K [Family Dispute Resolution programs])
Any statistical data collection or reporting is done in a way that does not identify individuals.
PRIVACY
As part of providing a service to you, the worker will need to collect and record personal information from you that is relevant to your current situation.
You may view the material recorded in your file upon request, subject to the exceptions in National Privacy Principle 6, i.e. unless:
a) Information has been provided confidentially to the worker by other people (e.g. Family member, friend) and excluding information supplied by another psychologist or health care provider.
b) Release of the information would:
- Impose an unreasonable administrative burden on the worker (only for data collected prior to December 2001);
- Pose serious threat to life or health of the client or any other individual;
- Have an unreasonable impact upon the privacy of other individuals.
Should you wish to view your file you must make an appointment; as your worker, or another Centacare representative, must view your file with you.
FEEDBACK
At Centacare Townsville, we highly value feedback on your experience with us. Who better to tell us how we can do things better than those people who use our services? Your feedback is used to identify areas in service delivery we can improve on and assist us in making our services better known in the community.
At the end of your time at Centacare, you will be asked to complete a short questionnaire. Your feedback is anonymous so please be honest and tell us what you think. Feedback can be completed in your own time and posted back to the office. Alternatively, you can fill it in before you leave and place it in the box provided.
We may also contact you in 2-3 months for a follow-up evaluation of the service. Participation is not compulsory.
KEEPING APPOINTMENTS
It is important to give at least 24 hours notice if you are unable to keep an appointment so that another client may be able to use that time period.
FAIR AND NON-DISCRIMINATORY TREATMENT
Centacare Townsville is committed to providing fair and equal opportunity in access and service delivery to all clients. Centacare is committed to ensuring the diversity of the community is provided for in the provision of our services by ensuring a sense of belonging and acceptance.
If you have any special needs or require additional assistance please notify your worker. We are happy to help.
YOUR WORKER
All Centacare staff are suitably qualified in their relevant field. As professionals we are ethically bound to refer on clients whose issues are outside our area of expertise. In this case you may be referred to another Centacare worker or to more suitable service that has more experience and can better meet your needs.
It is very important that you get to work with a worker that ‘fits' for you. If you are not sure about the ‘fit' please speak to the worker or their program Team Leader.
COMPLAINTS
Should you have any concerns or are unhappy about the level of service provided, we encourage you to lodge a complaint. If you feel comfortable talking through your concerns with your worker please do so. Alternatively, complaints can be made over the phone; in writing; or you can request a complaint form from the Receptionist. You may make a complaint anonymously if you wish. You may also have an advocate make a complaint on your behalf, or complaints can be received from family members and / or carers of clients, or interested community members.
All complaints will be taken seriously. Making a complaint will not impinge on your rights to access our services, and there will be no recriminations as a result of you making a complaint.
A Senior Centacare staff member will contact you to arrange a meeting to discuss the issue/s.
All persons who lodge a complaint have a right to advocacy and support. Should you need further assistance your worker will be able to inform you of external avenues for settling complaints or lodging appeals.