National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner code of conduct
Level 22, 50 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne Victoria 3000 | t: 1300 795 265 | e: | w: www.nhpopc.gov.au 5
National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner code of conduct
Code of ConductNational Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner
Level 22, 50 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne Victoria 3000 | t: 1300 795 265 | e: | w: www.nhpopc.gov.au 5
National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner code of conduct
Background
The Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, as in force in participating States and Territories, establishes a national registration and accreditation scheme for health practitioners in 14 professions.
For the purpose of implementing this scheme, the National Law establishes the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), the AHPRA Management Committee, the Australian Health Workforce Advisory Council, and 14 National Health Practitioner Boards. The 14 National Health Practitioner Boards are:
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia
• Chinese Medicine Board of Australia
• Chiropractic Board of Australia
• Dental Board of Australia
• Medical Board of Australia
• Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia
• Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
• Occupational Therapy Board of Australia
• Optometry Board of Australia
• Osteopathy Board of Australia
• Pharmacy Board of Australia
• Physiotherapy Board of Australia
• Podiatry Board of Australia
• Psychology Board of Australia.
The role of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner is to provide ombudsman, privacy and freedom of information oversight of these entities, particularly AHPRA and the National Health Practitioner Boards. In order to fulfil these functions, the National Law confers specified jurisdiction on the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner that is derived from the Ombudsman Act 1976 (Cwlth), the Privacy Act 1988 (Cwlth), and the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cwlth). These Acts are modified by the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Regulation (No. 42/2010) to make them suitable for the national regulatory scheme.
Purpose
The Code of Conduct outlines the standard of behaviour expected by all staff of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner.
This Code seeks to provide guidance to staff in relation to the expectation that their work will be completed impartially, with integrity and in a professional manner.
This policy also seeks to provide the public with a better understanding of the office of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner’s values to promote public confidence and trust in the office.
Scope
This Code of Conduct applies to the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner and all staff of the office, whether employed by way of appointment, secondment, contract, temporary arrangement, a fee-for-service basis, as a work-experience student, or as a volunteer.
This Code applies at all times that the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner and staff are performing official duties, including when representing the office at conferences, training events, on business trips or attending work-related social events.
If an employee is on secondment, the Code of Conduct of the secondment body will apply.
Legislative and policy framework
The National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner and all staff must comply with the requirements of the Ombudsman Act 1976 (Cwlth), the Privacy Act 1988 (Cwlth), and the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cwlth), as modified by the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Regulation (No. 42/2010).
The office of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner is hosted by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. As such, all employees are Victorian public sector staff (excluding the Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner, who is an independent statutory officer), and are therefore bound by the Code of Conduct for Victorian Public Sector Employees.
Staff of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner must act in accordance with all office policies, directions and delegations.
Professional conduct
Staff of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner are expected to act in accordance with the office’s values and principles.
The values of the office are:
• independence, by acting independently and in the interest of public health and safety
• integrity, by being open, honest and transparent in actions and decisions, and by acting lawfully and ethically with good judgement
• impartiality, by acting neither as an advocate for complainants nor the entities complained of, and by investigating complaints thoroughly and fairly
• professionalism, by maintaining high professional standards when delivering services and treating all people equitably, with dignity and respect
• excellence, by providing the best possible service.
In regards to the principles of the office, the office seeks to be:
• accessible, by being responsive and adapting approaches to meet people’s individual needs
• accountable, by keeping involved parties informed about actions and outcomes through regular communication and by publishing information about performance in an annual report
• collaborative, by understanding the importance of good relationships and communication
• outcome-focused, by focusing on providing practical and meaningful outcomes to complainants.
Staff are also expected to also be familiar with the Code of Conduct for Victoria Public Sector employees, and should act in accordance with the Victorian Public Sector values, including:
• responsiveness
• integrity
• impartiality
• accountability
• respect
• leadership
• commitment to human rights.
Staff are expected to promptly report any operational problem or difficulty relevant to compliance with the office’s values and principles to the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner.
Discrimination and harassment
All staff are responsible for ensuring that the workplace is free from all forms of harassment and discrimination, including on the grounds of race, sex, age, sexuality, disability, political beliefs or religious conviction.
The office of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner applies the principles of equal employment opportunity.
Drugs and alcohol
Staff are responsible for ensuring that their capacity to perform their duties is not impaired by the use of alcohol or drugs (including prescription drugs), or that the use of such substances does not put any person’s health or safety at risk.
Staff must:
• not attend work under the influence of alcohol, illegal drugs or non-prescribed and/or restricted substances
• not have illegal drugs in their possession at work
• notify the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner if they are aware that their work performance or conduct could be affected as a result of taking a prescribed drug
• immediately inform the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner if they are concerned about a colleague who could be affected by drugs or alcohol at work.
Dress and appearance
Staff must ensure that their dress and appearance is appropriate to their duties. Staff must:
• maintain a clean, neat and tidy appearance
• dress to a standard appropriate to their duties, which may vary according to the type and place of duties, who staff are dealing with, local climate and community standards
• not wear clothing that contains or displays political material or slogans that colleagues or persons who come in contact with the office may find offensive, or that compromise the apolitical nature of the office.
Conflicts of interest
A conflict of interest exists when there is a conflict between a public duty and a private interest. Conflicts of interest may arise when:
• there is a direct conflict between a staff member’s duties and responsibilities and that person’s private interests (an actual conflict of interest)
• a person could reasonably perceive that a staff member’s private interests are likely to improperly influence the performance of that person’s official duties (a reasonably perceived conflict of interest)
• a staff member’s private interests could conflict with that person’s official duties in the future (a potential conflict of interest).
To maintain the integrity of the office, all conflicts of interest must be disclosed to the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner. Disclosure must be full and frank, even in situations where a staff member has doubt regarding whether there is a true need to disclose a conflict of interest (particularly a reasonably perceived or potential conflict of interest).
The National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner may determine that a staff member should be disqualified from having any involvement in particular matters due to an actual, reasonably perceived or potential conflict of interest.
All disclosures will be recorded in writing by the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner.
Confidential information
The Ombudsman Act 1976 (Cwlth) provides the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner with extensive information gathering powers. Section 35 of the Act, however, has the effect that the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner, and all employees of and third parties (such as consultants and contractors) who are engaged to carry out work on behalf of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner, must not record or divulge information acquired in the performance of their duties except:
• where that information was acquired in the performance of their duties and is recorded or divulged for purposes connected with the exercise of powers and the performance of functions of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner; or
• where consent is given by the person or entity that provided the information.
In order to perform statutory functions and exercise powers under the Ombudsman Act, staff of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner may collect, record and use personal information. Staff are expected to comply with the office’s privacy policy.
Public comment on the work of the office
Consistent with the Code of Conduct for Victorian Public Sector Employees, staff are permitted to only make public comment when specifically authorised to do so in relation to their duties, a public sector body, or government policies and programs.
As a general principle, staff of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner will not publicly comment on individual complaint cases, due to the need to protect the privacy of the individuals concerned.
Staff should refer to the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner’s media policy for further information regarding their obligations in relation to making public comments about the work of the office of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner.
Use of social media
All staff of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner are personally responsible for any content they post online using social media sites or other electronic communications. Staff should refer to the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner’s media policy for further information regarding their obligations in relation to the use of social media for official use and in a private capacity.
Security
Staff of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner must take all necessary and appropriate steps to maintain the security of the office, any access cards or keys that have been issued to staff, and any passwords. Staff are also responsible for the security of any file (whether it is a complaint file or an administrative file) that is in their care.
Acceptance of gifts or benefits
Staff of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner must not accept any gift or benefit that could be reasonably perceived by a member of the public as intended to make, or likely to cause, a staff member to carry out their job in a particular way or to deviate from usual practices.
Staff members must always decline offers from individuals or organisations that are complainants to the office or that staff know are the subject of an investigation by the office.
Using or declaring a position as a staff member of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner in order to gain, or attempt to gain, a personal advantage in any non-work related interaction with any person or organisation is unacceptable.
Staff are urged to report suspected corrupt conduct in the public sector to the appropriate body as outlined in the relevant state/territory/commonwealth public interest disclosure legislation.
Outside employment
Staff of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner must not engage in any outside employment or remuneration that would conflict or compromise their duties as an officer of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner.
Staff of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner may, however, engage in unpaid voluntary work which does not conflict with their work in the office. If there is any doubt in regards to potential conflicts of interest, staff should discuss the matter with the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner.
Post-separation employment
Staff of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commission must not allow themselves or their work to be influenced by plans for, or offers of, employment outside the office.
Former staff of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner must not use, or take advantage of, confidential information obtained during the course of their official duties for any purpose. The strict obligation to observe the confidentiality of any information received in the performance of duties at the office of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner does not lapse on the cessation of employment with the office of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner.
All staff should exercise caution when dealing with former staff of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner to ensure they do not give them, or appear to give them, favourable treatment or access to confidential information.
Compliance
All staff of the office of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner have a personal responsibility to ensure that their conduct and actions comply with the provisions of this Code of Conduct. Staff must be familiar with the contents of this Code.
The National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner has overall responsibility for ensuring that all employees of and third parties who are engaged to carry out work on behalf of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner act in accordance with this Code.