Section 6: Legal

This is where we need to gather your personal information including bank details, taxation forms and super details. We will also discuss your contract and award conditions.

Your Award: 

Health Services Award [MA000027]

Introductions to Clinic Policies

Privacy and Confidentiality

Practitioners have ethical and legal obligations to protect the privacy of people requiring and receiving care. Patients or clients have a right to expect that practitioners and their staff will hold information about them in confidence, unless release of information is required by law or public interest considerations. Good practice involves: 

• a). treating information about patients or clients as confidential 

• b). seeking consent from patients or clients before disclosing information where practicable 

• c). being aware of the requirements of the privacy and/ or health records legislation that operates in relevant States and Territories and applying these requirements to information held in all formats, including electronic information 

• d). sharing information appropriately about patients or clients for their health care while remaining consistent with privacy legislation and professional guidelines about confidentiality 

• e). where relevant, being aware that there are complex issues relating to genetic information and seeking appropriate advice about disclosure of such information 

• f). providing appropriate surroundings to enable private and confidential consultations and discussions to take place 

• g). ensuring that all staff are aware of the need to respect the confidentiality and privacy of patients or clients and refrain from discussing patients or clients in a non-professional context 

• h). using appropriate consent forms for release of information which limits disclosure to relevant health and medical information. 

Informed Consent 

Informed consent is a person’s voluntary decision about health care that is made with knowledge and understanding of the benefits and risks involved. A useful guide to the information that practitioners need to give to patients is available in the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) publication General Guidelines for Medical Practitioners in Providing Information to Patients (www.nhmrc.gov.au ). The NHMRC Guidelines cover the information that practitioners should provide about their proposed management or approach, including the need to provide more information where the risk of harm is greater and likely to be more serious and advice about how to present information. 

Good practice involves: 

• a). providing information to patients or clients in a way they can understand before asking for their consent 

• b). obtaining informed consent or other valid authority before undertaking any examination or investigation, providing treatment (this may not be possible in an emergency) or involving patients or clients in teaching or research, including providing information on material risks 

• c). when referring a patient or client for investigation or treatment, advising the patient or client that there may be additional costs, which he or she may wish to clarify before proceeding 

• d). when working with a patient or client whose capacity to give consent is or may be impaired or limited, obtaining the consent of people with legal authority to act on behalf of the patient or client and attempting to obtain the consent of the patient or client as far as practically possible 

• e). documenting consent appropriately, including considering the need for written consent for procedures which may result in serious injury or death. 

Fees and Financial consent 

• a). Patients or clients should be made aware of all the fees and charges involved in a course of treatment, prior to the health service being provided as much as practical 

• b). Discussion about fees should be in a manner appropriate to the professional relationship and should include discussion about the cost of all required services and general agreement as to the level of treatment to be provided. 

Children and Young People 

Caring for children and young people brings additional responsibilities for practitioners. 

Good practice involves: 

• a). placing the interests and wellbeing of the child or young person first 

• b). considering the young person’s capacity for decision making and consent; in general, where a practitioner judges that a person is of a sufficient age and of sufficient mental and emotional capacity to give consent to a service, then that person should be able to request and provide informed consent to receive services without the consent of a parent, guardian or other legal representative 

• c). ensuring that, when communicating with a child or young person, practitioners: 

  • treat the child or young person with respect and listen to his or her views 

  • encourage questions and answer those questions to the best of the practitioner’s ability 

  • provide information in a way the child or young person can understand 

  • recognise the role of parents and, when appropriate, encourage the child or young person to involve his or her parents in decisions about care 

  • remain alert to children and young people who may be at risk and notify appropriate child protection authorities as required by law. This may include where a parent is refusing treatment for his or her child or young person and this decision may not be in the best interests of the child or young person.

Fair Work Australia Documents

https://www.fairwork.gov.au/

Employee Contracts

Your employee contract can be found by logging into: www.happyhr.com

PRODA/HPOS

If you have never had a Medicare Provider number, please refer to the Manual identitiy verification for Provider Digital Access HW080 form below. You will need to print and fill this in before emailing it to proda@servicesaustralia.gov.au 

1. Once you have an account, log into HPOS and click on 'My Details'

2. Select 'My Provider Numbers'

3. Click 'Create a New Provider Location'

4. Use the image below as a reference to fill in the details requested.

Payroll and Superannuation

• If you do not already have a superannuation account, use the form below to select one. 

• Pay slips are published and can be found on the Swag app (Tap on the Work icon, select 'Pay slips' from the menu bar across the top of the screen, select the pay slip you would like to view).

Taking Leave

To apply for leave, use the EH Work (Employment Hero Work) app on your phone.

1. Log into the EH Work app.

2. Tap on the Work icon.

3. Select Leave from the menu bar across the top of the screen.

4. You can now see your leave screen, which displays your leave balances and the day and date of your leave requests.

5. To request leave, tap the Leave Request Button.

6. You now need to fill out the Leave Request form. Select the following:

   1. Leave type

   2. Start date

   3. End date

   4. Comments (optional) and

   5. Attachments (optional).

7. Tap Submit.