GUMMUN PLACE HOSTEL − OPERATIONALCriminal. History Check and Police Certificates

Responsible Officer: Human Resources Manager : Authorised by: General Manager

Date A p p r o v e d : 3 1 October 2 0 1 9 I Next R e v w Dat−

October 2021

Aged Care − QS 7 Human : The organisation has a workforce that is sufficient, and is skilled andResources : qualified to provide safe, respectful and quality care and services.

Policy

Council in our Gummun Place Hostel (aged care facility) is committed to compliance with all policecheck requirements under the Accountability Principles 2014 made pursuant to the Aged Care Act1997. Also any other relevant legislation and statutory requirements in relation to criminal historychecks.

Objective

This policy aims to provide guidelines in relation to police checks to ensure an appropriate systemand processes are in place when engaging and maintaining staff, volunteers, contractors, healthprofessionals and service providers.

Scope

This policy applies to all persons employed, engaged or authorised by Council to undertake work,activities, provide services or volunteer at Gummun Place Hostel.

Definitions

Non Staff member − Under section 4 of the Accountability Principles, individuals who are notconsidered staff members include:

visiting medical practitioners, pharmacists and other allied health professionals who havebeen requested by, or on behalf of, a care recipient but are not contracted by the approvedprovider; andtrades people who perform work otherwise than under the control of Council (that is,independent contractors). For example, plumbers, electricians or delivery people who areutilised on an ad−hoc' basis.

Police certificates and police checks − A police certificate is a report of a person's criminal history;a police check is the process of checking a person's criminal history. The two terms are often usedinterchangeably in aged care.

Trim Reference : Date Approved : Next Review Date : version : Authorised byINT−37295/19 31/10/19 October 2021 1.0 General Manager

Electronic controlLed version is located on Counci ls intranet. Printed copies are considered uncontrolled.Before using a printed copy, please verify that it is a current version.

Staff member − A staff member is defined in section 4 of the Accountability Principles as a personwho:

a) is at least 16 years old; andb) is employed, hired, retained or contracted by the approved provider (whether directly or

through an employment or recruitment agency) to provide care or other services under thecontrol of the approved provider; and

c) has, or is reasonably likely to have, access to care recipients.

Volunteer − Under section 4 of the Accountability Principles, a volunteer is defined as a person who:a) is not a staff member; andb) offers his or her services to Council; andc) provides care or other services on the invitation of Council and not solely on the express or

implied invitation of a care recipient; andd) has, or is reasonably likely to have, unsupervised access to care recipients; ande) is at least 16 years old or, if the person is a full−time student, is at least 18 years old.

Procedure

1. Police Certificates

Police certificate requirementsA police certificate that satisfies requirements under the Act is a nationwide assessment of a person'scriminal history prepared by the Australian Federal Police or a state or territory police service called aNational Police Certificate (NPC). A National Police History Check (NPHC) is a check prepared by anAustralian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) accredited organisation.

Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission checksNational Police History Checks prepared by ACIC accredited organisations are considered by theDepartment as being prepared on behalf of the police services and therefore meet the requirementsunder the Act.

2. Staff, volunteers and Contractors

Staff and volunteersPolice certificates, not more than three years old must be held by:

• all staff members who are reasonably likely to have access to care recipients, whethersupervised or unsupervised; or

• volunteers who have unsupervised access to care recipients.

ContractorsWhere Council has a contract with an agency that provides staff, the individuals may be consideredstaff members under the Act, including where suppliers sub−contract work to others. The contractbetween the agency and Council should state that any staff, provided they are considered staffmembers under the Act, must have a current police certificate that does not preclude them fromworking in aged care.

Independent contractorsPolice check requirements are not intended to extend to people engaged on an ad−hoc basis. Tradespeople engaged to provide a service at a date and time determined by the person providing theservice generally do not require police checks. The policy intention is to allow for reasonablejudgments to be made.

Council has an overarching responsibility to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of care recipients,and independent contractors should be subject to appropriate supervision.

Trim Reference Date Approved Next Review Date version Authorised byINT−37295/19 31/10/19 October2021 1.0 General Manager

Electronic controlled version is located on Council's intranet. Printed copies are considered uncontrolled.Before using a printed copy, please verify that it is a current version.

New staffCouncil will ensure for all staff a police certificate has been received, sighted and assessed prior tocommencement of work. Only in exceptional circumstances where the health, wellbeing and/or safetyof residents and/or staff is at risk will a consideration be made for an individual to commence workprior to receipt of a police certificate.

Section 49 of the Accountability Principles enables a person to start work prior to obtaining a policecertificate and pending an assessment of any criminal conviction identified in the certificate if:

• the care or other service to be provided by the person is essential; and• an application for a police certificate has been made before the date on which the person first

becomes a staff member or volunteer; and• until the police certificate is obtained, the person will be subject to appropriate supervision

during periods when the person has access to care recipients; and• the person makes a statutory declaration stating that they have never been:

a) convicted of murder or sexual assault; orb) convicted of, and sentenced to imprisonment for, any other form of assault.

Staff and volunteers who have resided overseasStaff members and volunteers who have been citizens or permanent residents of a country other thanAustralia at any time after turning 16 must make a statutory declaration before starting work in anyaged care service, stating that they have never:

a) been convicted of murder or sexual assault; orb) been convicted of, and sentenced to imprisonment for, any other form of assault.

This statutory declaration is in addition to a current national police certificate, as this reports onlythose convictions recorded in Australian jurisdictions.

Community Visitors Scheme (CVS) volunteersCVS volunteers are required to undergo a police check and these are undertaken and assessed bythe CVS auspices prior to a volunteer commencing with the program. Community Visitors will provideCouncil with a 'Letter of Introduction' confirming the date of expiry of their police check and that theyhave made a statutory declaration if they have lived permanently overseas after they turned 16.Provided that the letter is current, Council is not required to view the original police certificate orstatutory declaration. Council will keep a copy of the 'Letter of Introduction' to assist with compliancerequirements.

3. Assessing a Police Certificate

Police certificate formatPolice certificates may have different formats, including printed certificates or electronic reports. Everypolice certificate or report must record:

• the person's full name and date of birth;• the date of issue;• a reference number or similar.

Council must be satisfied that a certificate is genuine and has been prepared by an Australian Policeservice or an ACIC accredited organisation.

Purpose o f a police certificateA police certificate that best satisfies requirements under the Act is one obtained for the purposes ofaged care, therefore Council will undertake this process for all new and existing staff. However, anational criminal history record check undertaken for another purpose will may also satisfy therequirements for contractors and volunteers. This will be reviewed on a case by case basis. It is bestpractice to specify the purpose of the police check to the police service or ACIC organisation issuingthe certificate.

Trim Reference Date Approved Next Review Date Version : Authorised byINT−37295/19 31/10/19 October 2021 1.0 General Manager

Electronic controlled version is located on Council's intranet. Printed copies are considered uncontrolled.Before using a printed copy, please verify that it is a current version.

Police certificate disclosureA police certificate discloses whether a person:

• has been convicted of an offence;• has been charged with and found guilty of an offence but discharged without conviction; or• is the subject of any criminal charge still pending before a Court.

The information on the certificate is drawn from all Australian jurisdictions and is subject to relevantstate and territory spent conviction schemes.

Assessing precluding offencesThe offences that preclude a person from working in aged care are:

. a conviction for murder or sexual assault; or• a conviction of, and sentence to imprisonment for, any other form of assault.

Any person with a conviction for a precluding offence will not be employed, contracted, hired,retained, or accepted as an unsupervised volunteer in Council's aged care service.

The precluding offence definitions are deliberately broad to account for the effect differentjurisdictional law has on the accepted terminology for a type of offence. Murder and all forms ofsexual assault are considered suitably serious to warrant absolute preclusion from employment; andthe reference to being sentenced to imprisonment for any other form of assault is intended to precludeonly the more serious forms of physical assault.

Assessing disclosable offencesCouncil will assess all disclosable offences utilising the Criminal History Risk Assessment Form(Attachment 1). These assessments will be undertaken by Human Resources and the relevantManager.

The following considerations are used as a guide only to assist in assessing a person's policecertificate for their suitability to be either a staff member or volunteer in Council's aged care service.

Access: the degree of access to care recipients, their belongings, and their information.Considerations include whether the individual will work atone or as part of a team, the level andquality of direct supervision, the location of the work, i.e. residential, community or home basedsettings.Relevance: the type of conviction in relation to the duties a person is, or may be undertaking. Councilwill only have regard to any criminal record information indicating that the person is unable to performthe inherent requirements of the particular job.Timing: when the conviction occurred.Employment history: whether an individual has been employed since the conviction and the outcomeof referee checks with any such employers.Likelihood: the probability of an incident occurring if the person continues with, or is employed for,particular duties.Consequences: the impact of a prospective incident if the person continues, or commences, particularduties.Treatment strategies: procedures that will assist in reducing the likelihood of an incident occurringincluding, for example, modification of duties.

Committing an offence during the three year police certificate expiry periodCouncil requires all staff members and volunteers to notify their Supervisor immediately in writing ifthey are convicted of a precluding offence in the three year period between obtaining and renewingtheir police check. If a staff member or volunteer has been convicted of a precluding offence they willnot be able to continue in their current paid or volunteer rote.

Trim Reference Date Approved Next Review Date Version Authorised byINT−37295/19 31/10/19 October2021 1.0 General Manager

Electronic controlled version is located on Council's intranet. Printed copies are considered uncontrolled.Before using a printed copy, please verify that it is current version.

Spent convictionsConvictions that are considered "spent" under state, territory and Commonwealth legislation will notbe disclosed on a police certificate unless the purpose for the application (for example, working withchildren) is exempt from the relevant spent conviction scheme.

Spent conviction legislation varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In some circumstances orjurisdictions certain offences cannot be spent.

4. Police Check Administration

Record keepingCouncil will maintain all records of police certificates, applications and statutory declarations in itscorporate records management system. A register will also be maintained.

Sighting and storing police certificatesCouncil will ensure appropriate staff have sighted an original or a certified copy of the police certificateand the information and reference number will be be recorded on file.

If it is impossible to site and assess a person's police certificate for any reason, the individual may berequired to obtain a new police certificate.

Cost of police certificates for staff and volunteersCouncil will cover the cost for all staff and regular volunteers to undergo police checks. However,contractors and service providers will be expected to cover the cost of any required checks.

References

• This is a new operational policy.• Aged Care Quality Standards• Accountability Principles 2014• Aged Care Act 1997• Police Certificate Guidelines − Department of Health July 2019

Review Date

October 2021 by Human Resources.

Authorised by:_____________________________

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S t p 1 e 4 A 6 D a L d , General M a n a 9 e r ( A ) DateIPt'

Trim Reference Date Approved Next Review Date Version Authorised byINT−37295119 31/10/19 October 2021 1.0 General Manager

Etectronic controUed version is located on Councils intronet. Printed copies are considered uncontrolled.Before using a printed copy, please verify that it is a current version.