Rights and Responsibilities

The City of Mitcham’s Positive Ageing and Community Care (PACC) unit offers a range of services for people who are older and frail, younger with a disability and those family or friends who care for them, to assist them to remain living independently.

As a person using these services, there are certain rights and responsibilities to be aware of.

Rights

You have the right to expect that:

• Information provided will be accurate and reliable.
• You will be treated with respect, dignity and courtesy by staff, workers and volunteers and your individual preferences respected.
• Services will be provided on the basis of eligibility, health and safety, scope and need.
• Services will be provided in complete consultation with you and every effort will be made to meet any special needs, language or cultural requirements.
• Services received are reliable, coordinated, safe and of acceptable quality.
• Ongoing services are reviewed both periodically and in response to changes in your personal circumstances.
• You have the right to refuse or cancel a service at any time without the fear of reprisal.
• If a service cannot be provided, the reasons will be explained to you.
• You will be advised of any fees that apply and these are determined and communicated in a way that is fair and transparent.
• You will not be denied a service because you are unable to pay for reasons beyond your control.
• You can provide feedback at any time and any complaints or concerns you have about the services will be dealt with fairly and promptly.
• You will not be discriminated against because you have made a complaint about the service or previously been refused services.
• Any personal information given to staff and volunteers in the PACC team will not be passed to anyone outside the team without your permission. You may withdraw this permission at any time.

Responsibilities

We expect that you will:

• Provide staff with sufficient information to allow your eligibility and fees to be determined and for a safe service to be provided that can meet your individual preferences and needs.
• Treat staff, workers and volunteers with respect and courtesy.
• Accept responsibility for the consequences of any decisions you make or actions you take.
• Respect the rights of staff, workers and volunteers including their legal and industrial rights and their right to work in a safe environment.
• Be at home while the service is being provided and allow reasonable and safe access.
• Pay any agreed fee for services provided.
• Acknowledge that your needs may change and that you can negotiate changes to plans accordingly.
• Contact the Council Coordinator if you experience any problems or have any concerns about the service.

Confidentiality

You have a right to exercise control over the way information about you is collected, used, accessed and disposed of.

• Personal information is collected for the purpose of determining eligibility, meeting our obligation to Home and Community Care and fulfilling our duty of care.
• Non identifiable information will be sent to Home and Community Care for statistical purposes and to account for how the funding is expended.
• Personal information will only be passed outside the Positive Ageing and Community Care team with your permission.
• Personal information will be stored in a secure area in order to ensure it is not misused or accessed by unauthorised personnel when no longer needed to provide a service it will be disposed of in a manner which maintains confidentiality.
• You may ask for a copy of any personal information held about you.
• Personal information necessary to provide a safe service will only be disclosed with your permission. If your permission is not granted and the service cannot be safely provided without this information, the service may be refused.

Advocacy

You have the right to have a person of your choice to act on your behalf (i.e. appoint an advocate of your choice). This could be a family member or friend or an organisation that specialises in providing advocacy services. You also have the right to change your advocate or change your decision about having an advocate at any time.

If you would like to use an advocacy agency to speak on your behalf, you can contact

Aged Rights Advocacy Service           8232 5377
Disability Action Inc                         8346 8288

Complaints and Disputes

It is possible that you may not be satisfied with an aspect of the Positive Ageing and Community Care Services, or you may disagree with a decision made by Council staff. If this is the case you should contact the Coordinator of the service to discuss your concerns. If the problem is not resolved, you can speak to the Positive Ageing and Community Care Team Leader on 8372 8864.

If you are still not satisfied that the matter has been dealt with to your satisfaction, you may write to: Chief Executive Officer, City of Mitcham, PO Box 21, Mitcham Shopping Centre, Torrens Park SA 5062.

Your complaint will be acknowledged within five days and you will be kept informed about the process and outcome. A full copy of complaint procedures is available from the Customer Services Centre.

Sometimes it is not possible to reach an outcome that you find satisfactory. If this is the case, there are several external agencies that you could contact. These are:

Health and Community Services Complaints Commission           82268652
Commonwealth Dept of Health and Ageing Adelaide Office         82668666 Freecall                                                                                1800232007
Office of Public Advocate                                                        83428200
Aged Care Information Line                                                   1800200422