Privacy Policy

Individual Values and Beliefs Policy and Procedure

Semprecura Pty Ltd commits to cultural diversity and the support of Semprecura Pty Ltd’s participants by respecting their culture, diversity, values and beliefs. Semprecura Pty Ltd will recognise and value the multicultural nature of Australian society and give specific acknowledgement and support to the customs of Australian Indigenous peoples.

People with disabilities have the same right as other members of Australian society to realise their full potential. They should be supported to participate in and contribute to social and economic life. Inclusion of and access for disabled people to mainstream and community-based activities and other government initiatives.

To inform the community of Semprecura Pty Ltd’s service provision capacity, including the priority of access process and eligibility criteria requirements. Semprecura Pty Ltd will encourage and manage requests for service from potential participants and referrals to and from other agencies.
This policy is inclusive of all community groups. It will include people such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, culturally and linguistically diverse, various ages and stages of development, sexual orientation and disability. This policy will apply to staff engaged in working with the participants. This policy applies to Semprecura Pty Ltd’s staff and management.

Policy

Semprecura Pty Ltd will deliver flexible services to meet diverse peoples’ needs. Semprecura Pty Ltd will actively provide a work environment supporting values and encouraging cultural diversity by training staff to develop cultural understandings.

Semprecura Pty Ltd will identify any actual or potential barriers for the participant to access Semprecura Pty Ltd’s services.

Semprecura Pty Ltd’s strategies to ensure equity for all people may include:

• Treating all people equally according to their human rights.
• This includes all people regardless of background, ethnicity, culture, language, beliefs, gender, age, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, ability level, additional needs, family structure, or lifestyle.
• Promoting inclusive practices and ensuring the successful involvement of participants in the community to enable them to reach their goals and aspirations.

Semprecura Pty Ltd will collaborate with the participant to identify their culture, diversity, values and beliefs. Semprecura Pty Ltd acknowledges the participant’s right to practice their cultures, values and beliefs. Semprecura Pty Ltd will work with the participants to ascertain how and when they wish to participate in religious or cultural practices. The team must respond sensitively to the participant’s requirements and work with the participant to access their required support.

Semprecura Pty Ltd recognises, respects, promotes and celebrates the value of cultural diversity. Semprecura Pty Ltd’s team will adopt inclusive and culturally diverse policies and strategies.

Semprecura Pty Ltd is committed to social inclusion and community participation in delivering and expanding services to disadvantaged participants. Semprecura Pty Ltd’s team will work in partnership with the community, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, culturally and linguistically diverse groups, people with different sexual orientations and those with disabilities.

To improve and support the varying needs of people with disabilities, their families and advocates, Semprecura Pty Ltd will access links between other service systems.

Semprecura Pty Ltd will:

• Consult Semprecura Pty Ltd’s participants to facilitate fair, equitable and transparent services.
• Work with services in the community to ensure Semprecura Pty Ltd’s participants are provided with relevant contacts to other services and community networks to enable the development of their personal goals, outcomes and aspirations, and in line with their Support Plan.
• Actively encourage and support Semprecura Pty Ltd’s participants to maintain personal networks and community connections and participate in their community.
• Use networks and community engagement feedback to inform management processes.

Semprecura Pty Ltd will gather information about the participant’s culture, beliefs, values and diversity. Participants’ decisions about practising their beliefs and cultural practices are supported and recorded in their Support Plan.

Semprecura Pty Ltd’s commitment is to make sure people with disabilities are connected to their communities by:

• Providing information on mainstream services and community activities which will benefit people with disabilities, as well as their families and advocates.
• Contributing to relevant links and networks within the community.
• Providing participation and inclusion of people with disabilities by working with community organisations.

Semprecura Pty Ltd is committed to identifying and liaising with other stakeholders. Stakeholder identification and contact depend on the participant but may include local community support organisations, job networks, training organisations, and housing agencies.

Semprecura Pty Ltd will uphold and promote all people’s legal and human rights and abide by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.

Semprecura Pty Ltd will treat all people with courtesy, dignity and recognise their human rights to self-determination and privacy.

Procedure

Semprecura Pty Ltd will ensure that all participants are treated fairly and non-discriminately. This intent incorporates both intake and service delivery processes. The information provided will be in an accessible read format, but Semprecura Pty Ltd will arrange relevant support in the form of a home language or using an interpreter, as required. Suppose a participant has a barrier of not being able to read or understand information. In that case, a support person will be supplied to assist the participant in understanding what is being said or explained.

Semprecura Pty Ltd will support the participant to access support linked to their culture, diversity, values and beliefs. The type of support and responses will be determined through consultation with the participant and following the choices made by the participant. To assist the participant in making choices about their level of participation in their relevant supports, Semprecura Pty Ltd’s team may:

• Actively pursue contacts that the participant has chosen.
• Contact local communities such as cultural, religious, sexual orientation groups or spiritual groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
• Contact government agencies to support individual participants.
• Seek community members and groups to receive input into the service,
  Contact advocates assisting with developing community Support Plans for the participants.
• Actively support the rights of the participant to seek contact with those in the community relevant to their wishes, goals and aspirations. The participant will be encouraged to join with related community links as required.
• Following the participant’s aspirations and needs to participate in the community actively.

Semprecura Pty Ltd will make relevant contacts for the participant to assist in initial involvement with their selected group or individual.

Semprecura Pty Ltd will work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and culturally diverse groups to actively engage with their communities. The Support Plan will incorporate support from their community. This support will be assessed, monitored and reviewed to ensure that the goals and aspirations of participants are met using the relevant support. Semprecura Pty Ltd will provide services that meet the aspirations and objectives of the participant for inclusion in the community.

Semprecura Pty Ltd will work with the community to actively encourage the participant to participate in various activities, including employment, education, sporting activities, cultural events, and any relevant activities.

Semprecura Pty Ltd is committed to building relationships with key stakeholders, including Government, organisations and communities, working together to get the best result for their participants. Semprecura Pty Ltd will ensure that their services are tailored to flexibly meet their participant’s needs, acknowledging that each person’s needs differ.

Semprecura Pty Ltd will prioritise providing early intervention and prevention towards each participant’s situation, thus heading off problems by understanding the root causes and intervening early. Semprecura Pty Ltd will undertake Cultural Competence training for staff to increase knowledge and strategies for working inclusively.

Semprecura Pty Ltd promote inclusion by:

• Working closely with a network of health and allied health professionals to be able to support the holistic needs of Semprecura Pty Ltd’s participants.
• Building effective partnerships with the participants and their families, advocates and supports people to discuss and foster shared priorities and the participant’s individual needs and goals.
• Focused efforts on building social inclusion and participation opportunities within the range of services provided.
• Provide information on community events and other relevant networks that meet participants’ needs and identified goals.
• Working within the participant’s networks and support, including childcare, kindergarten, school or home environments, allows Semprecura Pty Ltd to assist the participant in fostering relationships and participation in familiar surroundings.
• Having a community linkages policy that outlines how Semprecura Pty Ltd will work with other communities for the betterment of their participants.
• Operating to ensure everyone can access Semprecura Pty Ltd’s services.

Privacy and Dignity Policy and Procedure

Semprecura Pty Ltd will manage and ensure that the organisation provides participants access to services and supports that respect and protect their dignity and right to privacy.

This policy applies to all staff and contractors.

Policy

Semprecura Pty Ltd is committed to protecting and upholding all stakeholders’ right to privacy and dignity, including participants, staff, management and representatives of agencies Semprecura Pty Ltd deals with.

Semprecura Pty Ltd is committed to protecting and upholding the participant’s right to privacy and dignity as the organisation collects, stores and handles information about participants, their needs and services.

Semprecura Pty Ltd is subject to NDIS (Quality and Safeguards) Commission rules and regulations.

Semprecura Pty Ltd will follow the guidelines of the Australian Privacy Principles in its information management practices.

Semprecura Pty Ltd will ensure that each participant understands and agrees to what personal information will be collected and is informed of the reason for the collection. The participant will be notified and agree that this information is being recorded material in an audio and/or visual format.

Semprecura Pty Ltd will advise each participant of privacy policies using the language, mode of communication and terms that the participant is most likely to understand. (Easy Read documents are made available to all participants).

Semprecura Pty Ltd will ensure that:

• It meets its legal and ethical obligations as an employer and service provider about protecting the privacy of participants and organisational personnel.
• The participants are provided with information about their rights regarding privacy and confidentiality.
• The participants and organisational personnel are provided with privacy, and confidentiality is assured when they are being interviewed or discussing matters of a personal or sensitive nature.
• All staff, management, and volunteers understand what is required to meet these obligations.
• Participants are advised of Semprecura Pty Ltd’s confidentiality policies using the language, mode of communication and terms most likely to be understood.
• Semprecura Pty Ltd will attempt to locate interpreters and use accessible materials.

This policy conforms to the Federal Privacy Act (1988) and the Australian Privacy Principles, which govern the collection, use, and storage of personal information.

This policy will apply to all records, whether hard copy or electronic, containing personal information about individuals and to interviews or discussions of a sensitive personal nature

Procedures

Dealing with personal information
In dealing with personal information, Semprecura Pty Ltd staff will:

• Ensure privacy for the participants, staff, or management when they are being interviewed or discussing matters of a personal or sensitive nature.
• Only collect and store personal information necessary for the organisation’s functioning and activities.
• Use fair and lawful ways to collect personal information.
• Collect personal information only with consent from the individual.
• Ensure that people know the type of personal information being held, the purpose of keeping the data, the method by which it is collected, used, and disclosed, and who will have access to it.
• Ensure that personal information collected or disclosed is accurate, complete, and up-to-date, and provide access to the individual to review or correct incorrect information about themselves.
• Take reasonable steps to protect all personal information from misuse and loss from unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure.
• Destroy or permanently de-identify personal information no longer needed and/or after legal requirements for retaining documents have expired.
• Ensure that participants understand and agree with what personal information will be collected and why.
• Ensure participants are informed when any recordings occur in either audio and/or visual format. The participant’s involvement in any recording must be agreed to in writing.

Participant Records
Participant records will be kept confidential and only handled by staff directly delivering services to the participant. Information about participants may only be made available to other parties with the participant’s consent, their advocate, guardian or legal representative. A written agreement permitting the recording must be maintained in the participant’s file.

All hard copy files of participant records will be kept securely in a locked filing cabinet in the office space.

All digital files of participant records will be password protected.

Responsibilities for Managing Privacy
All staff are responsible for managing personal information to which they have access. The Director is responsible for the content in Semprecura Pty Ltd publications, communications and on the website and must ensure the following:

• Appropriate consent is obtained to include personal information about any individual, including Semprecura Pty Ltd personnel (Consent Policy and Procedure).
• Information provided by other agencies or external individuals conforms to privacy principles.
• The website contains a Privacy Statement that clarifies the conditions of any collection of personal information from the public through their visit to the website.

The Director is responsible for safeguarding personal information about Semprecura Pty Ltd’s staff, management and contractors. The Director will be responsible for:

• Ensuring all staff are familiar with the Privacy Policy and administrative procedures for handling personal information.
• Ensuring that participants and other relevant individuals are provided with information about their rights regarding privacy and dignity.
• Handling any queries or complaints about a privacy issue.

Privacy Information for Participants
At the first interview, participants will be notified of the type of information being collected about them, how their privacy will be protected, and their rights regarding this data. Information sharing is part of Semprecura Pty Ltd’s legislative requirements. Participants must consent to any information sharing between the organisation and government bodies. The participant can opt out of any NDIS information sharing during audits via their consent form.

Privacy for Interviews and Personal Discussions
To ensure privacy for participants or staff when discussing sensitive or personal matters, Semprecura Pty Ltd will only collect personal information which is necessary for the provision of support and services and which:

• Is given voluntarily; and
• Will be stored securely on the Semprecura Pty Ltd database.

When in possession or control of a record containing personal information, Semprecura Pty Ltd will protect the record against loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure by reasonable steps. Suppose the record must be given to a person in connection with providing a service to Semprecura Pty Ltd. In that case, everything reasonable will be done to prevent unauthorised use or disclosure of that record Semprecura Pty Ltd will not disclose any personal information to a third party without the individual’s consent unless that disclosure is required or authorised by or under law.