Legislation - Overview

Page content: Overview | Guidelines for the appointment of personal care staff | Dealing with Residents' money | Legislative changes to the Health Services Act 1988 | Fire Safety and Emergency Management | Recent prosecutions

Overview

SRSs are required to comply with the Victorian Health Services Act 1988 and the Health Services (Supported Residential Services) Regulations 2001. The Act and Regulations set out penalties for non-compliance.

The Acts and Regulations listed here are available for reading from the Victorian Law Today section of the Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents website , which is maintained by the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Victoria.

• Health Services Act 1988
• Health Services (Supported Residential Services) Regulations 2001
• Food Act 1984
• Health Records Act 2001
• Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981
• Health (Infectious Diseases) (Notification) Regulations 1998
• Information Privacy Act 2000
• Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004
• Building Act 1993 and Building Regulations 2006

It is essential that proprietors become familiar with the Act and Regulations.

"Meeting the Need - A guide to providing quality care in SRSs" provides some guidance to proprietors in relation to their obligations under the Act and Regulations.

Proprietors also need to comply with other workplace, design and safety legislation and standards and with the common law principles of duty of care.

Guidelines for the appointment of personal care staff

Section 108L(2)(aa) of the Act came into effect on 1 January 2005, and requires that:

"The proprietor of a supported residential service must not appoint or continue to employ a person as a member of staff who is engaged in the special or personal care needs of residents if that person –

(aa) is not a fit and proper person, having regard to guidelines issued by the Secretary in relation to the employment of persons in a supported residential service".

Failure to comply with the requirements of section 108L(2)(aa) can result in a maximum penalty of over $25,000.

On 2 February 2005 the Secretary issued Guidelines pursuant to section 108L(2)(aa) of the Health Services Act 1988. A proprietor must have regard to these Guidelines in relation to the employment of a person in the SRS.

A copy of the Guidelines can be downloaded from the following link:

Guidelines for the appointment of Personal Care Staff (68kb, pdf)

Dealing with residents' money - The Commonwealth Government one-off payment

On 14 October 2008 the Commonwealth Government announced a one-off payment for pensioners of $1400 for singles and $2100 for couples. Centrelink will be processing these payments in the fortnight commencing 8 December 2008.

The following bulletin sets out how SRS proprietors who receive money from Centrelink on behalf of residents must deal with this money to ensure compliance with the legislation.

Dealing with residents' money - The Commonwealth Government one-off payment (53kb, pdf)

Legislative changes to the Health Services Act 1988

Legislative changes have been made to the Health Services Act 1988. The following links are to the amendment Act and to the Explanatory Memorandum.

Health Services (Supported Residential Services) Act 2006

For the record - proprietor & resident information

The following booklets outline the legislative changes to the Health Services Act 1988 that will come into effect on 1 January 2007. The changes to the law focus on important areas such as managing resident's money, entering into transactions with residents, providing accurate information to residents and planning for their care. Changes to administrator appointments came into effect on 12 October 2006.

For the record – proprietor information (413kb, pdf)

For the record – resident information (589kb, pdf)

Fire Safety and Emergency Management

SRS proprietors have obligations relating to fire safety under the Building Act 1993 and Building Regulations 2006. Under the Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, employers have an obligation to provide and maintain a safe workplace. Developing an emergency management plan contributes to the duty of providing a safe working environment. Australian Standard 3745 sets out the requirements for the development of procedures for the controlled evacuation of buildings, structures and workplaces during emergencies, and establishes guidelines. Further information can be found at the SAI global website.

Please refer to the attached fact sheet that outlines SRS proprietor responsibilities for fire safety and emergency management, and details the department’s initiatives for monitoring and provision of new resources and supports for SRS proprietors.

SRS Fire Safety and Emergency Management Proprietor obligations - December 2007 (48kb, pdf)

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Recent prosecutions

For information on recent prosecutions see Recent prosecutions.

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