General Information for Victorian Public Hospitals

Section 139 of the Health Services Act 1988 enables quality assurance bodies of registered funded agencies, health service establishments, psychiatric services or professional associations to obtain statutory immunity to promote full and open discussions of quality issues. The term statutory immunity refers to the devices in section 139 which aim to ensure that confidential information generated by approved quality assurance bodies cannot be disclosed to persons outside Quality Assurance Committees and is not admissible in court proceedings.

Sub-section 139(1) of the act provides the Minister for Health with the Power to declare a specified committee, council or other body ('committee') as 'an approved quality assurance body' for statutory immunity purposes.

In accordance with sub-section 139(2) of the Act, the Minister must not approve a committee unless he or she is satisfied that:

a. it is established under the by-laws or constitution of the agency;
b. its functions include the assessment and evaluation of the quality of health services provided by the agency, including the review of clinical practices or clinical competence of persons providing those services;
c. the carrying out of its functions and powers would be facilitated by the provision of certain immunities in respect of proceedings; and
d. it is in the public interest that persons be prohibited from disclosing information given to it in the course of the carrying out of its functions.

The Application Process

Agencies seeking to apply for statutory immunity under section 139, must submit an application to the Minister for Health through either:

• The Statewide Quality Branch for METROPOLITAN PUBLIC HOSPITALS, ALL PRIVATE HOSPITALS AND NON HOSPITAL ORGANISATIONS
• The appropriate Regional Office for RURAL HOSPITALS

The submitted application must contain the following documents:

• A completed statutory immunity checklist attached as a coversheet to the application;
• A covering letter, addressed to the relevant contact point in the Department of Human Services, indicating that statutory immunity is being sought for a specified committee or committees, whichever the case may be;
• A letter to the Minister for Health (a pro-forma is available from the Statewide Quality Branch) seeking declaration for the specified committee;
• A copy of the agency's by-laws or constitution which provide for the establishment of the specified committee;
• The terms of reference for each committee for which statutory immunity is being sought, including its membership and reporting structure;
• A copy of the agency's quality plan; and
• Supporting documentation demonstrating that it is in the public interest to provide statutory immunity for each committee specified in the application.

Downloads

Statutory Immunity - Application Procedures (38kb, pdf)

Statutory Immunity Checklist (22kb, pdf)

Model By-laws - Relevant Extract from Metropolitan Health Service By-laws (18kb, pdf)

Public Interest - Providing a Case for Quality Assurance Committees (31kb, pdf)

Once an application has been received and is complete it will be reviewed by the Department to determine whether it meets the criteria outlined in section 139. This may include obtaining advice from the Department's Legal Services Branch. After it has considered the request, the Department will then seek a decision under section 139 from the Minister (under section 139 it is the Minister who determines whether a committee should be an approved quality assurance body).

If the Minister approves an application by declaring the specified committee 'an approved quality assurance body' for the purposes of section 139, a copy of this declaration will be published in the Victorian Government Gazette. The agency will also be notified in writing by the Minister for Health. The Department will also provide the agency with a copy of the published gazette notice. The statutory immunity protection afforded by this declaration will take effect from the date of publication of the gazette notice.

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