Lifelinc’s Participant Charter

LIFELINC. YOUR PEOPLE. YOUR CARE.

You have the Right to access supports that:

• promote, uphold, and respect your legal and human rights
• respect your culture, diversity, values, and beliefs
• respect and protect your dignity and right to privacy
• are free from violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation, or discrimination and
• allow you to exercise informed choice and control.

It is our responsibility to:

• tell you about and uphold your rights
• provide supports in a way that promotes, upholds, and respects your rights to freedom of expression, self-determination, and decision-making
• support you to make informed choices, exercise control and maximise your independence in relation to the supports we provide
• respect your autonomy, including your right to intimacy and sexual expression
• provide you sufficient time to consider and review your support options and seek advice if required, at any stage of our service delivery
• support you to access an advocate (including an independent advocate) of your choosing
• support you to engage with your family, friends, and community in the ways you want
• treat you with fairly, with courtesy, dignity, and respect and without discrimination
• give you information about our services and associated costs, as well as other support options, within and outside Lifelinc
• involve you in decisions about your supports, as well as our programs and policies
• provide services that consider and respect your lifestyle, cultural, linguistic, and religious background and preferences
• protect your personal information and only use it for the right reasons
• support you to provide us with feedback on our service, including complaints
• promptly address enquiries and complaints about the supports you are receiving
• support you to connect with other services, including advocates, interpreters, and translators, if needed
• support you to have a person to speak on your behalf for any purpose and
• provide safe and appropriate services that are culturally relevant and support your needs and goals.

As our participant we ask that you:

• provide us with information that will help us to best support you
• tell us if things change or you cannot keep an appointment or commitment
• act respectfully and safely towards other people using the service, and towards our staff
• provide us with feedback about our service and how we can improve
• promptly pay the agreed fees associated with your services and
• tell us as early as possible if our services are not required.

At all times Lifelinc expects its staff to abide by and promote your rights in accordance with this Charter. Any potential breach of the Participant Charter will be treated seriously.

If you have any questions or concerns about your rights and responsibilities or would like to access a full copy of Lifelinc’s Participant Rights and Responsibility Policy and Procedure , please ask any member of our staff.

Privacy and Confidentiality

LIFELINC. YOUR PEOPLE. YOUR CARE.

Lifelinc values and respects the privacy, confidentiality and dignity of our participants and their families, as well as our staff. We collect, use, protect and release personal information in full compliance with all relevant State and Federal privacy legislation.

Lifelinc will only collect information necessary for safe and effective service delivery. We will only use information for the purpose it was collected and secure it safely.

When we collect your information, we will explain why we are collecting the information and how we plan to use it. We will only take photos or videos of you with your full and voluntary consent. We will only take photos or videos with the full and voluntary consent of a participant.

Information about you will only be released to other people or services with your informed consent, in an emergency, or where such disclosure is required or authorised by law.

You may access the information we hold about you, including in order to update or correct it, subject to certain exceptions. If you wish to access your information, please speak to a staff member.

When your information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, we will destroy or permanently de-identify it.

At all times Lifelinc expects its staff to be uphold and maintain confidentiality regarding your personal information.

You will be provided with a full copy of Lifelinc’s Privacy Statement when you access services from Lifelinc and you can request a copy of the Privacy Statement from any of our staff members, at anytime.

Conflict of Interest

LIFELINC. YOUR PEOPLE. YOUR CARE.

Lifelinc and its staff members have a duty to act in the best interest of Lifelinc and to ensure the supports and services you receive are free from conflicts of interests.

At times, personal interests or other duties (such as to another organisation someone is employed by) may conflict with this duty. This is called conflict of interest.

Conflicts of Interest in NDIS service delivery commonly occur where an NDIS Provider or its staff does not act in the best interests of NDIS participants when marketing, recommending, or delivering services. 

Conflicts of interest should be avoided wherever possible however they can’t always be avoided and do not necessarily represent a problem. It is important that they are managed properly so that staff are acting in the best interest of both yourself and Lifelinc.

Lifelinc requires all of its staff to declare all potential, perceived and real conflicts of interest that could impact how they deliver supports to you. This includes conflicts of interest relating to financial, business, or personal matters, as well as any financial or business interests that Lifelinc has with other organisations.

When providing supports Lifelinc’s staff will not influence or direct you or your support network’s decision-making, or limit your access to information, choice, and control.

Advice and information provided about support options (in and outside Lifelinc) will be accurate, transparent, and objective.

All participants supported by Lifelinc will be treated equally and not given preferential treatment above others.

If you have any questions or concerns about a conflicts of interest or would like to access a full copy of Lifelinc’s Conflict of Interest Policy and Procedure, please ask any member of our staff.

Feedback, Compliments and Complaints

LIFELINC. YOUR PEOPLE. YOUR CARE.

Compliments, complaints and other feedback provide us with valuable information about participants’ satisfaction with our services. Feedback is taken seriously by Lifelinc and is seen as an opportunity for improvement.

We encourage your feedback and comments on the services we provide, both positive and negative. Whether a compliment or complaint, your feedback will be treated with confidentiality and sensitivity.

Feedback, compliments, and complaints can be lodged:

• speaking directly with a Lifelinc staff member or giving a Lifelinc staff member a completed Feedback and Complaints Form
• emailing: andrew@lifelinc.com.au
• phoning: 0409 593 714 or
• writing to: Lifelinc c/o Andrew Whyte, 180 James Street, South Toowoomba QLD 4350.
• by completing Lifelinc’s annual participation satisfaction survey.

Your complaint will be formally acknowledged within 1 working day. We aim to respond to all complaints and grievances as quickly as possible, and within 28 working days from acknowledgement.

All feedback and complaints will be used by Lifelinc to continuously improve our service delivery.

If you would like a staff member to support you to complete Lifelinc’s Feedback and Complaints Form, have any questions or concerns or would like to access a full copy of Lifelinc’s Feedback and Complaints Policy and Procedure, please ask any member of our staff.

Incident Management

LIFELINC. YOUR PEOPLE. YOUR CARE.

We at Lifelinc have a moral, ethical, and legal responsibility to ensure you are safe and we take proactive steps to protect you from harm. Our incident management system identifies, assesses, manages and resolves incidents that occur in connection with providing supports or services to you and could cause harm to you. We at Lifelinc will provide support and assistance to you if you are affected by an incident (including information about access to advocates such as independent advocates), to ensure your health, safety, and wellbeing. Lifelinc does this in a number of ways.

All personal information we collect to manage incidents must be handled in accordance with Lifelinc’s Privacy and Confidentiality Policy and Procedure to protect your privacy.

Our Operations Manager takes all reasonable steps to ensure that Reportable Incidents are notified to the NDIS Commissioner within the required timeframes by reporting this via the NDIS Portal. 

Accessing the Service

LIFELINC. YOUR PEOPLE. YOUR CARE.

We aim to provide accessible services to you that are safe, engaging and responsive to your support and communication needs.

To be eligible to receive Lifelinc’s services, a participant must meet the following eligibility criteria. The person must:

• have one or more identified intellectual, cognitive, neurological, sensory or physical impairments that are, or are likely to be, permanent
• have one or more identified impairments that are attributable to a psychiatric condition and are, or are likely to be, permanent or
• be a child who has a disability like those described above or a developmental delay.

Consideration must also be given to the participant’s Priority of Access by examining:

• their relative need compared to others who receive or want to receive services
• any additional needs they have
• the extent to which Lifelinc can contribute to those needs being met
• the resources available within Lifelinc to meet the participant’s needs
• other services the participant receives and how Lifelinc’s services will complement those and contribute to improved outcomes for the participant and
• the best interests of the participant.

Anyone wishing to access our services must participate in an Intake Interview. The purpose of this interview is to assess your needs and whether Lifelinc is able to support you, to discuss Lifelinc’s process about service entry or exit, fees and charges and conditions related to your service delivery.

Where required, we will provide you with information and support to access a person of your choice, such as an advocate, to support you in this process. You will be contacted within 1 working day of the Intake Interview and advised of the outcome.

If you are offered services and accept, we will work with you and your support network to complete the required forms and arrange for an Assessment and Planning Interview, which will take place within 7 working days of your acceptance.

If you have any questions or concerns about accessing our services or would like to have a full copy of Lifelinc’s Service Access Policy and Procedure, please ask any member of our staff.

Interpreting and Translation 

LIFELINC. YOUR PEOPLE. YOUR CARE.

The delivery of safe, high-quality services relies on effective communication. Where required, interpreters and translators will be made available at no cost to support your interactions with us.

If you would like to request an interpreter or translation service, have any questions or concerns about Lifelinc’s use of interpreters and translators or would like to access a full copy of Lifelinc’s Service Delivery Policy and Procedure, please ask any member of our staff.

Advocacy

LIFELINC. YOUR PEOPLE. YOUR CARE.

An advocate is a person who assists you to express your needs, or who speaks on your behalf. Advocates can be a family member, friend, or an Independent Advocate. They are not substitute decision makers but are there to ensure your needs and wants are listened to.

An independent advocate refers to a person who:

• is independent of the NDIA, the NDIS Commission and any NDIS providers providing supports or services to you
• provides independent advocacy to assist you to exercise choice and control and have your voice heard in matters that affect you
• acts at your direction, reflecting your expressed wishes, will, preferences and rights and
• is free of relevant conflicts of interest.^[1]

Lifelinc fully supports your right to have an independent advocate support you in your interactions with us. If you’d like help finding an independent advocate, please speak to one of our staff. Alternatively, you can use the Disability Advocacy Finder, which is available online through the National Disability Advocacy Program (NDAP)

[1] National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013