Integrating Human Service Law, Ethics and Practice

ForewordList of Figures and TablesAuthors' AcknowledgmentsPublisher AcknowledgmentsIntroductionAbout this book: Its origins and aimsOur audienceDefining the human servicesTerminologyAssumptions about legal knowledgeBook structure: Finding materialPositions reiterated and elaborated Part 1: Relationship between Human Service Practice,Law and EthicsLaw and the Human Services: Together and ApartClient problems and beyond Integration: Who, what and why? Human service client, worker, and agency issues Intersection and overlap between law and human services Human services in a risk society Law and human services: An uneasy coexistence Law, Ethics, and Other Factors in Decision MakingIntegrating legal and other imperatives in human service practice The exercise of decision- making power and administrative law principles Influences on human service worker decision making These influences in interaction Making integrated decisions in practice Part 2: Legal Obligations, Rights, and Regulationof Human Service Workers Professional, Business, and Employment MattersBehind the scenes of service delivery Professional profile Taking care of business Contract law Contracts and the human services Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) Managing InformationWhat does 'managing information' mean? Interaction of human service practice, ethics and law Collecting (or acquiring) and amending personal information Recording information Storing informationPermitting or denying access to information Legal imperatives to protect information Legal imperatives to disclose information or permit access to it Electronic and digital records and communications Whistleblowing Courts, Tribunals, and the Human ServiceImages and anxieties Courts, similar bodies, and dispute resolution Scope of human service activity in courts and tribunals Range of courts Range of tribunals Ombudsmen and complaints bodies Court processes, evidence, and witnesses Preparing court and tribunal reports Preparing to appear Giving evidence Accompanying others attending courtGetting It WrongAccountable practice More than a legal duty of care Incompetence, mishaps, breaking the rules, and more Rules and standards of conduct in the human services Complaints and investigatory bodies A mosaic of expectations, risks and possible outcomes Part 3: Service Delivery: Diverse Populationsand Jurisdictions Crimes and VictimsIntroducing the criminal justice system Criminal law in Australia Assisting people charged with offences Sentencing Indigenous Australians and the criminal law Young people and the criminal law Victims of crime Criminal law and family violence Families and ChildrenAn interdisciplinary perspective required Child protection in Australia Child protection proceedings Family Law Family law and arrangements for children Family violence and family law Property orders Child support Housing and FinanceThe law and more Income support Complaints, review and appeal Income management (IM) Debt management Consumer protection Housing, homelessness and accommodation Diversity and VulnerabilityRights, needs and protections Facilitating social well- being through law Guardianship and administration Mental illness Refugees and asylum seekers Emerging matters of vulnerability, difference and the law Back to the Beginning while Facing the FutureContradictions and volatility in the big picture Implications for the human services In pursuit of confidence with law and justice partnershipsAccomplished human service work and workers Appendix: Finding, Reading, and Citing Law Finding and reading an Act of Parliament How to find cases How to read cases Citing legislation and cases Index