Rights and inclusion

This practice guide has been developed to accompany staff learning through a workshop. It aims to assist disability service providers understand how the senior practitioner fulfils responsibilities under the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities 2006. Also, what is required of them in the process.

For more information, see Related resources.

Authorised Program Officers (APOs) play an important role in protecting the rights of people with a disability and potentially preventing unnecessary restraint and seclusion.

The Practice advice - important information for authorised program officers describes the responsibilities and actions by APOs, as defined by the Disability Act 2006.

The guide has been designed as a ready reckoner that can be saved on your desktop or printed for ongoing reference. For more information, see Related resources.

The aim of this guide is to help development of support plans to promote social inclusion for residents with disabilities. The support plan is a legislative requirement of s.54 of the Disability Act 2006. For more information, see Related resources.

The senior practitioner commissioned the Roadmap to support disability service organisations to achieve dignity without restraint. The aim of the Roadmap is to provide human services organisations with an innovative, evidence-based practice tool to promote dignity, self-determination and improved outcomes for clients.

The Roadmap resource was developed by Associate Professor, Paul Ramcharan (RMIT University) with input from the Roadmap working group. The resource provides a structured summary on how to implement the Roadmap. For more information, see Related resources.

Positive solutions in practice is a series of short, easy to read articles that summarise evidence-based practice.

The articles have ideas on how service providers can move away from restrictive practices, to positive behaviour support practices. These foster self-determination and dignity. They are published by the Office of the Senior Practitioner.

The Office of the Senior Practitioner also provides practice advice and practice guides to:

• Provide clarity around concepts and terms relevant to supporting a person who may be subjected to restrictive interventions
• Practical ideas about how disability support professionals can promote autonomy and human rights for people with a disability
• An opportunity for reflective practice and to generate discussion among disability support professionals to examine their practice.

It is hoped that these resources will help service providers review their practices, and ensure they are implemented to promote positive behaviour support. For more information, see Related resources.

The Disability Act provides a legal framework for protecting the rights of people with a disability, who are detained for the purposes of treatment because they pose a significant risk of serious harm to others.

Part 8 of the Act allows for civil detention through supervised treatment orders (STOs) made by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). It also permits court mandated detention and treatment such as:

• Residential treatment orders
• Parole orders
• Custodial supervision orders
• Extended supervision orders.

The Act requires the senior practitioner to ensure that the rights of this group of people are protected. The senior practitioner is responsible for approving a treatment plan prepared for a person when an application is made for a STO. The VCAT approves and issues an STO and the senior practitioner is responsible for supervising the implementation of that order.

The Office of the Public Advocate has released the report, Supervised treatment orders in practice: How are the human rights of people detained under the Disability Act 2006 protected?

This report tests the STO regime against a human rights framework. It does this by considering whether the regime strikes an appropriate balance between human rights, restrictive interventions and 'benefit' for people on STOs. The report puts this question in context by reviewing the literature relating to people with an intellectual disability, civil detention, and the use of risk assessment tools to predict future 'dangerous' behaviour.

For more information, see Office of the Public Advocate.

This guide is designed for occupational therapists to assist children with disabilities who display behaviours of concern during transportation.

Wandering in people on the autism spectrum is a best practice resource for those caring for people on the autism spectrum.

The Office of Professional Practice collaborated with AMAZE (formerly Autism Victoria) to conduct research and develop this resource for parents, carers and staff.

The resource is intended to support families and carers with practical guidance when caring for people who wander, and how to engage professional support when required.

How this resource helps

• Find out why people on the autism spectrum wander
• Discover best practice strategies to prevent or reduce the risk of wandering
• Learn how to get help to prevent people from wandering.

It also explores important considerations if using restrictive interventions to prevent wandering and provides advice on what to do if someone on the autism spectrum goes missing.

The resource is not designed to replace professional guidance. A critical component of applying any of the strategies or suggestions contained in this resource is that they are done with the assistance of professionals. They can help determine the most appropriate evidence-based strategies for each particular person who wanders.

For more information, see the AMAZE website to download Wandering in people on the autism spectrum.

This resource was developed for service providers to use when they are trying to understand their reporting and monitoring requirements in relation to the use of locks.

It assists service providers to comply with legislative and practice requirements for disability residential services in Victoria.

The resource was created by a Yooralla and Office of Professional Practice (OPP) partnership.

This report provides discussion points and recommendations that promote and encourage:

• Policy makers
• Managers
• Support staff
• Family carers
• People with disabilities
• Other organisations and advocates

to think about what can promote and lead to positive supports along a rights based approach.

For more information, see Related resources.