Unexplained absence from care

Was a consumer absent from the service (or an activity provided by the service) without explanation?

Yes

No

Did the consumer return before the service was aware that they were missing?

Yes

No

Are there reasonable grounds for reporting the absence to the police?

Yes

No

The phrase ‘reasonable grounds’ may include scenarios where you are aware of facts or circumstances (alleged or known) that lead to a belief that an incident is potentially or likely to be of a criminal nature and therefore should be reported to police within 24 hours (e.g. if you as the provider suspect the incident involves an indecent assault, or if there is ongoing danger). If you become aware of reasonable grounds at a later time, you must notify the police within 24 hours of becoming aware of those grounds.

If you are in any doubt about whether an incident may be of a criminal nature, make a report to the police. Police are the appropriate authorities to investigate and identify whether an incident may involve criminal conduct.

Not reportable

Based on the information you have provided it appears that your incident is not a reportable incident under the SIRS.

However this incident, like all incidents, should be managed using your service’s Incident Management System, or IMS.

It is important that your IMS is able to record incidents in a way that allows you to identify patterns of incidents that may reflect an ongoing risk or systemic issue.

For more information, please refer to the Effective incident management systems: Best practice Guidance.

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