Psychological or emotional abuse

Was the incident related to raised voices to ensure a consumer who has hearing difficulties could hear?
Was there action towards a consumer that includes one of the following behaviours?
•    Yelling?
•    Name calling?
•    Bullying?
•    Harassment?
•    Humiliation?
•    Intimidation?
•    Taunting?
•    Making threats?
•    Making critical or disparaging comments?
•    Deliberately causing anguish or distress?
Was there an unreasonable refusal to interact with the consumer or acknowledge their presence?
Was a consumer unreasonably refused access to care or services?
Was there an unreasonable restriction of a consumer’s ability to engage socially or otherwise interact with other people during group activities?
Was there an action inflicted on a consumer that knowingly caused, or could reasonably have been expected to cause, anguish or distress (for example, calling a consumer by the wrong name or ignoring a consumer’s expressed and reasonable preferences)?
Was there any other conduct that could reasonably have been expected to have caused a consumer psychological or emotional distress?
Did the incident cause (or could it reasonably have been expected to have caused) the consumer physical or psychological injury or discomfort that requires medical treatment to resolve?
Did the incident cause (or could it reasonably have been expected to have caused) the consumer physical or psychological injury or discomfort that requires psychological treatment to resolve?
Are there reasonable grounds to report the incident to the police?

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.

Return to start

Priority 1

Based on the information you have provided it appears that this incident is a Psychological or emotional abuse – Priority 1 reportable incident.

Priority 1 reportable incidents must be reported to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission within 24 hours of you becoming aware of the incident.

What do I do next?

You must take immediate and any ongoing action to ensure appropriate support is provided to the consumer and their family and make a Priority 1 notification to the Commission within 24 hours.

You must report the incident through the My Aged Care Provider Portal.

Go to My Aged Care Provider Portal

Return to start

Priority 2

Based on the information you have provided it appears that this incident is a Psychological or emotional abuse – Priority 2 reportable incident.

Priority 2 incidents must be reported to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission within 30 days of you becoming aware of the incident.

Note:

It is your responsibility to initiate a timely response to every serious incident regardless of whether the incident is categorised as Priority 1 or 2. The timeframe for reporting a serious incident to the Commission is separate from and in no way modifies your obligation to respond speedily to all serious incidents.

You must report the incident through the My Aged Care Provider Portal.

Go to My Aged Care Provider Portal

Return to start

Was this page useful?
Why?
Why not?
Share this page
 

Acknowledgement of Country

In the spirit of reconciliation, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, water and community. We pay our respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.