Your Rights & Responsibilities

At Touch Care, we believe good support is built on respect, trust, clear communication and shared understanding.

When you receive support from us, you have rights about how you are treated and how your support is provided. You also have responsibilities that help us provide support safely, respectfully and effectively.

Your rights

When receiving support from Touch Care, you have the right to:

• be treated with dignity, respect and fairness
• be supported in a way that respects your individual needs, preferences, culture, identity, values and beliefs
• make choices about your life and the support you receive
• be involved in decisions about your support
• have your privacy and personal information respected
• receive information in a way you can understand
• ask questions and receive clear information about your support
• have an advocate, family member, support person or other person of your choice involved where you want them to be
• make informed choices and take reasonable risks
• be supported to develop and maintain independence wherever possible
• feel safe and be free from violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation, discrimination and degrading treatment
• provide feedback, raise concerns or make a complaint without fear of being treated differently
• have concerns and complaints taken seriously
• access external advocacy or complaint services if you choose
• say no to support or request changes to the way your support is provided
• end your services in accordance with your service agreement.

Choice and control

Your life belongs to you.

We will work with you to understand what is important to you and how you would like your support to be provided.

Our role is to support your choices wherever it is safe and appropriate to do so, not to make unnecessary decisions on your behalf.

We recognise that having choice also includes the right to make decisions that other people may not make for themselves. Where there are risks associated with a choice, we will work with you to understand and manage those risks wherever reasonably possible.

Privacy and confidentiality

You have the right to privacy.

We will treat your personal information respectfully and only collect, use and share information where it is reasonably necessary, authorised by you or otherwise permitted or required by law.

There may be limited circumstances where information needs to be shared without your consent, such as where this is required by law or necessary to respond to a serious safety concern.

More information about how we handle personal information is available in our Privacy Policy.

[Privacy Policy]

Your right to speak up

We want you to tell us if something does not feel right.

You can ask questions, provide feedback, raise a concern or make a complaint at any time. You can also ask another person to help you or speak on your behalf.

You will not be treated unfairly or disadvantaged because you have raised a concern or made a complaint.

If you do not feel comfortable speaking directly with Touch Care, you can seek support from an advocate or raise your concerns with an appropriate external organisation.

[Your Voice]

Your responsibilities

A respectful support relationship works both ways.

When receiving services from Touch Care, we ask that you:

• treat your support worker and other people with dignity and respect
• provide information that is reasonably necessary for us to understand your support needs and provide services safely
• let us know about relevant changes to your needs or circumstances that may affect your support
• participate in discussions about your support where you are able to do so
• respect agreed support times and provide as much notice as possible if you need to cancel or change a service
• provide a reasonably safe environment when support is being provided in your home or another environment you control
• tell us if you have concerns about the support you are receiving
• respect appropriate professional boundaries
• meet any responsibilities you have agreed to in your service agreement, including payment and cancellation requirements.

We understand that disability, health, communication needs and individual circumstances can affect a person's ability to meet some responsibilities. We will consider individual circumstances and work with participants wherever reasonably possible.

Safety and respect

Everyone has the right to feel safe while support is being provided.

Touch Care will not accept violence, abuse, serious threats, harassment, discrimination or other behaviour that creates an unacceptable risk to participants, workers or other people.

Where a safety concern arises, we will respond according to the circumstances. Wherever possible, we will work with you to understand what has happened and identify reasonable ways to continue providing support safely.

In situations involving an immediate or serious risk to someone's safety, support may need to be changed, paused or ended.

Changing or ending your support

Your circumstances and preferences can change.

You can talk to us at any time about changing the way your support is provided.

You can also choose to stop receiving services from Touch Care. Any notice requirements or other arrangements for ending services will be explained in your service agreement.

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