CHCLEG003 Assessment Answers: Navigating Workplace Equality And Ethical Considerations

Assessment Task Requirements

You must record your name and student number clearly in the, for this purpose allocated places on the assessment cover sheet, before commencing this task.

You are required to complete this assessment task individually. This assessment task consists of 4 parts, part 1, a case study scenario, part 2, a research project and part 3 policy and procedure writing based on the events set out in the case study scenario, and part 4, a 10-minute individual presentation based on their research findings and their experience writing the new policy and procedure documents.

Your trainer/assessor will advise you of due dates and/or submission dates for each part of the assessment as well as instruct you, you are required to 1st read the case study scenario in the 1st week of tuition for this unit, prior to commencing work on part 2, 3 & 4.

Your trainer/assessor will follow this with reading the case study scenario as a classroom activity and discussion of the case study scenario content to ensure you have a thorough understanding this. After which they will facilitate a discussion on the minimum requirements for part 2, the research, part 3, the policy and procedure writing, and part 4, the 10-minute individual presentation criteria, to ensure you have a thorough understanding of what is required of you for each part of the assessment task.

Part 2, the research project, requires that you undertake research on the legal and ethical compliances that apply to the case study scenario content prior to commencing work on part 3 writing policy and procedure, as part 3 must be compliant with national statutory requirements.

Part 3, policy and procedure writing, requires you to individually write a policy and procedure document that will eliminate the incident as described in the case study scenario from reoccurring. You might like to use the template provided on 16-21 page for this purpose.

Part 4, the individual presentation, requires that you present you research findings and your personal experience during the policy and procedure writing in a 10-minute classroom presentation.

You are required to complete the separate parts for this task individually, refer to the instructions and assessment criteria for each assessment part on the following pages.

Your trainer/assessor will provide you with valuable feedback on your performance and your submitted work. You must gain a satisfactory result for 8 of the 10 research criteria in part 2, 11 of the 15 criteria of the policy and procedure writing task from part 3 and criteria 2 of the individual 10-minute presentation part 4, to gain satisfactory result for this assessment task.

In case the outcome of your submitted and presented work is Not Yet Satisfactory, your trainer/assessor will provide you with a 2nd opportunity to re-facilitate and/or resubmit your work on a time suitable to you both.

Assessment Task Requirements

The term workplace equality refers to treating all people equally, regardless of the existing differences.It is considered imperative formaintaining safety in the workplace. Reports of discrimination in workplace are extremely prevalent in Australia.During 2014-2015, almost 3500 inquiries were received by various organizations in Australia. In Australia, only 53% of disabled persons are employed, which clearly demonstrates the stereotypic attitudes manifested against them. On the other hand, an estimated 83% of total population of people not suffering from any disability are currently employed. Australian Human Rights Commission has received 37% of disability discrimination cases (Browne 2019). In the case study, it is seen that a 25 year old girl named Naida has speech impairment due to an accident. She was a Syrian refugee and had limited knowledge in English. She alsohad a siblingdied due to the war inIraq. In another case study, it is seen that a 30 year old male,named Kyrahis a severely disabled patient,who has lost his leg, and subsequent functioning of frontal lobe. He also developed angry and uninhibited sexual behavior. The essay will elaborate on the legislative and ethical considerations, in relation to workplace discrimination.

This act covers all people from different kinds of discrimination in their workplace. The act primarily provides support to people with disabilities. This act covers discrimination invarious sectors like education, employment, an individual who utilises services of an organization, and public places. This act also provides coverage to the disabled people who are discriminated, by providing them interpreters or assistants. The act also allows the disabled person to be attended by an aid, and equipment such as, wheel chair for disability of their legs(Australian Human Rights Commission 2019).

This act pertains to people with disabilities that is both permanent and/or temporary. These disabilities primarily encompass incapacities in sensory, physical,neurological, intellectual, psychosocial and learning domains. In addition, various diseases, physical disfigurement, work-related injuries are also covered(Australian Human Rights Commission 2019).

Who is responsible for implementation?

Consequences of non- compliance

Demonstrating non-compliance to the act and display of discriminating behavior towards others is considered as a deed of criminal nature that leads to subsequent penalization of the perpetrator. The wrongdoeris typically imprisoned for six months. In some cases of disability based discrimination, monitory fine are also imposed. One such example is the situation whenthe Federal Circuit Court had imposed a fine of $88,870 against Rocky Holding Pvt. Ltd, whichprovided service in Liverpool (Fair Work Ombudsman 2019).

Legislative and Ethical Considerations for Workplace Discrimination

The main principles of this act is to support persons with incapacities to receive facilities essential to permit them to work in the direction of complete contribution as associates of the community. It also assists people with disabilities to assimilate in the community, and match services accessible commonly to individuals in the community. In addition, the law also supports people to achieve various positive results, and adequate employment opportunities. This law also promotes the disabledperson to increase their self-esteem conduct and also encourages innovative behavior(Legislation.gov.au 2019).

Whom does this requirement apply to?

This act is applicable to APS employees, commonwealth employee, secretary of a department. In order to implement the act, the legislative authorities will observe the standards of eligibility, to determine whether the person is disable or not. Whenever, the ministry determines a person as a disabled, it will decide upon the performance indicator for preventing any circumstance that leads to discrimination of the identified person, on grounds of poor work performance due to disability.

Who is responsible for implementation?

The Government of Australia is responsible for implementation of this act, and they are work towards strictly applying it against any type of disability based discrimination in the workplace.

Breaching such an act is considered a punishable offence in Australia. Any violation of the act is considered as a form of criminal wrongdoing as per the criminal code act under the chapter 2 of the Australian Federal Legislation (Legislation.gov.au 2019).

The main principles of this act are to rectify the protection of the privacy of any individual and to encourage the protection of privacy of the individual. The confidentiality of the person should be strictly preserved and pertinent information related to the people should be handled in a transparent manner (Humanrights.gov.au 2019).

Whom does this requirement apply to?

This act can be applied to the general population and as well as the disabled people, owing to the fact that confidentiality has been recognized as a central right of all people of the country.  Hence, the act is relevant to person with incapacities as well.

Who is responsible for implementation?

This act has been implemented by the Commonwealth Federation of each state of the Australian Capital Territory.

Breaching of discretion is considered as a serious transgression in Australia and all types of breaching are treated as criminal offence. The chapter 2 of the criminal code is applied against any offence, committed against this act. However, the chapter part 2.5 is not appropriate for imposing penalisations against this act (Humanrights.gov.au 2019).

Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic)

Name of the Legislation

Sexual harassment is considered a major problem in workplaces of Australia. Sexual harassment is completelyunsolicited in the workplace. Furthermore, sexual discernment is not counted under normal friendship, flirtation, or interaction that is a mutual or consensual in nature. Sexual harassment is one of the types of sex discrimination in workplace. The Sex Discrimination Act is accountablefor protecting any person from all forms of sexual harassment in the workplace.  Therefore, sexual harassment mostly affects woman and 1 out of 5 women experiencethe sexual harassment in their workplace. However, the males are also affected in a lower prevalence rate. Reports estimate that 1 out of 20 people are affected by sexual harassment in their workplace(Humanrights.gov.au 2019). This act covers direct, physical, verbal sexual harassment against the same or opposite gender. This act protects the employees from sexual harassment of any person in various areas such as, education, services, employment.

Whom does this requirement apply to?

This act is applicable for all employees in the work place along with the persons with disabilities in the workplace.

Who is responsible for implementation?

The government of Australia is responsible for implementing the act in the work place.

After a sexual harassment, the victim should file a complaint through the Australian Human Rights Commission. No additional costs are incurred while filing the complaint. After lodging the complaint the Australian Human Rights Commission might not take any action in between six months of complaint (Humanrights.gov.au 2019).

The RDA shields people from racial discernment in several areas of public life, includingservice, schooling, getting or using facilities, renting or purchasing a house or unit, and reaching public places.One such example is a situation where a person cannot insist another individual to speak in a particular language such as,English (Humanrights.gov.au  2019).

Whom does this requirement apply to?

This act is applicable to individuals of various services like banking service, private sector employee, casual employees, any kind of service consumer in any organization. This act also covers the hiring process of any companies and employment agencies.

Who is responsible for implementation?

The Australian Human Rights Commission is responsible for implementing the Racial Discrimination act in workplaces.

Consequences of non- compliance

Breaching the law makes the commission take efforts to solve the problematic situation in a formal manner at the first place. This is usually achieved by organizing a conference between the victim and the organization. However, if the condition is not yet solved, the federal court will take actionsaccording to the law (Humanrights.gov.au 2019).

Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)

While providing treatment to patients like Naida and Kyahseveral ethical concerns are bound to arise. This can be accredited to the fact that the patients suffer from different problems such as, speech impairment and mental trauma, respectively. The second patient Kyahalso has physical disabilities. A code of ethics refers to a combination of core ethical considerations that secure the responsibilities and values related to a specific profession. In these case scenarios the ethical considerations are as follows-

• There should be a particular authority and they will be responsible for preventing the occurrence of any type of violence, exploration and abuse. This authority will also be responsible for ensuring access to all kinds of facilities and services to serve all the persons with disabilities. The Government of Australia will be responsible for giving social, educational, administrative and legislative support to theperson, with any kind of disability. No kinds of gender biasness and abusive behavior will be demonstrated against the disable person (Australian Human Rights Commission 2019).
• The organization should adopt measures for promoting the cognitive, physical and psychological recovery of the patients. In addition, rehabilitation program, social integration program should be introduced in order toprovide them necessary support(Australian Human Rights Commission 2019). In the first case scenario, this ethical considerationis extremely important as Naida is a victim of war violence. She should be engaged in sessions that promote her mental recovery journey owing to the fact that she suffered from trauma and also lost her sibling in the war.
• There should not be any kind of psychological and physical abuse to any of the disabled persons. In this case scenario, it is seen that, the patient Naida is mentally traumatized and she has speech impairment. Hence, all kinds of attitudes and behavior that worsen her psychological wellbeing must be prevented. In addition, the second patient Kyah is not mentally stable and also has an impaired leg. This calls for the need of acknowledging the ethical considerations that pertain to mental and physical health. Furthermore, the caregiver of the NSDS organization should not show any kind of negligent behavior towards both the patients.Caregivers have often been found to neglect delivery of care to a person who is disabled or cannot take independent and complete care ofoneself. In order to maintain proper ethical practices the caregiver provide help to the patients forgrooming, proper clothing, personal hygiene, health services, and withholding food, with the aim of allowing the disabled person gain access to equal facilities like normal people(Australian Human Rights Commission 2019).
• One of the most important and crucial ethical consideration is protection of confidentiality and privacy of the patients, and is considered an essential component of delivering services.  In order to maintain privacy and confidentiality, there are few standard considerations. It can be stated that the needs of confidentiality can be observed via the Privacy Act (1988), National standards for Disability services, and the Australian Privacy Principles. For maintainingprivacy and confidentiality, only necessary information about the patient should be collected. Assortment of any other information is strictly prohibited and any type of material should not be shared with any other person. The organization should not discuss any information in informal settings that comprises of third parties and there should be no discussion of any individual cases in any public meeting and conferences(Australian Human Rights Commission 2019). The file of the patients’ information should be kept in a secure place. In this case study, it is very crucial to maintain the privacy of the patients. The patient Naida needs treatment for speech impairment and trauma and another patient wants treatment for his hyperactive behavior. Disclosing information related to their health will hamper their personal life in their future.
• Another important ethical consideration is the need of taking consent from the person who is receiving any kind of service. The act of giving permission or agreeing to any decision for certain activity that can affect that person in any part his/her life is referred to as consent. In this case study, before giving any service to Naida it is important to take consent from her as she is quite capable of giving consent. However, in case of Kyah it is difficult to take consent as he is not completely stable mentally, rather hyperactive. In that case, consent will be taken from any close relative or family member.

Purpose:This policy intends to reduce the occurrence rate of sexual harassment within indoor sports and recreational activities in the organization within the territory of Australia. It further intends to safeguard the integrity and safety of the organizational members.

Scope:The policy and procedure applies to the participants, jury members, organizing members and concerned authorities

Effective Date:The policy would come to effect from 18.01.2019

Policy Statement:The organization commits to the prevention of the incidences of sexual harassment among the disabled members and ensure safety and prevention of further incidence

Legislative Authority:State and Territory anti-discrimination body

Parent Policy:This policy comes under the section of Sexual Harassment (A code in Practice) which is directly covered under the policy of Australian Human Rights Commission

• Responsible staff: advisory board members, sports coordinator, participant trainers and security personnel
• Personal Protective Equipment: Pepper spray
• Steps: Steps would include, imparting defense training to members of the organization and training the female members to use the pepper spray at the time of a harassment episode

• Compliance: Compliance would be taken care of by the administrative department of the organizing committee and the territorial governing body
• Reporting:Mandatory self-reporting or reporting done by any other member irrespective of their power, position or hierarchy to the organizing committee
• Record Management:Record management would be taken care of the by the secretary of the organizing committee

Procedures:

• Identifies barriers: Social stigma and fear
• Planning: Maintenance of anonymity and respecting the confidentiality of the victims personal details
• Strategic information:Promote awareness about the policy andencourageself-defence training

Definitions:

The Sexual Offence Act 2019 (Draft-A) intends to punish the offenders who engage in any source of sexual harassment and cause inconvenience to other members. The following incidents would be identified as cases of sexual harassment:

• Sexual Assault
• Molestation
• Inappropriate touch and sharing of inappropriate content within the organization
• Verbal sexual-abuse
• Exhibition of Private Parts

• Related policy and document site:Sexual Harassment (www.humanrights.gov.au)
• Related legislation and supporting documents:Sexual harassment in workplace (www.lawcouncil.asn.au)

Review Processes:The organizing committee would be responsible for reviewing the policy on an annual basis and take preventive action and correction if necessary

Approval and amendment history:Approved by the Australian State and territory governing body. Amendment will be done after the first review process

References:

Australian Human Rights Commission., 2019. Disability discrimination | Australian Human Rights Commission. [online] Humanrights.gov.au. Available at: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/employers/good-practice-good-business-factsheets/disability-discrimination [Accessed 9 Jan. 2019].

Australian Human Rights Commission., 2019. Legal and Ethical Considerations of Service delivery. [online] Humanrights.gov.au. Available at: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/VET%20Disability%20Unit%20Trainers%20Manual%20-%20Topic%208.pdf [Accessed 9 Jan. 2019].

Browne, R., 2019. Disability discrimination still rife in Australian workplaces: Australian Network on Disability conference. [online] The Sydney Morning Herald. Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/disability-discrimination-still-rife-in-australian-workplaces-australian-network-on-disability-conference-20160516-gowaim.html [Accessed 9 Jan. 2019].

Fair Work Ombudsman., 2019. Welcome to the Fair Work Ombudsman website. [online] Available at: https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/news-and-media-releases/2013-media-releases/october-2013/20131007-rocky-holdings-judgement [Accessed 9 Jan. 2019].

Humanrights.gov.au., 2019. Racial discrimination | Australian Human Rights Commission. [online] Available at: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/employers/good-practice-good-business-factsheets/racial-discrimination [Accessed 10 Jan. 2019].

Humanrights.gov.au., 2019. Sexual harassment | Australian Human Rights Commission.  Available at: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sex-discrimination/guides/sexual-harassment [Accessed 10 Jan. 2019].

Lawcouncil.asn.au 2019. Sexual harassment in the workplace. [online] Lawcouncil.asn.au. Available at: https://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/policy-agenda/advancing-the-profession/equal-opportunities-in-the-law/sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace [Accessed 18 Jan. 2019].

Legislation.gov.au., 2019. Disability Services Act 1986.  Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018C00146 [Accessed 10 Jan. 2019].

Legislation.gov.au., 2019. Privacy Act 1988. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2014C00076 [Accessed 10 Jan. 2019].