Rights of adults at visitable sites

You have rights that protect you, including the right to be respected, treated fairly, and to make important choices about your life. These rights are protected under Queensland’s Human Rights Act.

• State Government agencies (e.g. Queensland Health, the police and the courts) must respect your rights when they act and make decisions about you.
• Substitute decision-makers ( e.g. an appointed guardian, a person appointed as an attorney under an Enduring Power of Attorney or a person who is informally helping you to make decisions) and service providers (e.g. disability, mental health or residential care providers) must also respect your rights.

How are your rights protected?

Governments and agencies have a responsibility to respect, promote and uphold your rights. Anyone who makes decisions for you is guided by the general principles. If they’re making a decision about your healthcare, they should also follow the health care principles.

The general principles are:

Presumption of capacity

It’s assumed you can make your own decisions (also called decision-making ability).

Performance of functions and exercise of powers

Anyone who makes decisions for you, like an attorney or guardian, must do so in a way that promotes and safeguards your rights, interests and opportunities in the least restrictive way.

Structured decision-making

Attorneys and guardians must follow a structured decision-making process when they make decisions for you. This means they must:

1. Recognise and preserve, as much as possible, your right to make your own decisions. If possible, they should support you to decide for yourself.
2. Consider your views, wishes and preferences when they make decisions for you.
3. Use ‘substituted judgement’ when they can’t find out what you want. This means they need to consider your past views, wishes and preferences to make the decision you would have made if you were able to.

Same human rights and fundamental freedoms

You have the same human rights and freedoms as everyone else, even if you need help making decisions. This includes having the freedom to make your own choices and respecting your independence.

Empowering and supporting an adult to exercise their human rights

You are empowered and encouraged to live freely. This means governments and service providers should support you by creating opportunities to live independently, enjoy activities in the community, and actively participate in the development of policies, programs and services to greatest extent possible.

Maintaining supportive relationships

You can maintain your existing supportive relationships with family, friends and carers who help you make decisions.

Maintaining culture, language, values and beliefs

You are able to live in line with your cultural background, language, values and traditions, including religious beliefs.

Respect for privacy

Your privacy and personal information must be respected and protected.

Liberty and security

You should not be deprived of your liberty and security except in extreme circumstances.

Maximising an adult’s participation in decision-making

You have a right to participate in decisions that affect your life. Anyone who makes decisions for you must:

• ask you about your views, wishes and preferences, and
• give you support and access to the information you need to make decisions.

The health care principles are:

Application of general principles

Anyone who makes a health care decision for you must apply the general principles above.

Same human rights and fundamental freedoms

You have a right to appropriate health care, including preventative care. Anyone who consents to, or refuses, health care for you must consider your inherent dignity and worth.

Performance of functions and exercise of powers

Anyone who makes a health care decision for you must consider, among other things:

• the nature of any medical condition you have and your diagnosis
• any different treatment options other than what has been proposed
• whether the health care can be delayed because a better treatment might soon be available to you, or you're likely to soon regain your decision-making ability
• the risks of treatment and the consequences if it's not provided.

Substituted judgement

Your attorney or guardian must use ‘substituted judgement’ if they can’t find out from you what you want. In other words, they must make the decision based on your past views, wishes and preferences.

If you have an advance health directive, they must base their decision on the instructions in it. They can also base the decision on whether you have consented to or refused similar health care treatment in the past.

What if your rights aren’t being respected? If your rights aren’t being respected or you’re unhappy with your decision-making arrangements, you can:

• communicate with the person making the decision or the service provider
• if the problem is about an organisation or agency, ask them how you can make a complaint
• ask a community visitor to visit you
• communicate with an independent advocacy service
• make a complaint to the Queensland Human Rights Commission or the NDIS Quality Safeguards and Commission, or request someone makes this complaint on your behalf.

Rights of patients of mental health services

The Statement of Rights explains your rights if you’re a patient of a mental health service. It’s for:

• involuntary patients (receiving treatment against their will or without their agreement), such as a person subject to a treatment authority made by a doctor.
• voluntary patients being treated in a mental health service, including people under an advance health directive or with the consent of a guardian or attorney.

Families, carers and support people also have rights which are outlined in the Statement of Rights.

Independent Patient Rights Advisers

All public mental health services have Independent Patient Rights Advisers, often referred to as IPRA. They can help you, your family, carers and other support persons to:

• understand your rights
• communicate with health practitioners about your mental health treatment and care.

What to do if your rights aren’t respected as a patient of a mental health service

If your rights aren’t being respected or you’re unhappy with your mental health treatment and care, you can:

• ask an Independent Patient Rights Adviser or your service provider to find out how to make a complaint.
• ask the service to obtain a second opinion from another, independent, health practitioner if your complaint can’t be resolved.
• let a community visitor know by raising it with them during a visit or requesting a visit.

More information

For more information, please read the Chief Psychiatrist's policy on Management of complaints and right to a second opinion.

Rights of NDIS participants

If you receive support through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), you have a right to:

• safe, high quality services and supports
• make your own choices about the supports you receive.

NDIS code of conduct

Under the NDIS code of conduct, service providers and support workers must:

• respect your rights to freedom of expression, self-determination, and decision-making
• respect your privacy
• provide supports and services in a safe and competent manner with care and skill
• act with integrity, honesty, and transparency
• promptly raise and act on any concerns about the quality and safety of your supports
• take all reasonable steps to prevent and respond to all forms of violence, exploitation, neglect, and abuse
• take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual misconduct
• not charge you higher prices for the supply of goods without reasonable justification.

What to do if your rights aren’t respected as a NDIS participant

If your rights aren’t being respected or your worried about your NDIS supports or services, you can:

• raise the issue with your provider
• if you’ve complained to your provider and it hasn’t resolved the issue, you can make a complaint to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
• let a community visitor know by raising it with them during a visit or requesting a visit.

Rights of residents in supported accommodation (level 3 accreditation)

If you live in supported accommodation, you have the right to:

• a safe, secure and comfortable living environment, free of abuse and neglect
• privacy, dignity and confidentiality
• food and nutrition that complies with A toolkit for healthy eating in supported accommodation: A best practice guide 
• make complaints or raise issues without fear
• choose external services providers, separate from the residential service (e.g. advocates, case workers, health, disability and welfare providers, and NDIS providers under an NDIS plan that aren’t associated with the facility)
• exercise choice and control over your lifestyle if it doesn’t violate the rights of other residents
• preserve family relationships and informal social networks
• manage your own financial affairs to the extent possible or to get help with your financial decisions from outside the residential service.

If your rights aren’t respected as a supported accommodation resident

If your rights aren’t being respected or you’re unhappy with your residential service, you can:

• communicate with the manager of your accommodation first, who may be able to help you resolve the issue informally
• lodge a formal complaint with the residential service if the issue isn’t resolved
• take your concerns to the relevant regulatory body if you’re not happy with the outcome of your complaint (e.g. the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission)
• let a community visitor know by raising it with them during a visit or requesting a visit.

Resources

See our community visitors forms, factsheets and other resources