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Confidentiality and Privacy Guidelines
City of Casey Youth Services 2015
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Table of Contents
DEFINITION ....................................................................................................................................................... 4
AIMS OF THE GUIDELINES ............................................................................................................................... 4
WHO MUST COMPLY WITH THE GUIDELINES ................................................................................................. 4
WHOSE PRIVACY IS PROTECTED ..................................................................................................................... 4
GENERAL RIGHT TO PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY................................................................................... 5
POLICY STATEMENT ......................................................................................................................................... 5
CONFIDENTIALITY AND THE YOUTH TEAM..................................................................................................... 5
ROLE OF THE CO-ORDINATOR AND TEAM LEADERS ..................................................................................... 5
DISCLOSING INFORMATION WITHOUT CONSENT ....................................................................................... 5/6
SERIOUS AND IMMENIENT THREAT TO LIFE OR HEALTH ............................................................................... 7
SERIOUS OFFENCES (DISCLOSURE IN LIMITED CIRCUMSTANCES) ................................................................ 7
CONFIDENTIALITY AND ABUSE ....................................................................................................................... 8
REASONABLE GROUNDS ................................................................................................................................. 8
FORMING A BELIEF ........................................................................................................................................... 9
BREACHING CONFIDENTIALITY: HOW TO INFORM YOUNG PEOPLE ............................................................. 9
SERVICE ACCESS ............................................................................................................................................... 9
Minimum Age and Informed Consent ........................................................................................................ 9
Consent for Service Access ...................................................................................................................... 10
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Contact with Parents ............................................................................................................................... 11
Duty of Care ............................................................................................................................................. 12
Consent Forms ......................................................................................................................................... 12
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DEFINITION
In these guidelines:

Young people refer to those aged 10 – 25.
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Child refers to those aged 0-17 for child protection purposes.
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Parent refers to legal guardian of a young person aged 0-16 years.
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Manager refers to the Manager who at the time is responsible for Youth Services.
AIMS OF THE PRIVACY GUIDELINES
The policy aims to balance these needs.
 Youth Services needs to comply with laws which require information privacy and
which require disclosure.
 Youth Services needs to provide services in ways which best meet the needs of
young people, including a high and predictable level of confidentiality, and a team,
inter-agency or family approach to service delivery where appropriate.
 Youth Services needs to take steps to maintain the safety of young people and
others, which sometimes requires us to maintain confidentiality and sometimes
requires us to breach confidentialities.
WHO MUST COMPLY WITH THESE GUIDELINES?
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Paid employees including contracted casual staff
Volunteers
Committee Members
Students on placement
Contractors (eg. External supervisors, consultants, IT support, cleaners etc).
WHOSE PRIVACY IS PROTECTED?
This policy applies to personal information about young people as clients or agency users.
This policy does not apply to information about employees. This policy does not apply to
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information about volunteers, committee members unless they are also clients or agency
users.
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GENERAL RIGHT TO PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY
Young people have a right to privacy and confidentiality. Youth workers sometimes work
with young people who are vulnerable and exposed. They trust staff to treat them, and
their personal information, with care and respect.
The right to privacy and confidentiality is embedded in: Information Privacy Act 2000 (Vic),
Health Records Act 2001.
POLICY STATEMENT
Clients of Casey Youth Services should know in advance if and when there is a possibility of
their confidences being discussed with or passed on to other people or agencies including
parents.
In all our work the safety and well-being of the young person is of paramount importance.
There are times when a young person will disclose information to a Youth Worker which the
worker believes puts the safety/wellbeing of that young person at risk. If this happens the
worker should tell the young person of their concerns and that the information cannot be
kept confidential.
If you don’t have the young person’s consent or expectation to disclose, only disclose
personal information in situation as outlined below.
Consult with the Manager before you take action, or decide not to take action, in any of
these situations except in emergencies (YCaSS staff to follow YCaSS Practice Guideliness)
If possible, contact the young person whose privacy you are breaching, before or soon after
you breach it, to let them know that you are doing this and why. However do not contact
them if this would defeat the purpose of the disclosure or if it would create a serious safety
risk.
Make a record of your decision, reasons and actions.
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CONFIDENTIALITY AND THE YOUTH TEAM
Youth Workers benefit from the support and supervision available in the youth work team
and from their Line Supervisor. It is important that workers are able to share confidential
information within their teams and with their Line Supervisor to enable them to access such
support in a confidential environment. Details of the process and the content of
confidential matters can be shared in this way, although no names need be mentioned.
Always make young people aware of this.
ROLE OF CO-ORDINATOR AND TEAM LEADERS
A Line Supervisors role is to support and advise workers and to offer supervision when
necessary. Except in emergencies, always discuss an issue with your Line Supervisor before
breaching confidentiality for example by contacting a young person’s parent or other
agencies without consent. Any support or supervision you receive from your Line
Supervisor will be in confidence unless otherwise stated. Line Managers/Supervisors should
offer positive support and guidance to workers as needed.
DISCLOSING INFORMATION WITHOUT CONSENT
This list is not complete and there may be other instances when the Youth Worker feels
they need to breach confidentiality:

When a young person discloses abuse either to themselves or other young people
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When a young person’s actions/behaviours has or may
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Result in harm to themselves
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Result in harm to others
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Result in harm to the Worker or the premises
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To prevent a serious offence taking place either in the present or in the future.
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When required by law
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Missing Person (if a worker is aware of a missing persons report: encourage the
young person to contact police themselves, if they are unwilling advise the young
person you are required to report that they have been sighted and are safe after
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they leave the premises, but you will not be telling the police or the person’s family
where the young person is).

Crime at the agency.
You should always disclose personal information to prevent or reduce a serious and
imminent threat to the life or health of any person (the young person or someone else): This
means:
There is an immediate serious risk to a particular person or particular people, and
Disclosure to a particular person or agency is likely to reduce the risk.
What is a “serious and imminent threat”?
A “serious” threat must reflect significant danger, and could include a potentially life
threatening situation or one that might reasonably result in other serious injury or illness. A
threat could also relate to an emergency, following an accident, when an individual’s life or
health would be in danger without timely decisions and action.
A threat is “imminent” if it is about to occur, or may result in harm within a few days or
weeks.
SERIOUS OFFENCES (DISCLOSURE IN LIMITED CIRCUMSTANCES)
If you know or believe that a serious crime has or will be committed and you have
information which may assist the police then in limited circumstances you should consider
whether or not to breach client confidentiality to disclose personal information to the
police. You should consult with the Manager and judge each situation individually.
In exceptional circumstances, such as serious crimes and where there is a likelihood of
further serious offending, the safety of the community would outweigh the importance of
continuing to work with the client.
Protecting children against abuse is the shared responsibility of – families, the community,
professionals and governments.
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CONFIDENTIALITY AND ABUSE
Although Youth Services are not mandated to report child protection issues, Youth Services
have a Duty of Care to the children and young people with whom they work. Youth Service
staff who believe on reasonable grounds that a child or young person (under 17 years*) is at
significant risk of sexual or physical abuse must report to Child Protection services.
Consult with the Manager before you take action except in emergencies (YCaSS staff to
follow YCaSS Practice Guidelines).
REASONABLE GROUNDS
There may be reasonable grounds when:
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a child or young person states that they have been physically or sexually abused
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a child or young person states that they know someone who has been physically or
sexually abused (sometimes the child or young person may be talking about
themselves)
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a relative, friend, acquaintance or sibling of the child or young person, states that
the child has been physically or sexually abused

professional observations of the child or young person’s behaviour or development
leads youth services to form a belief that the child or young person has been abused

signs of physical or sexual abuse lead to a belief the child or young person has been
abused.
All youth services staff must report to their line manager when they have significant
concerns about a child or young person’s wellbeing and development.
Any person who believes on reasonable grounds that a child or young person is in need of
protection or have a concern for their wellbeing may report the circumstance to
Department of Human Services (DHS), Child First or the police. This will not be a breach of
professional ethics or a departure from accepted standards of professional conduct if made
in good faith. Nor will a person notifying in good faith be liable for any action for damages
or other legal proceedings for having done so.
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FORMING A BELIEF
The concept of forming a belief is a thinking process, where a person is more likely to
accept rather than reject the notion that there is significant harm for the child or young
person.
You may ask yourself, 'Am I more likely to believe there is significant harm for the child, or
less likely to believe there is significant harm for the child?' If you are more likely to believe
then you have formed a belief.
It is the Child Protection worker's job to investigate and prove significant harm, so other
professionals need only have reasonable grounds for belief.
BREACHING CONFIDENTIALITY: HOW TO INFORM YOUNG PEOPLE
Clients of Casey Youth Services should know in advance if and when there is a possibility of
their confidence being passed on to other people without their consent. It is important that
youth services staff advise the young people accessing services of these circumstances.
“Before we go any further, I need to inform you of my position as a Youth Worker/employee
of Casey City Council. Whilst our discussions are confidential (between you and me) there
may come a time where I feel that you are at risk, in danger, or in breach of the law. If this
time comes I may not be able to keep this information to myself. I may have to tell someone
else whether you want me to or not.
SERVICE ACCESS
Minimum Age and Informed Consent
There is no minimum age at which people become entitled to privacy. Youth services must
protect the privacy of children, young people and adults when it has personal information
about them.
Generally you must have a legally valid consent before you collect, use or disclose personal
information. You can disclose personal information without informed consent only in
specific situations (Refer to the Information Privacy Act 2000).
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Consent for Service Access
In all matters of consent the young person’s age and their understanding needs to be taken
into account.
As a general principle, a young person is able to give consent when he or she has sufficient
understanding and maturity to understand what is being proposed. In some circumstances,
it may be appropriate for a parent or guardian to consent on behalf of a young person; for
example if the child is very young or lacks the maturity or understanding to do so
themselves.
In determining the provision of services to a self-referring young person, (without parental
consent) as a general rule the younger the young person, the greater the need to involve
parents/other agencies if their safety or welfare is threatened. The following principles
should be considered:

The wellbeing of the young person is paramount
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The age of the young person
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Level of cognitive functioning of the young person (including presence of an
intellectual disability, developmental delay, mental illness)
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Ability of the young person to understand the consequence of their decision.
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The risk and consequences of any threat to safety and welfare of the young person
Generally a young person is mature enough to understand the nature and consequences
may legally consent in their own right to access medical services. Generally, this will be at
about age 14, but may be higher or lower depending on the individual young person and the
nature of the proposed treatment.
Services such as counselling and information can be provided to young people who are
mature enough to give informed consent to the service. Although there is no age restriction
on these services the child’s or young person’s capacity to give informed consent must be
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taken into consideration. It is recommended that Youth Services staff consult their line
supervisor prior to providing services other than information to a person below 14 years.
In general young people who contact youth services can be provided information or referral
without parental consent taking into consideration the information outlined under consent
for service access.
Some programs provided by Youth Services can not be accessed by young people without
parental consent. These include for example, all school based programs, Teenage School
Holiday Program, general excursions, some group activities, programs and camps.
If in doubt contact your Line Supervisor for advice.
Contact with Parents
When working with young people less than 16 years it is advisable to involve parents in any
decisions concerning the welfare of young people. However, it is sometimes the case that
the workers judge the family relationship to be such that parental involvement may further
jeopardise the welfare of the young person or the young person does not consent to such
contact. In such a case the worker should consult with their Line Supervisor prior to any
further action, except in emergencies (YCaSS staff to follow YCaSS Practice Guidelines).
Prior to contacting parents, in all cases the worker should first consult with young person,
hoping that it will be done on his or her terms and in the least compromising manner. When
informing parents the worker needs to assess how they will respond given the
circumstances and incident(s). Parents may need help to explore and come to terms with
issues facing a young person.
Always discuss these issues with your Line Supervisor and inform them of your actions.
The young person should be informed when confidentiality cannot be kept and all young
people should be aware of your responsibilities and duties as a City of Casey employee.
Copies of your rights and responsibilities should be given to all young people accessing
services.
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Duty of Care
Duty of care sets the standard of care expected, legally and ethically, to maximise the
quality of service and minimise the risk of harm. It is about doing your job with reasonable
care and skill to protect and promote the well-being of young people and taking care to
avoid foreseeable harm.
The duty of care owed towards young people as clients are closely and directly affected by
the things that are done or not done by youth workers. The following are examples of
where Youth Services duty of care may override a young person’s rights to confidentiality.
 If threatening suicide, may have a lawful reason to breach confidentially
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Although not required to mandatory report child protection cases, if a child is at
serious risk, may override confidentiality
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If young person leaves service and you have serious concerns (eg threatening selfharm/putting themselves in unsafe situation) may override confidentially.

If believed that client is about to commit a serious crime, may justified in breaching
confidentiality
Consent forms
Staff are to only use an approved Pro forma and template to secure consent to deliver
services and release and receive information.