See procedure Children related to DHHS staff for tasks that must be undertaken.
At times, reports are received about children where the child or the child’s family is related to or has a personal association with a departmental staff member.
Being “related” can be either by birth, or by marriage and can include but is not limited to the children and stepchildren, siblings, nieces and nephews, and grandchildren of staff members.
A “personal association” refers to a connection, bond or relationship between individuals, which can be based on friendship, family, work, or any other shared experience. These associations can range in strength and nature, from casual acquaintances to intimate relationships. These include but are not limited to, friendships, family relationships, work relationships, romantic relationships and by other associations such as shared activities or community involvement such as membership of the same religious organisation or sporting club.
Specific issues arise when a child or the child’s family member is related to or has a personal association with a departmental employee, particularly when the employee is employed in Child Protection or works in a role that supports the care and protection of Child Protection clients.
These include:
- The need to avoid an actual or perceived conflict of interest between the safety and protection of the child and the interests of the departmental staff member
- The importance of maintaining client confidentiality. The risk of unauthorised access or disclosure is greater when a person with authorised access to case files knows or knows of the person concerned.
- The risk of actual or perceived bias towards the interests of departmental staff members, their relatives or personal associations.
- Where a staff member is the parent or carer of a child who is the subject of a report to Child Protection, the need to consider the staff member’s suitability for their role.
Policy requires that:
- If a child in a child protection practitioner’s care is subject to a report, or otherwise involved with, Child Protection (across any phase), the staff member must not have any professional involvement with the case.
- Where a child protection practitioner identifies that they are related to or have a personal relationship or association with a child involved with Child Protection or a member of the child’s family, the practitioner must disclose the relationship and must not have any professional involvement with the case.
- Program and departmental standards of record keeping are maintained in relation to decision-making and case management. All records should be kept confidential and disclosed only to staff with authority for dealing with the matter. This includes audits of CRIS access which should be kept by the area operations manager/director, Child Protection.
See procedure Children related to DFFH staff for tasks that must be undertaken, including referrals to other areas and divisions following the identification of a conflict.
These obligations are in addition to the Code of Conduct for the Victorian Public Sector, which requires employees to disclose potential conflicts of interest to management when dealing in the course of official duties with relatives, close friends or business acquaintances.
It is important to note that any documentation or records prepared in relation to such matters is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 and therefore could be subject to public comment and scrutiny.
The matter may fall within the scope of the Reportable Conduct Scheme. See Reportable Conduct Scheme or visit the Reportable Conduct Scheme page on the department’s intranet for further information.