Glossary
Advocacy
This relates to the promotion and support of a cause and the activities engaged in to achieve this.
Carer
Someone who lives with or is close to a person with a disability. This includes family carers and friends who support people with a disability in times of need.
Client
The person who is currently being offered support services by your organisation.
Code of conduct
A set of guidelines about how workers in a particular field or organisation are expected to behave.
Common law
Judge-made law based on principles of law established by the courts over time. Some examples are the concepts of duty of care and negligence. Many of these principles of law have been incorporated into legislation, often with modifications.
Confidentiality
The principle whereby personal information is kept secret and not disclosed to other parties without consent.
Defendant
The party a plaintiff institutes legal proceedings against in a civil court; the party against whom a charge is brought.
Demographics
The characteristics of human populations and population segments.
Discrimination
Prejudice in practice, where one person is treated less favourably than another in similar circumstances because of a personal attribute that has no relevance to the situation.
Duty of care
The legal responsibility to take all reasonable care to make sure others are free from harm or injury.
EEO
Equal employment opportunity.
Empowerment
Causing a person or group of people to feel confident and in control of their own lives.
Equity
This relates to deciding the relative fairness of principles, processes and outcomes.
Ethical standards
Practice guidelines based on ethics.
Ethics
Ethics are the moral principles by which human actions may be judged good or bad, right or wrong. Ethics can relate to standards, rules or norms prescribed by particular communities, professions and/or groups in society to regulate the behaviour of their members.
Human rights
Universal rights and freedoms of all human beings, especially those stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other United Nations human rights treaties and standards.
Legal precedent
The way other cases have been treated and determinations or rulings in keeping with previous cases. ‘Like’ cases are treated alike.
Legislation
Acts of Parliament.
Mission Statement
A statement of the purpose and vision of an organisation.
Negligence
Negligence is said to occur when damage occurs to another person as a result of someone failing to exercise reasonable care.
Plaintiff
The person who institutes legal proceedings in a civil court.
Policy and procedures manual
A booklet or other text that contains the employing agency’s policies and procedures for a range of topics. Essentially, policy and procedure manuals are meant to tell employees how something is to be done, when, using what forms and who is responsible to whom.
Policies
These are broad statements of the principles of an organisation with regard to particular issues, such as health and safety. They give an insight into how the organisation views this particular issue, how they arrange their service according to this view, and how work is then carried out by the people within that organisation. Policies also give support workers, and all employees, guidelines about how to handle particular situations that arise.
Precedent
The principle whereby a judge deciding a legal issue must follow the legal rules, which have been determined by previous decisions in relation to the same subject matter. The previous judicial decisions are given weight according to the seniority of the court making the decision.
Procedures
Detailed instructions about how policies are to be carried out by employees, including support workers. These are specific steps to be taken to carry out a policy.
Protocols
Procedures and etiquette that are acceptable in a given situation, according to factors such as culture or language.
Quality assurance
Processes and practices used to ensure that services are meeting the needs of their clients.
Regulations
A set of standards related to an Act of Parliament.
Social justice
Principles of social justice are access, equity of participation and rights or equality, meaning that all people are equal under the law and have the right to equal protection under the law.
Stakeholders
Key people who are directly affected by and can directly influence decisions, policies and outcomes.
Statute law
Law made by parliament (either state or federal)
Stigma
Social disgrace or a mark causing shame.
Values
Morals and principles held by each human being for themselves or held by an organisation or a community.
Workplace health and safety
This refers to legislation and policies designed to protect people from the risk of injury or disease in the work environment.