Queensland Health Ombudsman Act 2013 Act No. 36 of 2013 Queensland Health Ombudsman Act 2013 Contents Page Part 1 Preliminary Division 1 Introductory 1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 2 Commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3 Main objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 4 Paramount guiding principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 5 Act binds all persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Division 2 Interpretation 6 Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 7 Meaning of health service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 8 Meaning of health service provider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Division 3 Overview of Act 9 Purpose of div 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 10 Relationship with the National Law. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 11 Health ombudsman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 12 Director of proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 13 Making health service complaints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 14 Dealing with health service complaints and other matters . . . . . . 22 15 Timeliness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 16 Disciplinary orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 17 Keeping complainants and providers informed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 18 Minister’s role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 19 Parliamentary committee’s role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Division 4 Application of Act to persons whose status changes 20 Application of Act to former health service providers . . . . . . . . . . 25 21 Application of Act to former registered health practitioners . . . . . 25 Health Ombudsman Act 2013 Contents 22 Application of Act to persons formerly registered under corresponding prior Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 23 Matters may be dealt with despite death of relevant person . . . . 27 Part 2 Health ombudsman 24 Establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 25 Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 26 General powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 27 How health ombudsman must act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 28 Health ombudsman generally not subject to direction . . . . . . . . . 30 29 Advisory committees and panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 30 Cooperation with other entities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Part 3 Health service complaints Division 1 Preliminary 31 Meaning of health service complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Division 2 Making and dealing with a complaint 32 Who may make a complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 33 How to make a complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 34 Complainant may be asked to confirm complaint or give further information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 35 Deciding how to proceed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Division 3 Other matters dealt with as complaints 36 Notifications under the National Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 37 Matters referred by National Boards or government entities . . . . 34 Part 4 How complaints and other matters are dealt with 38 Meaning of relevant action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 39 Relevant action not limited to complaints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 40 Relevant action relating to more than 1 matter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 41 Complaints may be split . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 42 More than 1 relevant action may be taken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 43 Relevant action may be taken despite proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . 37 44 Decision to take no further action on a matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Part 5 Assessment of complaints 45 Application of pt 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 46 How assessment is made . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 47 Submissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 48 Power to require information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Page 2 2013 Act No. 36 Health Ombudsman Act 2013 Contents 49 Period for completing assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 50 Decision following assessment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Part 6 Local resolution of complaints 51 Application of pt 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 52 How local resolution may be achieved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 53 Submissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 54 Power to require information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 55 Period for attempting resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 56 Further action if complaint not resolved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Part 7 Immediate action in relation to health practitioners Division 1 Immediate registration action 57 Meaning of immediate registration action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 58 Power to take immediate registration action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 59 Show cause process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 60 Notice about immediate registration action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 61 Show cause process after taking action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 62 Period of immediate registration action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 63 Application to QCAT for review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 64 Health ombudsman must immediately take further relevant action 48 65 Health ombudsman may end immediate registration action. . . . . 49 Division 2 Interim prohibition orders 66 Application of div 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 67 Interim prohibition orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 68 Power to issue interim prohibition orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 69 Show cause process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 70 Content of interim prohibition order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 71 Notice to complainant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 72 Show cause process after issuing order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 73 Period of interim prohibition order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 74 Application to QCAT for review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 75 Health ombudsman must immediately take further relevant action 53 76 Health ombudsman may revoke order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 77 Corresponding interstate interim orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 78 Offence of contravening order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 79 Publication of orders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 2013 Act No. 36 Page 3 Health Ombudsman Act 2013 Contents Part 8 Investigations 80 Health ombudsman may decide to investigate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 81 Minister may direct investigation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 82 Notice to particular provider being investigated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 83 Investigative powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 84 Progress reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 85 Times by which investigations must be completed. . . . . . . . . . . . 56 86 Investigation reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 87 To whom investigation report is given. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 88 Disclosure of investigation report containing confidential information 59 89 Implementation of recommendations and supplementary report . 60 90 Notice of decision after investigating matter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Part 9 Referral to National Agency or other entity 91 Referral to National Agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 92 Referral to other government entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 93 Reports from State entities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Part 10 QCAT Division 1 General 94 QCAT’s jurisdiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 95 Notices to be given to complainant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 96 Orders that QCAT may make . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 97 Constitution of QCAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 98 Particular hearings to be held in private . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 99 QCAT may exclude witnesses from hearing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 100 No stay of decision to take immediate action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Division 2 Director of proceedings 101 Application of div 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 102 Information to be given with referral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 103 How director must deal with referral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 104 Referral to QCAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 105 Referral back to health ombudsman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Division 3 Matters relating to registered health practitioners 106 Application of div 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 107 Decision about registered health practitioner other than student . 69 108 Decision about student. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 109 Review of conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Page 4 2013 Act No. 36 Health Ombudsman Act 2013 Contents 110 Application to QCAT for review of condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 111 Further review of condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Division 4 Matters relating to practitioners other than registered health practitioners 112 Application of div 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 113 Prohibition order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 114 Corresponding interstate orders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 115 Offence of contravening order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 116 Publication of orders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Division 5 Appointment of assessors 117 Panels of assessors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 118 Appointment of individuals to panels of assessors. . . . . . . . . . . . 76 119 Temporary appointment of panel of assessors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 120 Disqualification from membership of panel of assessors . . . . . . . 78 121 Procedure for recommending members of panels of assessors . 78 122 Duration of appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 123 Conditions of appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 124 Vacation of office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 125 Payment of assessors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Division 6 QCAT to be assisted by assessors 126 Tribunal to be assisted by assessors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 127 Assessors’ function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 128 Choosing assessors generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 129 Particular persons not eligible to be assessor in a disciplinary proceeding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 130 Requirement about gender balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 131 Choosing assessors if specialist and technical issues involved . . 83 132 Disclosure of interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 133 Costs for assessors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Part 11 Conciliation 134 Application of pt 11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 135 Purpose of conciliation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 136 Conciliator’s function exclusive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 137 Person not to conciliate and investigate same health service complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 138 Conciliation function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 139 Requirement to negotiate in good faith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 2013 Act No. 36 Page 5 Health Ombudsman Act 2013 Contents 140 When conciliation may happen if other relevant action is taken . . 86 141 Conciliator to notify the health ombudsman of public interest issues 87 142 Ending or suspending conciliation to take other relevant action. . 87 143 Explanation to parties about public interest issues and possible ending or suspension of conciliation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 144 Progress reports from conciliator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 145 Results report from conciliator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 146 Enforceable agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 147 Action on report of unsuccessful conciliation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 148 Ending conciliation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 149 Conciliation privileged . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 150 Confidentiality of information relating to conciliation . . . . . . . . . . 91 Part 12 Inquiries 151 Health ombudsman may conduct inquiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 152 Minister may direct health ombudsman to conduct inquiry. . . . . . 92 153 Persons conducting or assisting inquiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 154 Procedure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 155 Notice of inquiry hearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 156 Inquiry hearing to be held in public except in special circumstances 94 157 Suppression of name of witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 158 Protection of inquiry members, representatives and witnesses . . 95 159 Record of proceeding to be kept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 160 Powers for inquiry hearing and right to representation. . . . . . . . . 95 161 Notice to witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 162 Notice requiring information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 163 Inspection of records and other things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 164 Offences by witnesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 165 Contempt of inquiry member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 166 Change or absence of inquiry member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 167 Preparation of report about inquiry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 168 Opportunity to respond to adverse comment in report . . . . . . . . . 99 169 Submission and tabling of report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Part 13 Minister’s role 170 Minister’s functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 171 Minister may request information or reports from health ombudsman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Page 6 2013 Act No. 36 Health Ombudsman Act 2013 Contents 172 Minister may request information from National Agency or National Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 173 Periodic reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 174 Minister may ask that information be given to engaged persons . 101 175 Information that may or may not be requested. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 176 Minister may ask health ombudsman to publish particular reports 103 177 Compliance with Minister’s request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 178 Use or disclosure of information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Part 14 Parliamentary Committee’s role 179 Committee’s functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 180 Committee may request information from health ombudsman. . . 106 181 Committee may request information from National Agency or National Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 182 Periodic reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 183 Information that may or may not be requested. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 184 Compliance with committee’s request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 185 Committee’s powers not limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Part 15 Authorised persons Division 1 General provisions about authorised persons 186 Functions of authorised persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 187 Health ombudsman is an authorised person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 188 Health ombudsman may appoint authorised persons . . . . . . . . . 108 189 Appointment conditions and limit on powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 190 When office ends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 191 Resignation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 192 Issue of identity card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 193 Production or display of identity card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 194 Return of identity card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 195 References to exercise of powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 196 Reference to document includes reference to reproductions from electronic document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Division 2 Entry of places by authorised persons Subdivision 1 Power to enter 197 General power to enter places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Subdivision 2 Entry by consent 198 Application of sdiv 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 199 Incidental entry to ask for access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 2013 Act No. 36 Page 7 Health Ombudsman Act 2013 Contents 200 Matters authorised person must tell occupier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 201 Consent acknowledgement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Subdivision 3 Entry under warrant 202 Application for warrant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 203 Issue of warrant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 204 Electronic application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 205 Additional procedure if electronic application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 206 Defect in relation to a warrant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 207 Entry procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Division 3 Other authorised persons’ powers and related matters Subdivision 1 General powers of authorised persons after entering places 208 Application of sdiv 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 209 General powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 210 Power to require reasonable help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 211 Offence to contravene requirement to give reasonable help . . . . 120 Subdivision 2 Seizure by authorised persons and forfeiture 212 Seizing evidence at a place that may be entered without consent or warrant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 213 Seizing evidence at a place that may be entered only with consent or warrant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 214 Seizure of property subject to security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 215 Power to secure seized thing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 216 Offence to contravene other seizure requirement . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 217 Offence to interfere. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Subdivision 3 Safeguards for seized things 218 Receipt and information notice for seized thing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 219 Access to seized thing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 220 Return of seized thing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Subdivision 4 Forfeiture 221 Forfeiture by health ombudsman decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 222 Information notice about forfeiture decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Subdivision 5 Dealing with property forfeited or transferred to State 223 When thing becomes property of the State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 224 How property may be dealt with . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Division 4 Disposal orders 225 Disposal order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Page 8 2013 Act No. 36