Legal and Ethical Frameworks

Health Administrators are required to comply with all relevant laws, practice standards, ethical guidelines, and organisational policies and procedures that apply to their role. The range of these requirements can seem quite overwhelming for many beginners! Indeed, there are a large number of applicable laws and standards. While it is important to have an understanding of all of these, it is useful to remember that they are also all interrelated. For example, industry practice standards and ethical guidelines are, in part, developed to comply with relevant legislation; organisational policies and procedures are developed in accordance with legal and industry requirements.

Unfortunately, the full range of information about the legal and ethical requirements involved in the allied health assistant role is not found in one convenient place. Instead, specific pieces of information can be found in various places depending on whether the information is legal or ethical in nature, and general or workplace specific. The diagram below sets out some of the most important sources of information. These are divided into categories, or frameworks, depending on the type of information.

We will be exploring each framework in more detail shortly – the diagram merely provides a very broad overview to help you to begin to identify the different sources of information related to legal and ethical practice.

The legal and ethical frameworks of allied health practice are similar in one very key way: they aim to protect the rights and well-being of clients, workers, and organisations. The key differences involve how they are developed and the sanctions or penalties that apply. Specific ethical codes and standards are primarily developed, maintained, and monitored by professional allied health bodies (e.g., the Australian Association of Practice Management aka. AAPM) or organisations that employ allied health professionals. Legal requirements are developed and administered by governments and courts. While breaching an ethical principle has professional implications for the allied health assistant (e.g., being expelled from a peak body or fired from their position), breaching a legal requirement may further result in fines or even incarceration. This highlights the importance of being fully aware of one’s legal and ethical responsibilities. So, how do health adminstrators develop this awareness? Where can they find information about their legal and ethical requirements?

Let’s start by exploring the main sources of ethical practice information that health administrators use to inform their practice.

Codes of Ethics and Practice

The Australian Association of Practice Management (AAPM) is one of the professional bodies that seek to guide health administrators, medical receptionists, practice managers and other related professions in Australia, and you will be eligible to join this body once you have successfully completed your relevant qualification. The AAPM has developed a Code of Ethical Conduct, which outlines ethical principles (often referred to as code of ethics) and how these should be implemented in practice (otherwise referred to as code of practice).

Consider the following example of an ethical principle from the Code of Ethical Conduct:

“Members of AAPM endeavour to exercise their responsibilities reasonably and not arbitrarily or for some irrelevant purpose, having regard to the legitimate interests of other affected parties.”
(AAPM, 2023, p.12)

This means that health administrators should act in good faith with regards their client’s health and well-being. 
An example of the related practice guideline from the Code of Ethical Conduct is:
“Provide comprehensive information that others need to know in order to make informed decisions.” 
(AAPM, 2023, p. 12)

This guideline explains one of many ways that health administrators can ensure they act in good faith to ensure their clients health and well-being, as described in the ethical principle above, is preserved.

This guideline explains one of many ways that allied health assistants can ensure that client health, well-being, and safety, as described in the ethical principle above, is preserved.

Essentially, Codes of Ethics generally outline the core ethical principles that members are expected to abide by, while Codes of Practice set out guidelines about how allied health professionals should deliver services so that their practice reflects ethical principles. Failing to adhere to an ethical code can lead to a disciplinary hearing or expulsion from membership.

Practice Standards

Another important source of information about ethical practice are practice standards. Practice standards generally define the level of expertise and professional practice behaviours that are required for a particular role or industry. For example, they may define required levels of training, continuing professional development, supervision, and service delivery (Bond, 2015). A working allied health assistant may be registered with a peak body, such as AAPM, and there may be specific standards to uphold within these bodies.

Failure to meet minimum or fundamental standards may result in disciplinary or ‘fitness to practice’ hearings against an individual allied health assistants or whole organisation. In cases in which allied health assistants fail to meet minimum practice standards, they may also be liable for legal charges of negligence by clients. (You will be learning more about negligence in the following sections of this module.)

Health Administrator Values

Another key source of ethical guidance is the health administrators' own values. These personal values will inevitably influence their work. Therefore, it is important for administrators to embrace the overall values of effective practice such as respect for the client, non-judgemental practice, and the promotion of client autonomy. Of course, ethical issues may arise if the assistant’s personal values conflict significantly with other sources of ethical guidance. For example, a health administrator who does not believe in abortion may find that this personal value conflicts with a client’s right to self-determination and non-judgemental service. It is important for the health administrator to develop an understanding of their own values and how these have the potential to impact upon their work with clients. (We will be exploring health administrator values in more depth in later.)

Organisational Policies, Protocols and Procedures

Many allied health organisations develop specific codes of conduct and other organisational standards that relate to the behaviours that workers are expected to display. These documents provide allied health assistants (and other workers) within these organisations with additional guidance on expected behaviours and what to do in the presence of ethical dilemmas. If you work for an organisation that has specific codes of conduct or other standards in place, then it will be vital for you to comply with these standards and follow any protocols or procedures within them.

Now that you understand the sources of information that shape ethical practice, let’s explore the legal frameworks underpinning allied health assistance practice.

There are a number of sources of information relating to legal practice that allied health professionals must be aware of. These include international treaties and conventions, commonwealth legislation, state legislation, common law, and organisational policies and procedures.

Needs and Rights

International treaties and conventions often influence Australian law. One example of this is the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 and outlines fundamental human rights to be protected. Rights (including human rights, children’s rights, animal rights, and so on) are often discussed, and most of us have heard of – or even read – this declaration. But it is worth pausing for a moment to think about what rights are. After all, many sources seem to assume that we already know, and do not take the time to explain.

Rights are things that we are entitled to – whether for survival, ethical, or legal reasons – and are related to human needs. We all know that there are basics that we need to survive, and still more if we are to live in a way that gives us a decent chance at physical and mental health, engagement with our families and communities, educational and work opportunities, and so on. Some of our basic needs include water, food, shelter, clothing, access to healthcare, and social contact. Among the many things we need if we are to function well and be active in our communities and societies include access to education, news and other information, and ways of communicating.

Some rights are largely a recognition of a human need: we might say that we have a right to a safe home, a right to access to clean drinking water, a right to an education, and so on. We also recognise that particular groups have additional rights based on their membership of that group. Children, for example, have the right to protection, with parents (or others where parents cannot or do not provide this) having the responsibility to provide protection, food, shelter, education, healthcare, etc., for their children. Similarly, people in groups that are marginalised within their societies have rights to freedom from discrimination. There are also rights that go beyond having particular needs met. For example, in democratic countries we have a right to vote, and in societies with legal systems that aim for fairness and justice, there is a recognition of the right to a fair trial.

But just because someone has a need does not mean that this need will be met. So, these rights are often formalised in legislation, such as federal and state or territory laws that outline – and provide mechanisms to promote or enforce – the rights of people in general, children, women, culturally and ethnically diverse groups, people of diverse sexualities, people with disabilities, and so on. There is no guarantee that a right will be respected either, but at least the international conventions and domestic laws that are endorsed and enacted provide accountability and encourage mechanisms to make it more likely that they will be. In some cases, they also provide for the punishment of people or organisations who abuse others’ rights or fail in their responsibilities to meet them.

You might be wondering why we are talking about rights here, but as you will see in the remainder of this unit, throughout your studies, and in the work that follows, much of what allied health workers and other helping professionals do is guided by rights, including human rights, children’s rights, and the right to be free from discrimination. So, the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights is a great starting point.

Commonwealth and State Legislation and Common Law

As an allied health professional, many of your work practices will be regulated by laws. In Australia, there are two sources of law: statutory laws that encompass both Commonwealth and state/territory legislation and common law.

Statutory laws are laws that have been passed through Parliament. If a responsibility is statutory, it means that it is a legal requirement and there are generally legal consequences for not adhering to it. Legislation may apply to Australia as a whole (Commonwealth laws) or to individual states or territories (state/territory acts). Some examples of relevant statutory requirements include, the Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth); the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Commonwealth); mental health legislation, e.g., Mental Health Act 2007 (NSW); anti-discrimination legislation, e.g., Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Commonwealth), Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Victoria); reporting child abuse, e.g., Child Protection Act 1999 (Queensland); and workplace legislation, e.g., Fair Work Act 2009; Safe Work Australia Act 2008 (Commonwealth).

While you will learn more about these Acts and how they influence work as an allied health assistant later in this Study Guide, for now, the main point is to understand that allied health assistants and allied health organisations are required to comply with legislation set out in Commonwealth and State Acts and that failure to comply with such legislation may result in a punishment determined and enforced by the courts. There are a wide range of resources that you can consult to access specific acts or regulations, or information about specific pieces of legislation. For example:

However, not all health administrator responsibilities are set out in legislation. Sometimes, an allied health professional’s actions (or failure to act) can come under the ruling of common law. Common law refers to the decisions that are made in court by judges guided by legal precedents (or previous rulings). For example, there is no direct legislation outlining what constitutes duty of care in an allied health role. Therefore, if an allied health worker is accused of failing in their duty of care it is not simply a case of consulting a specific Act. The allied health worker’s case will need to be decided in a court according to legal precedents and what the profession and community believes constitutes an appropriate level of care. The court may also refer to instruments such industry codes of ethics and conduct and organisational policies and procedures in order to determine whether an allied health worker has failed in their duty of care. However, if there is a conflict between legislation (i.e., statutory law) and common law, legislation will override the common law.

Organisational Policies and Procedures

Allied health organisations are also required to comply with all relevant legislation and facilitate this process for their workers. As such, organisations develop specific policies and procedures that comply with these requirements and which detail specific processes for workers to follow. The example below shows how an organisation intends, through its policy and procedures, to support compliance with anti-discrimination legislation.

As you can see in the policy below, a policy statement defines the organisation’s position while the procedures set out how the organisation enacts the policy. This is just one example – organisations typically develop a wide range of policies and procedures to assist workers in their roles. Policy and procedure documents are often compiled in a manual or available on an organisation’s intranet for easy staff access.

While it is important for all allied health professionals to follow their organisation’s policies and procedures, they must also develop and maintain their own knowledge of legal and ethical requirements rather than blindly following policies and procedures without understanding their underlying requirements. You will learn more about the key legal and ethical requirements of effective allied health practice in the next section of this Study Guide.

In this section of the module you were introduced to the various frameworks and sources of information that underpin legal and ethical health administration. In the next section of this module you will learn more about these requirements and how they impact the health administrator’s role.

Australian Association of Practice Management Ltd (AAPM). (2022). Code of Ethical Conduct. 2nd Ed. https://www.aapm.org.au/Portals/1/AAPM%20Code%20of%20Ethical%20Conduct_FINAL_12OCT22.pdf 

Bond, T. (2015). Standards and ethics for counselling in action. (4th ed.). International: Sage Publications. 

Community Door (n.d.). Equity, anti-discrimination and workplace harassment policy and procedure example. http://communitydoor.org.au/organisational-resources/administration/policies-procedures-and-templates/people-working-in-the

Longwood University. (n.d.). [Image of various office related objects scattered around a lightbulb made up of words relating to personal values]. http://www.longwood.edu/career/articles/2018/core-values-and-why-do-they-matter-in-my-career/