GOVERNANCE
Annual Report
Read or download the Wayside Chapel Annual Report 2016/17 here.
For further details, please contact our Governance and Standards Manager Karen Walkerden at [email protected].
Code of Conduct
All visitors to Wayside Chapel have a right to be in a safe space and a judgement-free environment.
Everyone who works at Wayside has a right to participate in a working culture which promotes Openness (no secrets), Teamwork (no cowboys), Patience (no rush), Courage (no complacency) and Respect (no judges).
This Code applies to all people who visit and work at Wayside:
All people who work at and visit Wayside Chapel must:
1. Treat each other with respect, honesty and fairness
2. Respect each other’s privacy and confidentiality
3. Not discriminate on any basis including sex, sexuality, race, and gender.
4. Collaborate whenever possible
5. Follow reasonable directions
6. Declare conflicts of interest
7. Respect the property, funds and facilities which belong to The Wayside Chapel and only make use of these for authorised purposes
8. Not use or deal drugs on Wayside Chapel’s property
9. Not resort to physical violence or exhibit threatening verbal or bullying behaviour
10. Comply with Wayside Chapel’s policies and procedures
Visitors to Wayside Chapel who breach this Code of Conduct may be subject to the Grievance Procedure and/or the Exclusions Procedure.
People who work at The Wayside Chapel must sign off on their commitment to this Code, and if breaches occur they may be subject to the Grievance Procedure and/or to the Misconduct Procedure.
Code of Ethics
At Wayside Chapel we expect all conduct to be ethical.
Wayside Chapel Code of Ethics is important because it minimises negative behaviour, minimises legal risk, acts as a guideline for ethical decision making, encourages real and genuine meeting and the flourishing of positive relationships and acts as a reference for solving ethical dilemmas.
Context and rationale
Wayside Chapel’s Code of Ethics helps define our commitment to support a culture of openness, collaboration and integrity in all we do.
Responsibility
People who work at Wayside have an obligation to adhere to this Code. The Code of Ethics is underpinned by the following ethical principles:
Vision: Love over Hate
Mission: Community with no “us and them.”
Values: Openness, Teamwork, Patience, Courage, Respect
People who work at the Wayside must demonstrate their commitment to the Code of Ethics by:
• Promoting ethical behaviour.
• Dealing fairly with Wayside Chapel’s visitors, community members and partners.
• Providing the community with information that is accurate, objective, relevant, timely, and, understandable.
• Achieving compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations.
• Maintaining the confidentiality of information entrusted to them by The Wayside Chapel, its visitors and or the community except when authorised or otherwise legally obliged to disclose.
• Accepting responsibility for preventing, detecting, and reporting all manner of fraud.
• Being honest and ethical in their conduct, including the ethical handling of actual or apparent conflicts of interest between personal and professional relationships.
• Protecting and ensuring the proper use of Wayside assets.
• Prohibiting improper or fraudulent influence over any external auditors.
Feedback & Complaints Policy
The purpose of this policy is to ensure the feedback and complaints handling processes are guided by fair and consistent principles and sound administration that ensures appropriate outcomes are achieved for the provider of feedback, the complainant and Wayside.
Context
Feedback and Complaint Channels
Feedback and complaints can come from a range of sources including:
- In person- Feedback and Complaints Boxes
- Online – Feedback Form
- Written
- Social media
Feedback
Wayside receives feedback from visitors and the community to thank us for services provided. Feedback can also take the form of suggestions on how we can improve the programs and services we provide and these sources of information feed into our Continuous Improvement (CI) system.
Complaints
Complaints should be viewed as an opportunity to improve aspects of the programs and services we provide. There are number of reasons why someone may wish to give feedback or complain and these can be from the minor with minimal impact to major with maximum impact.
Most complaints will be minor and simple in nature and can be handled immediately and effectively by the particular people who work at Wayside.
Resolving Difficulties
Where possible a complaint should be handled in accordance with individual program areas’ procedures and handled directly by the staff member and or volunteer.
If a complaint cannot be easily and immediately resolved then this is to be recorded and forwarded onto appropriate staff as outlined in procedure.
Where no follow up is required this should be noted and recorded.
Responsibility
| Position | Task/Delegation |
| Board Members | · Endorse Feedback and Complaints Policy.
· Comply with Feedback and Complaints Policy. · Respond to complaints relating to the CEO. · Respond to complaints relating to the Chairperson of the Board. · Respond to higher level or escalated complaints as required.
|
| Managers | · Comply with Feedback and Complaints Policy.
· Ensure the Wayside complies with Feedback and Complaints Policy. · Respond to higher level or escalated complaints as required. · Receive feedback and complaints and respond in accordance with the Feedback and Complaints procedure.
|
| People who work at Wayside | · Comply with Feedback and Complaints Policy.
· Receive feedback and complaints and respond in accordance with the Feedback and Complaints procedure.
|
Policy statement
Any person or organisation accessing services and programs provided by Wayside, or those affected by its operations, has the right to provide feedback and make a complaint.
Wayside recognises that clients and stakeholders need avenues to give feedback or raise complaints with the organisation, and are entitled to have their concerns addressed in ways that ensure access and equity, timeliness, accountability and transparency.
Wayside understands that complaint information may be sensitive in nature, respects the complainant’s right to confidentiality, and will handle complaints in a fair, equitable and timely manner.
Feedback, including complaints, is considered an important part of Wayside’s operational and program planning and as part of its quality improvement program.
The resolution of the complaint to the satisfaction of the complainant is a goal of the complaints process.
Information is available to clients and stakeholders about mechanisms to communicate feedback, comments and complaints. This information is available on the website, in new client orientation packs and included in resources and publications as appropriate.
Privacy Policy
It is the purpose of this document to provide clear guidelines to protect the privacy of individuals where Wayside Chapel collects and/or holds information.
Context and rationale
Wayside Chapel does from time to time collect personal information relating to service users or staff, or in the performance of its service provision or research functions.
The Privacy Act 1998 (Cth) governs the collection, use and storage of personal information.
Wayside Chapel’s funding agreements with State and Federal government funding bodies state that Wayside Chapel must observe the Act as if it were a government agency. Therefore, Wayside Chapel must adhere to the following principles and prepare a Privacy Management Plan detailing:
• Policies and practices to ensure compliance to the requirements of the Act;
• Dissemination of those policies and practices to persons within the agency;
• Proposed procedures in relation to internal reviews;
• Other matters considered relevant by the agency in relation to privacy and the protection of personal information held by statutory, professional or other legal obligations of privacy.
Responsibility
Wayside is responsible for ensuring that the persons to whom this Policy applies are aware of this Policy. This may include, but is not limited to:
a) providing access to a copy of the Policy, for example, on the Wayside website;
b) reminders of the need for compliance with the Policy; and
c) providing updates or developments of the Policy.
Privacy Officer
The Privacy Officer has ultimate responsibility for The Wayside to oversee the adherence to this Policy, the Privacy Act 1998 (Cth) and any other relevant legislation or regulations. Members of the public can direct any queries or complaints about this policy to the Privacy Officer.
People who work at the Wayside
Responsibilities for the management of personal information are the responsibility of people who work at the Wayside. They are all expected to observe these principles when dealing with personal information in the conduct of service provision, conducting research, or undertaking consultation or advocacy work. All are responsible to raise any concerns they may have regarding privacy issues that arise in the conduct of their work, and to report any breaches of privacy that they may observe to their line manager, manager responsible or the Privacy Officer.
Head of Marketing & Fundraising
The Marketing & Fundraising Manager is responsible for overseeing the management of privacy issues in a number of ways:
• Obtaining personal information from the public; and
• The storage and handling of personal information.
Wayside Chapel may collect personal information when making a purchase, responding to a survey, registering for an event or marking a donation including any previous history, areas of interest and payment information including credit card details.
This information is collected to send receipts surveys, newsletters and information about research, education and fundraising events and activities. The Wayside Chapel may use this personal information to seek financial support for other activities including appeal letters as well as issues of our newsletter. The choice of what can be received and how personal information will be used is provided through these communications and by contacting the Privacy Officer.
Head of Programs
The Head of Programs is responsible for overseeing the management of privacy issues in a number of ways:
• Obtaining personal information from anyone accessing or seeking to access programs; and
• The storage and handling of personal information.
In addition to the general information collected; the following additional information may be collected but is not limited to:
• Sensitive information relating to health and care needs, racial/ethnic origin, lifestyle choices and care preferences;
• As required to by Department of Health, NSW Health or other relevant government department or agency;
• Information regarding housing, financial and social security status;
• Information regarding details of an appointed attorney, guardian or other alternative decision makers;
• Contact details for family members;
• Records relating to your enquiries about entry into one of our services; and
• Any other information required by law or The Wayside Chapel’s duty of care.
This information is collected to fulfil The Wayside Chapel obligations in operating various programs, legislation and is only collected where required. Otherwise participants can access programs without providing personal details.
People Manager
The People Manager is responsible for overseeing the management of privacy issues in a number of ways:
• Obtaining personal information from potential and existing people who work at the Wayside; and
• The storage and handling of personal information.
The Wayside Chapel may use this personal information to seek financial support for other activities including appeal letters as well as issues of our newsletter. This information is collected and used to communicate with potential and existing people who work at the Wayside, providing information about training, fundraising events and activities and improve engagement.
The People Manager is also responsible for the overall training and development of people who work at the Wayside.
Policy statement
Wayside Chapel does from time to time collect personal information relating to service users or people who work at the Wayside, or in the performance of its service provision, research functions or in marketing and fundraising activities. This policy outlines the guidelines that must be observed when collecting, storing and using personal and confidential information.
The Privacy Act 1998 (Cth) sets out 10 Principles to guide the collection and use of personal information. The Wayside Chapel adopts these principles:
1. Open and transparent management of personal information
2. Anonymity and pseudonymity
3. Collection of solicited personal information
4. Dealing with unsolicited personal information
5. Notification of the collection of personal information
6. Use or disclosure of personal information
7. Direct marketing
8. Cross-border disclosure of personal information
9. Adoption, use or disclosure of government related identifiers
10. Quality of personal information
11. Security of personal information
12. Access to personal information
13. Correction of personal information