At Maple Plan, we strive to provide an excellent, respectful and caring service, which simplifies the management of NDIS funds. In providing this service, we always seek to demonstrate our belief in the intrinsic worth of people by respecting differences, cherishing individually and nourishing dignity.
Understanding your rights and responsibilities as a participant of Maple Plan is central to our operation. The following is a statement of rights and responsibilities of all Maple Plan participants.
As a Participant of Maple Plan, you have the right to:
- be treated in a professional, courteous and caring manner that respects and appreciates differences related to race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientations, religion, personal values, age, disability, and economic or veteran status
- receive humane care and treatment, with respect and consideration
- access supports that are free from violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation or discrimination
- have your rights recognised in accordance with the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic)
- expect that your personal privacy will be respected and confidentiality protected.
- practice your culture, values, and beliefs while accessing supports
- be provided with a safe environment when you visit Maple Plan
- choose to use or not to use our service
- a prompt and efficient service. Our goal is to provide the best possible service
- receive accurate and relevant information in a timely manner
- make a complaint about the service received from Maple Plan and expect that this complaint will be investigated appropriately and in confidence without retribution
- review and amend your records with a Maple Plan representative in attendance
- access to and use of external supports such as interpreters and advocates
- actively participate in the development and provision of our services
- receive accurate information concerning claim processing
- accessible information regarding the scope and availability of services
- be informed about any legal reporting requirements
As a Participant of Maple Plan, you have an obligation to:
- be respectful of others, including Maple Plan staff and other participants
- be respectful of Maple Plan’s property
- maintain confidentiality regarding information about other participants
- provide complete and accurate information about your NDIS Plan to enable proper evaluation and processing
- ask questions to ensure an understanding of the claim process
- reschedule/cancel appointments as necessary
- submit invoice in a timely manner
Maple Plan actively supports your right to provide feedback and complain about our services. We encourage you to make a complaint if you do not like the way we do things or if you disagree with a decision we have made. Maple Plan is receptive to complaints because complaints help us make our service better for you and for other people.
We encourage you to provide feedback about our policies and procedures and the systems you use to interact with us. We strive to make our systems as accessible and user friendly as possible and would be grateful to hear any ideas you have to assist with improving the way we work.
We take all complaints seriously and we do our best to resolve them. Each complaint will be dealt with promptly and fairly and without retribution. ‘Without retribution’ means you will not lose services or be treated negatively because you make a complaint.
We will keep your complaint confidential. Only relevant people within Maple Plan will know about your complaint. We will only tell other people about your complaint if we have your permission to do so. The only time we will tell anyone about your complaint without your permission is when we believe that someone is at risk of serious harm or if we believe a criminal offence has occurred. However, this kind of situation is very unusual.
How to provide feedback or make a complaint to Maple Plan
There are many ways to make a complaint to us. You can choose the easiest way for you.
- Phone our office on 03 9512 6700 – you can speak to anyone you feel comfortable with
- Email us at feedback@mapleplan.com.au
- Write to us at PO Box 309, Chadstone Centre VIC 3148
- Complete the below form
You can also speak directly to another organisations about your complaint if you would prefer. These services are free and confidential to assist people to resolve a complaint
- National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA)
1800 800 110
https://www.ndis.gov.au/contact/feedback-and-complaints/contact-and-feedback-form
- NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
1800 035 544
https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/about/complaints-feedback/contact
- Commonwealth Ombudsman
1300 362 072
- Australian Human Rights Commissioner
1300 369 711
www.humanrights.gov.au/complaints/make-complaint
Disability Advocates
Disability advocacy is acting, speaking or writing to promote, protect and defend the human rights of people with disability. Disability advocates may advocate for themselves, another person, or a group of people with disability. They work through issues that have an adverse effect on rights for an individual or group, or on a society-wide level.
You have a right to access an advocate to assist you with your complaint, If you are looking for a disability advocacy service, you can go to the Disability Advocacy Resource Unit (DARU) website for an extensive list of service providers. http://www.daru.org.au/organisation-type/individual-advocacy
Maple Plan fosters a culture supportive of incident identification and reporting which helps ensure that we’re aware of all incidents that occur, and are working towards continuous improvement in the safety of services to people with disability and within our office environment.
Maple Plan incident reporting procedures require reporting incidents of any participant related incidents, that occur in connection with providing supports and services, in accordance with the NDIS Incident Management guidelines.
All incidents that happen in the delivery of NDIS supports and services will be recorded and managed in our incident management system. We will identify any incident and respond, including the activities undertaken to ensure the safety and wellbeing of people with disability and workers. We will appropriately assess and/or investigate all incidents.
To access the NDIS Incident Management Guidelines you can follow this link - https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/providers/provider-responsibilities/incident-management-and-reportable-incidents
If you would like a copy of our Incident Policy, please let us know.
Maple Plan Pty Ltd is committed to providing quality services to you and we respect and support your right to privacy, confidentiality and access to personal information. This policy outlines our ongoing obligations to you in respect of how we manage your Personal Information.
We have adopted the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act). The APPs govern the way in which we collect, use, disclose, store, secure and dispose of your Personal Information.
A copy of the Australian Privacy Principles may be obtained from the website of The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at https://www.oaic.gov.au/agencies-and-organisations/guides/app-quick-reference-tool
DEFINITIONS
Personal information means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable:
(a) whether the information or opinion is true or not; and whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.
Sensitive information is a special category of personal information. Sensitive information means:
(a) information or an opinion about an individual’s
(b) health information about an individual, which generally means.
POLICY
What is personal information?
Personal Information is information or an opinion that identifies an individual. Examples of Personal Information we collect include: names, addresses, email addresses, phone and facsimile numbers.
This Personal Information is obtained in many ways including interviews, correspondence, by telephone and facsimile, by email, via our website www.mapleplan.com.au and from third parties.
Why do we collect personal information?
The type of personal information that we collect and hold will depend on the nature of your involvement with Maple Plan.
We collect your Personal Information for the primary purpose of providing our services to you, providing information to you and marketing. We may also use your Personal Information for secondary purposes closely related to the primary purpose, in circumstances where you would reasonably expect such use or disclosure.
Maple Plan collects and holds a broad range of personal information in records for a variety of different purposes relating to its functions and activities including:
• providing you with services you may need
• the performance of Maple Plan’s legislative and administrative functions
• policy development, research and evaluation
• the management of contracts and agreements
• the management of audits (both internal and external)
• employment and personnel matters for Maple Plan staff and contractors (including security assessments)
• correspondence from members of the public to Maple Plan
• complaints (including privacy complaints) made and feedback provided to Maple Plan
• requests made to Maple Plan under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth)
• the provision of legal advice by internal and external lawyers.
When we collect Personal Information we will, where appropriate, explain to you why we are collecting the information and how we plan to use it. We will not ask you for any personal information which we do not need. The Privacy Act requires that we collect information for a purpose that is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, a function or activity of Maple Plan.
You may unsubscribe from our mailing/marketing lists at any time by contacting us in writing or emailing us as info@mapleplan.com.au.
Sensitive Information
Sensitive information is defined in the Privacy Act to include information or opinion about such things as an individual's racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious or philosophical beliefs, membership of a trade union or other professional body, criminal record or health information.
Sensitive information will be used by us only:
• For the primary purpose for which it was obtained
• For a secondary purpose that is directly related to the primary purpose for example an audit conducted by the NDIS Commission.
• With your consent; or where required or authorised by law.
Third Parties
Where reasonable and practicable to do so, we will collect your Personal Information only from you. However, in some circumstances we may be provided with information by third parties. In such a case we will take reasonable steps to ensure that you are made aware of the information provided to us by the third party.
Our website contains external links and applications operated by certain third parties. These external third parties may not be subject to the Privacy Act. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third parties, or the accuracy, content or security of their websites. You should examine each website's privacy policies and use your own discretion regarding use of their site.
Information obtained from Providers
Maple Plan, may, at times, need to seek information about your engagement with providers to authenticate information received.
Maple Plan will not directly seek any detailed personal or sensitive information from the provider without your prior consent.
When engaging with providers about your engagement, Maple Plan will endeavour to obtain the information that we require without enquiring about personal or sensitive details that are of no relevance to the information that we are seeking.
Consent
In all circumstances we will seek your consent prior to releasing personal information except where there is a reasonable belief that there is a serious threat to your life or safety. Please let us know if you wish to withdraw or change your consent. We will keep a copy of this request on your personal file.
In some circumstances you may not be able to give consent for your information to be used (for example, with severe illness or major injury or other impairment). In these cases, information will only be given to an authorised representative. Authorised representatives can include guardians, attorneys under enduring power of attorney, administrators under the Guardianship and Administration Act 1985, parents and agents under the Medical Treatment Act 1988.
We may be required to disclose your personal information to funding bodies in accordance with conditions stipulated in funding agreements.
In some cases, we are required by law to collect and release certain information. For example, a court or tribunal hearing.
Purposes for which personal information is collected, held, used & disclosed
Maple Plan uses and discloses personal information for the primary purposes for which it is collected with your consent and or where required or authorised by law. We will give you information about the primary purpose of collection at the time the information is collected. We will take all possible steps to ensure that information is used and disclosed in accordance with your expectations. Maple Plan will only use your personal information for secondary purposes where it is able to do so in accordance with the Privacy Act.
In conducting our operations, we may share some of your personal information with third parties such as outsourced service providers and contractors. Unless you have agreed (or the consent of a parent or guardian has been obtained), these parties are not allowed to use your personal information for any other purpose except to assist in conducting our operations.
Security of Personal Information
Your Personal Information is stored in a manner that reasonably protects it from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
When your Personal Information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify your Personal Information. However, most of the Personal Information is or will be stored in client files which will be kept by us for a minimum of 7 years.
Accidental and unauthorised disclosure of personal information
In the unlikely event of accidental or unauthorised disclosure of personal information, we will deal promptly with the situation by containing it to prevent any further compromise of information. The circumstances will be investigated and managed to mitigate any further risk.
If the breach is considered to be serious (referred to as an eligible data breach), we will notify all relevant parties, including the Australian Information Commissioner as required under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme, review the incident and take any additional action necessary to prevent future breaches. We will endeavour to learn from incidents to improve how your information is handled.
For further information on how Maple Plan responds to data breaches please refer to the OAIC’s Data breach notification — A guide to handling personal information security breaches.
Access to your Personal Information
You may access the Personal Information we hold about you and to update and/or correct it, subject to certain exceptions. If you wish to access your Personal Information, please contact us by emailing info@mapleplan.com.au or call us on 03 9512 6700. Maple Plan Pty Ltd will not charge any fee for your access request, but may charge an administrative fee for providing a copy of your Personal Information. In order to protect your Personal Information we may require identification from you before releasing the requested information.
Maintaining the Quality of your Personal Information
It is an important to us that your Personal Information is up to date. We will take reasonable steps to make sure that your Personal Information is accurate, complete and up-to-date. If you find that the information we have is not up to date or is inaccurate, please advise us as soon as practicable so we can update our records and ensure we can continue to provide quality services to you.
Policy Updates
This Policy may change from time to time and is available on our website. If you wish to access this Policy in an alternative format (e.g. hard copy), please contact Maple Plan. This Policy is available free of charge.
Privacy Policy Complaints and Enquiries
If you have any queries or complaints about our Privacy Policy or about the way your information is being managed, please contact us at:
Maple Plan Pty Ltd
Phone: 03 9512 6700
E-mail: info@mapleplan.com.au
We will investigate any complaint and will notify the complainant of any decision in relation to the complaint as soon as practicable.
If you are not satisfied with the response you can refer the complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
You can also make a complaint to:
1. The NDIS Commission by:
• Phoning: 1800 035 544 (free call from landlines) or TTY 133 677.
• National Relay Service and ask for 1800 035 544.
2. The Office of the Disability Services Commissioner by phoning 1800 677 342.
