Specialist investigations: child safety, disability and aged care

Male hand leading child, trust family concept

The ability to effectively, diligently and professionally investigate allegations or complaints relating to the abuse of vulnerable people in care is essential for the education, health, human services, disability and care sector.

Participants of this course will gain an understanding of the complaints and investigation process relevant to those investigating or managing investigators of reportable conduct matters affecting children, elderly people or people with a disability. The program includes end-to-end investigations process, and is tailored to focus on the regulatory scheme or environment of your choice:

Child safety standards
Reportable conduct scheme in your state or across multiple states
NDIS reportable incidents
Aged Care Quality incidents
Client Incident Management System incident investigations
or any combination of the above. Note that courses covering a wider remit may require more than 2 days.

The course is suitable for new investigators or those with more experience, and offers a trauma-informed lens on investigations with significant focus on developing the skills to safely and sensitively interview vulnerable people, children and respondents.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the short course, participants will be able to:

Understand the applicable regulatory scheme(s) and their obligations under it
Apply definitions, standards and thresholds for the relevant schemes
Follow incident /complaint reporting and documentation procedures
Explain the role of an investigation within their legal and policy framework
Uphold procedural fairness
Manage investigation risks associated with confidentiality, support people, and evidence-gathering
Recognise and respond to risks associated with bias and conflict of interest
Review complaints or notifications to identify issues for investigation
Balance formal criteria, investigation principles and trauma-informed principles for procedural decision-making
Scope and plan investigations and communications in collaboration with others
Conduct trauma-informed interviews with diverse parties (as relevant to the regulatory scheme(s))
Identify and gather a range of sources of evidence including digital formats
Maintain investigation running sheets and logs
Draft letters and communication tools for parties
Evaluate evidence and draw findings
Report on process, evidence, analysis and findings, in accordance with regulatory requirements, investigation principles and trauma-informed principles
Engage with stakeholders, including regulators, to improve regulatory compliance and outcomes
Meet regulatory requirements including timelines, quality and practice standards

Course Overview

Duration: Two days 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM AEDT

Delivery Mode: In person or virtual workshop

Course Fees

Public classes: This course is recommended for private classes due to the broad variation in regulatory obligations of different organisations. However, you can write to us to express interest in a public cohort.

Private classes: $4,200 per day (class sizes from 4-22 learners).

Learners who enrol in our nationally accredited PSP40416 Certificate IV in Government Investigations within six months of completing this two-day course receive a (maximum) 25% discount, and may qualify for recognition of prior learning and/or credit towards the certificate. Learners wishing to take up this opportunity are advised to retain records of their attendance and their activities completed during the class.

Course Entry Requirements

Must be 18 or more years old
Must have obtained an academic level of Year 12 or above or equivalent
Must meet course prerequisites and the requirements of our enrolment process

Training dates

For a private course for 4 or more learners, please contact us directly to arrange any training dates, content, delivery location at your convenience.

If you want to undertake this course but don’t have 4 or more learners, please contact us to express your interest. We will notify you once there are enough interested learners to run a public cohort.

An important note: during 2024, all public courses will be delivered online using Zoom.

More information

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