Abuse, Missing Consumers and SIRS

All Australians have a right to live free from abuse and neglect, but sadly, we are all too familiar with reports of elder abuse in the community. Older people can become more vulnerable as they age, making them more susceptible to abuse… and the consequences can be devastating. 

The Serious Incident Response Scheme, or SIRS, was introduced in April 2021 for approved providers of residential aged care as an initiative to manage specific types of elder abuse.

On 1st December 2022, the Scheme was extended to include home care and flexible care delivered in a home or community setting.

Providers must do everything reasonable and possible to prevent abuse or neglect from occurring – and effectively manage incidents when they do occur.

There are two key requirements:

• Incident management and prevention obligations, and
• Requirements for notifying the Commission of reportable incidents

These reportable incidents are:

• Unreasonable use of force
• Unlawful sexual contact or inappropriate sexual conduct
• Psychological or emotional abuse
• Unexpected death
• Stealing or financial coercion
• Neglect
• Inappropriate use of restrictive practices
• Missing consumers

Altura Learning’s course ‘Abuse, Missing Consumers and SIRS’ explores different types of abuse, the responsibilities of home service providers, and their reporting obligations when serious incidents occur. 

There are two modules available now – one for all staff (45 minutes) and one for management (30 minutes).

By the end of the course, learners will be able to:

• Identify different types of abuse
• Explain what the Serious Incident Response Scheme is
• Discuss the responsibilities of staff
• Identify what a reportable incident is
• Discuss the incident management process
• Explain the SIRS reporting process (management module only)

Contact the team at Altura Learning on 02 9450 2992 to have  ‘Abuse, Missing Consumers and SIRS’ added to your Library.