Introduction

At Hireup, the safety and wellbeing of our community is important to us. We have  a dedicated Trust and Safety Team who focus on building systems that are effective at preventing incidents, issues and injuries. While we work hard to ensure that incidents are prevented, we also understand that sometimes things don't go to plan, so we have built a Detection, Investigation and Response team.

You can report an incident  by accessing our online incident report form.

Alternatively you can:

• Phone (02) 9113 5933 (8.00am - 5.30pm Monday to Friday)
• Email hello@hireup.com.au and include “incident report” in the subject. 

This statement applies to Hireup, our clients and support workers.

Principles

• Hireup is committed to responding and resolving incidents in a timely manner
• Hireup will act fairly and equitably in investigating and resolving an incident
• Hireup will accurately document the response process that is undertaken
• Hireup will operate within our core values to ensure Choice and Control and Dignity of risk are contributing factors in the incident response process
• Hireup will communicate with key stakeholders internally and externally throughout the process
• Hireup applies open disclosure principles when responding to and investigating incidents
• Hireup will consider the communication requirements of all stakeholders involved in an incident or emergency and tailor our communication accordingly.

Reporting an incident

At Hireup, an incident is any event or circumstance that causes or has the potential to cause physical or psychological injury, ill health, damage to property or any other loss. The term near-miss refers to an incident that resulted in no injury, ill health or loss occurring, but still had the potential to cause it. You can notify Hireup of an incident or near miss by using one of the following ways:

• Using our online incident report form
• Phone (02) 9113 5933 (8:00am 5:30pm Monday to Friday)
• Report a Safety Issue or Concern via our contact us page
• Email hello@hireup.com.au and include “incident report” in the subject.

If you report an incident or near miss over the phone, Hireup may request you to provide a written statement with facts and information regarding the incident.

Incidents should be reported as soon as possible and at the very latest within 24 hours of the incident occurring. 

It’s important to note that all Hireup support workers are mandatory reporters.

What happens after a report is made?

Each incident will be risk assessed and investigated in a timely and fair manner using the following procedure:

• The incident will be assigned to a member of the Hireup Detection, Investigation and Response team.
• The assigned team member will follow internal processes as outlined in the Incident Response Workbook.  
• Incidents will be subject to a triage process using the Hireup Risk Guide to assess the type and severity of the incident. Incidents will be escalated inline with the Risk Guide.
• Each step of the process will be documented.
• An investigation includes: 
  • A timeline for the investigation
  • A summary of key stakeholders
  • A list of evidence required
  • A review of our records of all people involved.
  • Communication with relevant parties to gather more details if required.
  • An action plan that details what necessary actions are required to mitigate further risks. Support options for affected parties, for example, connection to appropriate resources.
• The Head of Trust and Safety will be notified (as appropriate) if the incident increases in severity or complexity. 

Resolution

Each incident will be resolved in line with Hireup policies and procedures, NDIS guidelines and legal obligations. Hireup will ensure that the resolution is fair and proportionate to the incident. The resolution may include:

• Mediation
• Support worker performance management
• Discussion of Service Agreement and Code of Conduct obligations
• Account restriction
• Suspension or termination of a user account*
• Details of complaint reporting authorities that users can connect with.
• Once the investigation has been finalised, Hireup will communicate the outcome to you to the extent that it is appropriate for us to do so. This may include a summary of the process, confirmation as to whether the allegations were substantiated or not, confirmation on whether action has been taken in response to a substantiated policy breach (however, we will not be able to share the details of the action taken due to privacy legislation), and any steps that have been taken to prevent incidents of a similar nature in the future.

* Hireup will ensure that continuity of service is considered prior to suspending or terminating the account of a client.

Remediation

Beyond the agreed resolution, Hireup will undertake further work as required to ensure that everyone involved is supported.  This may be done by:

• Connecting users with new workers, new users seeking support or new service providers
• Ongoing checks-ins with impacted stakeholders
• Analysing our trust and safety systems and processes to identify areas for improvement.

Reportable Incidents/Issues

Hireup will meet all of the legislative and regulatory requirements and obligations for reporting notifiable incidents to the relevant authorities.