Is it OK? Duty of care, law & ethics in NSW youth work:
A guide to common legal and ethical dilemmas
(2006) by Nick Manning
contents list
You can drive a young person somewhere, while you are on duty, if your agency allows it.
Your agency policy should put in place procedures or limitations to minimise the risk of violence against you.
If you are concerned about driving young people because of the possibility of a false allegation against you, your agency should negotiate with you to try to address these concerns.
Consent to drive a young person?
There is no legal or insurance requirement to get a parent's consent to drive a young person as part of a youth worker's work duties, eg. to take them to Centrelink, or to drive them home. The young person's own consent is sufficient.
Your legal duties in NSW are:
- to use a registered vehicle with CTP (green slip) insurance
- to be licensed for that vehicle
- to follow the road rules (including seat belt rules for all passengers)
- to fulfil your duty of care as a driver: take reasonable care in the circumstances
- to make sure nobody smokes in the vehicle (see Smoking: Law and policy for NSW youth services - link below).
If you have good reason to suspect that the young person may be an unsafe passenger (eg. not wear seatbelt, try to get out of a moving vehicle, seriously distract the driver), you should take reasonable care to reduce or manage this risk.
If you provide information to parents about your services, you should mention in that information that you drive young people to nearby locations as required. There is an example in the Model policies: Duty of Care Statement (link below).
For driving a young person on an excursion or camp, get appropriate consent for that activity. See the Model policies: Excursions and Camps (link below).
Drive a young person home?
There is no law:
- requiring youth services to provide transport home, or
- stopping you from driving a young person home.
Legally you do not need a parent's consent to drive a young person to their home.
While on duty
Driving a young person to their home while on duty is OK ethically, but check if your agency policy allows it.
While off duty
Driving a young person who uses your agency to their home while off duty is generally unethical (there are exceptions though). The same issues apply as with any other form of contact outside of work (see Is it OK... to have contact with a young person outside of work in Professional Boundaries).
While on your way home from work
On your way home from work you are normally off duty. Therefore it might be seen as unethical to drive a young person home on your own way home. However it is probably OK if your agency policy specifically allows for this situation, and appropriate safety procedures and professional boundary policies apply.
Should you drive them home for their own safety?
See Is it OK... your responsibility after clients leave your premises in Safety.
More information
Model policies on working with young people, for non-residential youth services in NSW www.yapa.org.au/youthwork/modelpolicies:
- Excursions and Camps in Part 1: Activities & services
- Vehicles, in Part 7: Safety
- Duty of Care Statement, in Part 7: Safety
Other resources:
-
Smoking: Law & policy for NSW youth services
www.yapa.org.au/youthwork/facts/smoking.php - Alcohol & illegal drugs: Law & policy for NSW youth services
www.yapa.org.au/youthwork/facts/alcohol.pdf (293KB PDF)
Published: 2006. Opinions are the author's and not necessarily YAPA's.
Applicable to NSW youth services (non-government agencies & local councils) providing accommodation, welfare, social or recreation services to young people. May not be consistent with laws and guidelines in, schools, out-of-home care or health services. "young people" - aged roughly 12-25 years old (unless stated otherwise).
Be careful! YAPA and the author took reasonable care to ensure that this information is correct. However government regulations, laws and standards are complex and changing constantly. The author/s have no health, occupational health and safety, or legal qualifications (unless stated), and information provided is general - it is not specific legal or professional advice. Do not rely on it - check with other publications and authorities and if necessary get qualified legal or professional advice for your situation.
Copyright 2006 Nick Manning. You can: a) quote small amounts of text if you acknowledge the author, publisher, web address & date; b) print out multiple copies of this web page but only if you print the whole web page. No other use permitted without prior consent. Do not put large amounts or all of the text in any other document, including: a policy & procedure manual; a presentation (eg. Powerpoint); a training/learning resource book (eg. for TAFE); a web page. Copyright and training enquiries: nmanning@pnc.com.au
