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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Queensland
Health and Other Legislation
Amendment Bill 2007
Queensland
Health and Other Legislation Amendment
Bill 2007
Contents
Page
Part 1 Preliminary
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2 Commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Part 2 Amendment of Health Services Act 1991
3 Act amended in pt 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4 Amendment of s 2 (Definitions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
5 Insertion of new pt 4B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Part 4B Root cause analyses
Division 1 Preliminary
38G Definitions for pt 4B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
38H Meaning of root cause analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
38I Purpose of pt 4B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
38J Guiding principles for conduct of RCA of reportable
event ............................... 11
Division 2 RCA teams
38K Appointment of RCA team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
38L Requirements for appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Division 3 Reporting
38M RCA team's report and chain of events document . . . 13
38N Reporting to commissioning authority . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Division 4 Stopping conduct of RCA of reportable event
38O Definition for div 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
38P Stopping conduct of RCA of reportable event--RCA
team ................................ 14
38Q Stopping conduct of RCA of reportable
event--commissioning authority ........... 15
Division 5 Disclosure or release of information
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Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
38R Definition for div 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
38S Disclosure of information--RCA team member or
relevant person. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
38T Disclosure of information--commissioning authority
or relevant person. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
38U Release of information to Health Quality and
Complaints Commission. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
38V Release of information to chief health officer . . . . . . . 20
38W Release of information by chief health officer to
Health Quality and Complaints Commission . . . . . . . 20
38X Giving of copy of RCA report or chain of events
document--patient safety entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
38Y Giving of copy of RCA report etc.--investigation
under the Coroners Act 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
38Z Giving of information to Minister or chief executive . . 24
38ZA Giving of copy of, or information contained in, RCA
report--person who has sufficient personal or
professional interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
38ZB Information not to be given in evidence . . . . . . . . . . . 25
38ZC Information-provider can not be compelled to give
particular information in evidence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Division 6 Protections
38ZD Protection from liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
38ZE Giving of information protected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
38ZF Reprisal and grounds for reprisals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
38ZG Offence for taking reprisal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
38ZH Damages entitlement for reprisal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Division 7 Miscellaneous
38ZI Delegation by chief executive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
38ZJ Application of provisions of this part. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
38ZK RCA report not admissible in evidence . . . . . . . . . . . 30
38ZL Review of pt 4B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
6 Amendment of s 63 (Functions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
7 Amendment of ss 63K, 63R, 63S, 63ZB, 63ZC, 63ZD and 63ZF. 31
8 Insertion of new pt 7B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Part 7B Proceedings
63ZK Summary offences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
63ZL Limitation on time for starting proceedings for
summary offence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
63ZM Proceedings for indictable offences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
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Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
63ZN Limitation on who may summarily hear indictable
offence .............................. 33
9 Amendment of s 68 (Regulations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Part 3 Amendment of Mental Health Act 2000--Mental Health
Court
10 Act amended in pt 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
11 Amendment of s 381 (Mental Health Court established) . . . . . . . 34
12 Amendment of s 382 (Constitution) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
13 Replacement of ch 11, pt 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
385 Appointment of a member of Mental Health Court . . . 35
386 Appointment does not affect judge's tenure
of office etc. ............................ 35
387 When judge's office ends etc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
388 President of Mental Health Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
388A Arrangement of business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
388B President of Mental Health Court holds office while a
member of court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
388C Resignation of office. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
388D Appointment of acting president of Mental Health
Court ............................ 37
14 Amendment of s 398 (Registrar's powers--general) . . . . . . . . . . 37
15 Insertion of new s 415A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
415A What happens if a member of Mental Health Court
dies or is incapacitated. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
16 Amendment of s 416 (Contempt of court) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
17 Amendment of s 418 (Protection and immunities for constituting
judge of Mental Health Court ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
18 Amendment of s 419 (Rule-making power) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
19 Amendment of s 420 (Directions about practice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
20 Amendment of s 421 (Approved forms--constituting judge) . . . . 39
21 Amendment of s 435 (Annual report) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
22 Amendment of s 493 (Approved forms) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
23 Amendment of ch 16, pt 2, hdg (Transitional provisions) . . . . . . . 40
24 Amendment of s 583 (Appeals against Patient Review Tribunal
decisions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
25 Insertion of new ch 11, pt 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
589 Definitions for pt 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
590 Constituting judge taken to be a member of Mental
Health Court etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
591 Rules relating to Mental Health Court . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
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Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
592 Directions about practice and procedure of Mental
Health Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
593 Approved forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
26 Amendment of sch 2 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Part 4 Amendment of Mental Health Act 2000--other amendments
27 Act amended in pt 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
28 Amendment of s 4 (Purpose of Act) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
29 Amendment of s 5 (How purpose of Act is to be achieved) . . . . . 42
30 Amendment of s 223 (Restriction on making notification order). . 43
31 Amendment of s 228B (Tribunal may make non-contact order) . . 43
32 Amendment of s 228C (Restrictions on making non-contact
order) ......................................... 44
33 Amendment of ch 7, pt 6, div 6, hdg (Material submitted by
non-parties) ................................ 44
34 Amendment of s 284 (Submission and consideration of
relevant material by non-party). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
35 Replacement of s 285 (Reasons for decision about non-party
material) ...................................... 46
285 Reasons for decision about material submitted by
victim or concerned person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
36 Insertion of new s 286A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
286A Notice about material submitted by victim or
concerned person. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
37 Amendment of s 313B (Mental Health Court may make
non-contact order) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
38 Amendment of s 313C (Restrictions on making non-contact
order) ...................................... 47
39 Amendment of s 426 (Confidentiality orders) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
40 Amendment of s 450 (Right of appearance--reviews) . . . . . . . . . 48
41 Amendment of s 464 (Submission and consideration of relevant
material by non-party) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
42 Amendment of s 465 (Reasons for decision about non-party
material) ................................. 50
43 Amendment of sch 2 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Part 5 Amendment of Tobacco and Other Smoking Products Act
1998
44 Act amended in pt 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
45 Amendment of s 26W (Meaning of outdoor eating or drinking
place) ...................................... 51
46 Insertion of new s 26ZPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
26ZPA Sale, supply and display of ice pipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
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Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
47 Replacement of s 26ZQ (Production, sale or public display of
cannabis utensils) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
26ZQ Sale, supply and display of bongs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
26ZQA Display of hookahs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
48 Amendment of schedule (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Part 6 Amendment of Ambulance Service Act 1991
49 Act amended in pt 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
50 Insertion of new pt 4A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Part 4A Root cause analyses
Division 1 Preliminary
36A Definitions for pt 4A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
36B Meaning of root cause analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
36C Purpose of pt 4A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
36D Guiding principles for conduct of RCA of reportable
event .............................. 58
Division 2 RCA teams
36E Appointment of RCA team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
36F Requirements for appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Division 3 Reporting
36G RCA team's report and chain of events document . . . 60
36H Reporting to commissioning authority . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Division 4 Stopping conduct of RCA of reportable event
36I Definition for div 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
36J Stopping conduct of RCA of reportable event--RCA
team ................................. 61
36K Stopping conduct of RCA of reportable
event--commissioning authority ......... 62
Division 5 Disclosure or release of information
36L Definitions for div 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
36M Disclosure of information--RCA team member or
relevant person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
36N Disclosure of information--commissioning authority
or relevant person. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
36O Release of information to Health Quality and
Complaints Commission. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
36P Giving of copy of RCA report or chain of events
document--medical director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
36Q Giving of copy of RCA report etc.--investigation
under the Coroners Act 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
36R Giving of information to Minister or chief executive . . 69
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Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
36S Giving of copy of, or information contained in, RCA
report--person who has sufficient personal or
professional interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
36T Information not to be given in evidence . . . . . . . . . . . 70
36U Information-provider can not be compelled to give
particular information in evidence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Division 6 Protections
36V Protection from liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
36W Giving of information protected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
36X Reprisal and grounds for reprisals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
36Y Offence for taking reprisal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
36Z Damages entitlement for reprisal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Division 7 Miscellaneous
36ZA Application of provisions of this part. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
36ZB RCA report not admissible in evidence . . . . . . . . . . . 74
36ZC Review of pt 4A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
51 Amendment of s 50 (Proceedings for offences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
52 Insertion of new ss 50A and 50B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
50A Proceedings for indictable offences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
50B Limitation on who may summarily hear indictable
offence ............................. 76
53 Amendment of s 54 (Regulation-making power) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
54 Amendment of schedule (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Part 7 Amendment of Freedom of Information Act 1992
55 Act amended in pt 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
56 Insertion of new s 11CA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
11CA Application of Act to particular documents under the
Ambulance Service Act 1991 or the Health Services
Act 1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
2007
A Bill
for
An Act to amend Acts administered by the Minister for Health
and the Ambulance Service Act 1991, and for other purposes
s1 8 s4
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
Part 1 Preliminary 2
Clause 1 Short title 3
This Act may be cited as the Health and Other Legislation 4
Amendment Act 2007. 5
Clause 2 Commencement 6
This Act commences on a day to be fixed by proclamation. 7
Part 2 Amendment of Health Services 8
Act 1991 9
Clause 3 Act amended in pt 2 10
This part amends the Health Services Act 1991. 11
Clause 4 Amendment of s 2 (Definitions) 12
Section 2-- 13
insert-- 14
`applicable provisions, for part 7A, see section 63. 15
blameworthy act, for part 4B, division 4, see section 38O. 16
chain of events document, for part 4B, see section 38G. 17
commissioning authority, for part 4B, see section 38G. 18
coroner, for part 4B, see section 38G. 19
health service facility, for part 4B, see section 38G. 20
information, for part 4B, division 5, see section 38R. 21
s5 9 s5
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
notice, for part 4B, see section 38G. 1
private health facility, for part 4B, see section 38G. 2
RCA report, for part 4B, see section 38G. 3
RCA team see section 38G. 4
relevant person, for part 4B, see section 38G. 5
reportable event see section 38G. 6
reprisal means a reprisal as mentioned in section 38ZF(3). 7
root cause analysis or RCA see section 38H. 8
takes a reprisal means the taking of a reprisal as mentioned in 9
section 38ZF(3).'. 10
Clause 5 Insertion of new pt 4B 11
Before part 5-- 12
insert-- 13
`Part 4B Root cause analyses 14
`Division 1 Preliminary 15
`38G Definitions for pt 4B 16
`In this part-- 17
chain of events document see section 38M(2). 18
commissioning authority see section 38K. 19
coroner see the Coroners Act 2003, schedule 2. 20
health service facility means-- 21
(a) a public sector health service facility; or 22
(b) a private health facility; or 23
(c) the Mater Misericordiae Public Hospitals. 24
notice means written notice. 25
private health facility see the Private Health Facilities Act 26
1999, section 8. 27
s5 10 s5
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
RCA report see section 38M(1). 1
RCA team means a group of persons appointed under section 2
38K. 3
relevant person-- 4
(a) for a commissioning authority, means a person who 5
provides administrative or secretarial services to the 6
commissioning authority to help it exercise its powers 7
under this part; or 8
(b) for an RCA team, means a person-- 9
(i) who provides administrative or secretarial services 10
to the RCA team; or 11
(ii) who advises the RCA team about-- 12
(A) conducting an RCA of a reportable event; or 13
(B) preparing an RCA report or chain of events 14
document for a reportable event. 15
reportable event-- 16
(a) generally--means an event prescribed under a 17
regulation that happens while a health service is being 18
provided at a health service facility; or 19
(b) in relation to an RCA report or chain of events 20
document, means the reportable event to which the 21
report or document relates. 22
`38H Meaning of root cause analysis 23
`(1) Root cause analysis or RCA, of a reportable event, means a 24
systematic process of analysis under which-- 25
(a) factors that contributed to the happening of the event 26
may be identified; and 27
(b) remedial measures that could be implemented to prevent 28
a recurrence of a similar event may be identified. 29
`(2) However, a root cause analysis or RCA of a reportable event 30
does not include-- 31
(a) investigating the professional competence of a person in 32
relation to the event; or 33
s5 11 s5
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
(b) finding out who is to blame for the happening of the 1
event. 2
`38I Purpose of pt 4B 3
`The purpose of this part is to facilitate the use of root cause 4
analyses by health service facilities as a quality improvement 5
technique to assess and respond to reportable events that 6
happen while health services are being provided at the 7
facilities. 8
`38J Guiding principles for conduct of RCA of reportable 9
event 10
`The principles intended to guide the conduct of an RCA of a 11
reportable event are the following-- 12
(a) reporting and acknowledging errors happening while a 13
health service is being provided at a health service 14
facility is encouraged if people do not fear blame or 15
reprisal; 16
(b) people involved in providing health services should be 17
accountable for their actions; 18
(c) the focus of the RCA should be on identifying and 19
improving the policies, procedures or practices relating 20
to the provision of the health service that contributed to 21
the happening of the event, rather than on the conduct of 22
individuals; 23
(d) participation in the RCA should be voluntary; 24
(e) the benefits of conducting the RCA will be 25
maximised-- 26
(i) in an environment oriented towards learning from 27
analysing the event; and 28
(ii) if the RCA is conducted in a timely way; 29
(f) teamwork, good communication and sharing of 30
information by people involved in providing health 31
services should be fostered. 32
s5 12 s5
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`Division 2 RCA teams 1
`38K Appointment of RCA team 2
`Each of the following persons (a commissioning authority) 3
may appoint persons to be members of an RCA team to 4
conduct an RCA of a reportable event-- 5
(a) if the event happens while a public sector health service 6
is being provided--the chief executive; 7
(b) if the event happens while a health service is being 8
provided at a private health facility--the individual who 9
has the day-to-day management of the facility or the 10
individual who has overall management responsibility 11
for the facility; 12
(c) if the event happens while a health service is being 13
provided at the Mater Misericordiae Public 14
Hospitals--the individual who has the day-to-day 15
management of the Mater Misericordiae Public 16
Hospitals or the chief executive of Mater Misericordiae 17
Health Services Brisbane Limited ACN 096 708 922. 18
`38L Requirements for appointment 19
`(1) Before appointing persons to be members of an RCA team to 20
conduct an RCA of a reportable event, the commissioning 21
authority proposing to make the appointment must be satisfied 22
that-- 23
(a) the persons-- 24
(i) have the appropriate skills, knowledge and 25
experience to conduct an RCA of the event, having 26
regard to the nature of the event; and 27
(ii) were not directly involved in providing the health 28
service at a health service facility during the 29
provision of which the event happened; and 30
(b) the conduct of an RCA of the event would be helped by 31
the provision of immunities and protections provided to 32
persons under divisions 5 and 6; and 33
s5 13 s5
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
(c) the potential benefit in disclosing relevant information is 1
outweighed by the potential benefit of restricting 2
disclosure of the information under division 5. 3
`(2) In this section-- 4
relevant information means information that will be 5
compiled by the proposed RCA team in the conduct of an 6
RCA of the reportable event. 7
`Division 3 Reporting 8
`38M RCA team's report and chain of events document 9
`(1) An RCA team must, as soon as practicable after conducting 10
an RCA of a reportable event, prepare a report (the RCA 11
report) stating the following-- 12
(a) a description of the event; 13
(b) a statement of the factors the RCA team considers 14
contributed to the happening of the event; 15
(c) any recommendations about changes or improvements 16
in a policy, procedure or practice relating to the 17
provision of health services, to reduce the likelihood of, 18
or prevent, the same type of event happening again 19
during the provision of health services. 20
`(2) In addition to the RCA report, the RCA team may prepare a 21
document (the chain of events document) that details, or 22
pictorially represents, the chain of events identified by the 23
RCA team as having led to the happening of the reportable 24
event. 25
`(3) The RCA report or chain of events document must not contain
the name or address of-- 26
(a) a person involved in providing the relevant health 27
service; or 28
(b) the person who received the relevant health service; or 29
(c) a member of the RCA team. 30
`(4) In this section-- 31
s5 14 s5
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
relevant health service means the health service during the 1
provision of which the reportable event happened. 2
`38N Reporting to commissioning authority 3
`(1) The RCA team must, as soon as practicable after preparing 4
the RCA report, give the report to the commissioning 5
authority that appointed the RCA team members. 6
`(2) If the RCA team prepares a chain of events document for the 7
reportable event, it must at the time of giving the RCA report 8
under subsection (1) also give the document to the 9
commissioning authority. 10
`Division 4 Stopping conduct of RCA of 11
reportable event 12
`38O Definition for div 4 13
`In this division-- 14
blameworthy act means any of the following-- 15
(a) an intentionally unsafe act; 16
(b) deliberate patient abuse; 17
(c) conduct that constitutes a criminal offence. 18
`38P Stopping conduct of RCA of reportable event--RCA 19
team 20
`(1) This section applies if, while conducting an RCA of a 21
reportable event, the RCA team conducting the RCA 22
reasonably believes-- 23
(a) the event involves a blameworthy act; or 24
(b) the capacity of a person who was directly involved in 25
providing the relevant health service to safely and 26
effectively provide the service was impaired by alcohol 27
consumed, or a drug taken, by the person. 28
`(2) The RCA team must-- 29
s5 15 s5
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
(a) stop conducting the RCA; and 1
(b) give notice to the commissioning authority that 2
appointed the RCA team members that the RCA team 3
has stopped conducting the RCA. 4
`(3) For subsection (2)(b), the notice-- 5
(a) must be in the form approved by the chief executive; and 6
(b) must not contain any information about why the RCA 7
team stopped conducting the RCA. 8
`(4) In this section-- 9
relevant health service means the health service during the 10
provision of which the reportable event happened. 11
`38Q Stopping conduct of RCA of reportable 12
event--commissioning authority 13
`(1) This section applies if-- 14
(a) persons have been appointed to be members of an RCA 15
team to conduct an RCA of a reportable event; and 16
(b) the commissioning authority that appointed the RCA 17
team members-- 18
(i) receives information that leads the commissioning 19
authority to reasonably believe-- 20
(A) the event involves a blameworthy act; or 21
(B) the capacity of a person who was directly 22
involved in providing the relevant health 23
service to safely and effectively provide the 24
service was impaired by alcohol consumed, 25
or a drug taken, by the person; or 26
(ii) becomes aware that a relevant entity has started an 27
investigation or assessment of, or enquiry into, the 28
event; or 29
(iii) later comes to the view that the event the basis of 30
the appointment is not a reportable event. 31
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Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`(2) If subsection (1)(b)(i) or (iii) applies, the commissioning 1
authority must, by notice given to the RCA team, direct it to 2
stop conducting the RCA. 3
`(3) If subsection (1)(b)(ii) applies, the commissioning authority 4
may, by notice given to the RCA team, direct it to stop 5
conducting the RCA. 6
`(4) For subsection (2) or (3), the notice given to the RCA team 7
must be in the form approved by the chief executive. 8
`(5) Before acting under subsection (3), the commissioning 9
authority may consult with any relevant entity. 10
`(6) In this section-- 11
relevant entity means-- 12
(a) the Health Quality and Complaints Commission; or 13
(b) a coroner; or 14
(c) a board under the Health Practitioner (Professional 15
Standards) Act 1999; or 16
(d) the Queensland Nursing Council; or 17
(e) the commissioner of the police service; or 18
(f) another entity that has the power under an Act of the 19
State, the Commonwealth or another State to deal with 20
the event. 21
relevant health service means the health service during the 22
provision of which the reportable event happened. 23
`Division 5 Disclosure or release of information 24
`38R Definition for div 5 25
`In this division-- 26
information includes a document. 27
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Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`38S Disclosure of information--RCA team member or 1
relevant person 2
`(1) A person who is or was a member of an RCA team must not 3
disclose to someone else information acquired by the person 4
as a member of the RCA team, other than for the purpose (an 5
authorised purpose) of-- 6
(a) the RCA team conducting an RCA of a reportable event; 7
or 8
(b) the RCA team preparing an RCA report or chain of 9
events document; or 10
(c) the RCA team giving the commissioning authority that 11
appointed the RCA team members-- 12
(i) an RCA report or chain of events document under 13
section 38N; or 14
(ii) a notice under section 38P; or 15
(d) the RCA team complying with a requirement of an 16
inspector made of the RCA team in the performance of 17
the inspector's functions under section 63. 18
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 19
`(2) Also, a person who is or was a relevant person for an RCA 20
team must not disclose to someone else information acquired 21
by the person as a relevant person for the RCA team, other 22
than for an authorised purpose. 23
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 24
`(3) If information that may be disclosed under subsection (1) or 25
(2) for an authorised purpose is information to which section 26
62A(1)1 applies, the information is for the purposes of section 27
62B2 information that is expressly required or permitted to be 28
given under this Act. 29
`(4) In this section-- 30
information includes-- 31
(a) the identity of a member of the RCA team; and 32
1 Section 62A (Confidentiality)
2 Section 62B (Disclosure required or permitted by law)
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Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
(b) information from which a member of the RCA team 1
could be identified. 2
`38T Disclosure of information--commissioning authority 3
or relevant person 4
`(1) A person who is or was a commissioning authority must not 5
disclose to someone else information contained in an RCA 6
report or chain of events document, or give someone else a 7
copy of an RCA report or chain of events document, received 8
by the person under section 38N, other than-- 9
(a) as required or permitted under sections 38U to 38ZA; or 10
(b) as permitted under subsection (2). 11
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 12
`(2) A commissioning authority may give a safety and quality 13
report prepared by the commissioning authority to-- 14
(a) an individual involved in providing a health service at 15
the health service facility to which the report relates; or 16
(b) an entity with responsibilities for the management of 17
patient safety initiatives and programs for the health 18
service facility. 19
`(3) Also, a person who is or was a commissioning authority must 20
not disclose to someone else-- 21
(a) the identity of a member of an RCA team appointed by 22
the commissioning authority; or 23
(b) information from which a member of the RCA team 24
could be identified. 25
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 26
`(4) Subsections (1) and (3) do not apply to-- 27
(a) the disclosure of information by a commissioning 28
authority that is necessary or incidental to the exercise 29
by the commissioning authority of its powers under this 30
part; or 31
(b) the disclosure of information by a person in compliance 32
with a requirement of an inspector made of the person in 33
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Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
the performance of the inspector's functions under 1
section 63. 2
`(5) Also, a person who is or was a relevant person for a 3
commissioning authority must not disclose to someone else 4
information acquired by the person as a relevant person for the 5
commissioning authority. 6
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 7
`(6) Subsection (5) does not apply to-- 8
(a) the disclosure of information by a relevant person for a 9
commissioning authority for the purpose of helping the 10
commissioning authority exercise its powers under this 11
part; or 12
(b) the disclosure of information by a person in compliance 13
with a requirement of an inspector made of the person in 14
the performance of the inspector's functions under 15
section 63. 16
`(7) If information that may be disclosed under this section is 17
information to which section 62A(1)3 applies, the information 18
is for the purposes of section 62B4 information that is 19
expressly required or permitted to be given under this Act. 20
`(8) This section does not authorise the attachment of a copy of an 21
RCA report or chain of events document to a safety and 22
quality report. 23
`(9) In this section-- 24
safety and quality report means a report about the safety and 25
quality of the health service to which an RCA report relates 26
that is based on information contained in the RCA report. 27
`38U Release of information to Health Quality and 28
Complaints Commission 29
`(1) A commissioning authority must, as soon as practicable after 30
receiving an RCA report under section 38N, give the Health 31
Quality and Complaints Commission-- 32
3 Section 62A (Confidentiality)
4 Section 62B (Disclosure required or permitted by law)
s5 20 s5
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
(a) a copy of the report; and 1
(b) details of the name and address of the health service 2
facility at which the reportable event happened. 3
`(2) The commissioning authority need not comply with 4
subsection (1) if there is an agreement in force under section 5
38W relating to the report and details. 6
`38V Release of information to chief health officer 7
`(1) This section applies if a commissioning authority receives an 8
RCA report under section 38N and the reportable event 9
happened at a private health facility. 10
`(2) The commissioning authority must, as soon as practicable 11
after receiving the report, give the following to the chief 12
health officer-- 13
(a) a copy of the report; 14
(b) details of the name and address of the private health 15
facility. 16
`38W Release of information by chief health officer to 17
Health Quality and Complaints Commission 18
`(1) This section applies if-- 19
(a) a commissioning authority complies with section 20
38V(2); and 21
(b) the authority has a written agreement with the chief 22
health officer under which the chief health officer is 23
authorised to give a copy of the RCA report and details 24
mentioned in the subsection to the Health Quality and 25
Complaints Commission. 26
`(2) The chief health officer must as soon as practicable give a 27
copy of the RCA report and details to the Health Quality and 28
Complaints Commission. 29
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Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`38X Giving of copy of RCA report or chain of events 1
document--patient safety entity 2
`(1) If authorised by the chief executive to do so, a commissioning 3
authority must give a copy of each RCA report or chain of 4
events document received by the commissioning authority 5
under section 38N to a prescribed patient safety entity for an 6
authorised purpose for the entity. 7
Example for subsection (1)-- 8
If an authorisation is given under subsection (1) to a commissioning 9
authority, and an authorised purpose for a prescribed patient safety 10
entity is the use of information contained in RCA reports to prepare an 11
annual report containing aggregated data about reportable events that 12
happened at health service facilities, the authority must give a copy of 13
each RCA report received by the authority under section 38N to the 14
entity for the authorised purpose. 15
`(2) The chief executive, acting in the capacity of a commissioning 16
authority, may give a copy of each RCA report or chain of 17
events document received by the chief executive under section 18
38N to a prescribed patient safety entity for an authorised 19
purpose for the entity. 20
`(3) At the time of giving a copy of an RCA report or chain of 21
events document to an entity under subsection (1) or (2), the 22
commissioning authority must also give the entity-- 23
(a) details of the reportable event; and 24
(b) details of the name and address of the health service 25
facility at which the event happened. 26
`(4) A person who performs functions for the entity-- 27
(a) must not give a copy of the report or document to 28
anyone else; and 29
(b) must not disclose any information contained in the copy 30
of the report or document, or information mentioned in 31
subsection (3), to anyone else other than for the 32
authorised purpose for which the copy of the report or 33
document was given; and 34
(c) must not use the copy of the report or document, and the 35
information mentioned in subsection (3), other than for 36
the authorised purpose for which the copy of the report 37
or document was given. 38
s5 22 s5
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 1
`(5) An authorised purpose mentioned in subsection (4)(b) or (c) 2
does not include the disclosure of information contained in the 3
copy of the RCA report or chain of events document, or 4
information mentioned in subsection (3), that may lead to the 5
identification of-- 6
(a) a person involved in providing the relevant health 7
service; or 8
(b) the person who received the relevant health service. 9
`(6) In this section-- 10
authorised purpose, for a prescribed patient safety entity, 11
means a purpose prescribed under a regulation for the entity 12
that relates to the entity's responsibilities. 13
patient safety entity means an entity whose responsibilities 14
include the planning, implementation, management and 15
evaluation of patient safety initiatives and programs for a 16
health service facility. 17
prescribed patient safety entity means a patient safety entity 18
prescribed under a regulation for the health service facility at 19
which the reportable event happened. 20
relevant health service means the health service during the 21
provision of which the reportable event happened. 22
`38Y Giving of copy of RCA report etc.--investigation 23
under the Coroners Act 2003 24
`(1) This section applies if-- 25
(a) a coroner is investigating the death of a person; and 26
(b) the death is a reportable event that happened while a 27
health service was being provided at a health service 28
facility. 29
`(2) This section also applies if-- 30
(a) a coroner is investigating the death of a person; and 31
(b) the coroner considers that a reportable event that 32
happened while a health service was being provided to 33
s5 23 s5
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
the person at a health service facility may be relevant to 1
the investigation; and 2
(c) the event is not the death. 3
`(3) If the coroner, or a police officer helping the coroner to 4
investigate the death, asks a commissioning authority for the 5
health service facility whether an RCA team has conducted or 6
is conducting an RCA of the reportable event, the 7
commissioning authority must respond to the query as soon as 8
practicable. 9
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 10
`(4) Subsection (5) applies if-- 11
(a) an RCA of the reportable event has been conducted by 12
an RCA team; and 13
(b) an RCA report relating to the event has been given, 14
under section 38N, to the commissioning authority that 15
appointed the RCA team members; and 16
(c) the commissioning authority has under subsection (3) 17
received a query from the coroner or a police officer 18
helping the coroner to investigate the death. 19
`(5) The commissioning authority must-- 20
(a) if the commissioning authority received the report 21
before receiving the query under subsection (3)--give a 22
copy of the report to the coroner or police officer as 23
soon as practicable after receiving the query; or 24
(b) if the commissioning authority had not received the 25
report before receiving the query under subsection 26
(3)--give a copy of the report to the coroner or police 27
officer as soon as practicable after receiving the report. 28
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 29
`(6) Subsection (7) applies if-- 30
(a) an RCA has been started by an RCA team in relation to 31
the reportable event; and 32
(b) the RCA team has, under section 38P(2) or 38Q(2) or 33
(3), stopped conducting the RCA; and 34
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Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
(c) the commissioning authority has under subsection (3) 1
received a query from the coroner or a police officer 2
helping the coroner to investigate the death. 3
`(7) The commissioning authority must-- 4
(a) if the RCA team stopped conducting the RCA before the 5
commissioning authority received the query under 6
subsection (3)--give the coroner or police officer a stop 7
notice as soon as practicable after receiving the query; 8
or 9
(b) otherwise--give the coroner or police officer a stop 10
notice as soon as practicable. 11
`(8) In this section-- 12
stop notice means a notice stating-- 13
(a) if the RCA team stopped conducting the RCA under 14
section 38P(2)--that fact; or 15
(b) if the RCA team stopped conducting the RCA because 16
of a direction given by the commissioning authority 17
under section 38Q(2) or (3)-- 18
(i) that fact; and 19
(ii) the reasons for giving the direction. 20
`38Z Giving of information to Minister or chief executive 21
`(1) The Minister or chief executive may, in relation to an RCA of 22
a reportable event, ask a commissioning authority-- 23
(a) whether an RCA report has been received by the 24
authority under section 38N; and 25
(b) if an RCA report has been received by the authority 26
under section 38N--for a copy of the report. 27
`(2) The authority must comply with the request as soon as 28
practicable. 29
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 30
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Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`38ZA Giving of copy of, or information contained in, RCA 1
report--person who has sufficient personal or 2
professional interest 3
`A commissioning authority may give a copy of an RCA 4
report received by the commissioning authority under section 5
38N, or information contained in the report, to a person who 6
the commissioning authority reasonably believes has a 7
sufficient personal or professional interest in the reportable 8
event. 9
`38ZB Information not to be given in evidence 10
`(1) A stated person is neither competent nor compellable-- 11
(a) to produce in a proceeding, or in compliance with a 12
requirement under an Act or legal process, any 13
document in the person's possession or under the 14
person's control created-- 15
(i) by, or at the request of, a person under this part; or 16
(ii) solely for the conduct of an RCA of a reportable 17
event; or 18
(b) to divulge or communicate in a proceeding, or in 19
compliance with a requirement under an Act or legal 20
process, information that came to the person's notice as 21
a stated person. 22
Example-- 23
Under subsection (1), a stated person is neither competent nor 24
compellable to produce a document or give information mentioned in 25
paragraph (a) or (b) of the subsection to-- 26
(a) a panel of inquiry conducting an inquiry under the Public Health 27
Act 2005, chapter 7; or 28
(b) an authorised person under a notice given to the stated person 29
under the Health Quality and Complaints Commission Act 2006, 30
section 123. 31
`(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a requirement made in 32
proceedings for an alleged offence against this part or part 33
7A5 by the stated person. 34
5 Part 7A (Investigation and enforcement)
s5 26 s5
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`(3) In this section-- 1
information includes-- 2
(a) the identity of a member of an RCA team; and 3
(b) information from which a member of an RCA team 4
could be identified. 5
stated person means a person who is or was any of the 6
following-- 7
(a) a member of an RCA team; 8
(b) a commissioning authority; 9
(c) a relevant person for an RCA team or commissioning 10
authority; 11
(d) a person who performs functions for an entity that 12
received a copy of an RCA report or chain of events 13
document under section 38X(1) or (2). 14
`38ZC Information-provider can not be compelled to give 15
particular information in evidence 16
`A person can not be compelled to divulge or communicate in 17
a proceeding, or in compliance with a requirement under an 18
Act or legal process, any of the following-- 19
(a) whether or not the person gave information to an RCA 20
team for its conduct of an RCA of a reportable event; 21
(b) what information the person gave to an RCA team for its 22
conduct of an RCA of a reportable event; 23
(c) a document given by the person to an RCA team that 24
was created by the person or another person solely for 25
its conduct of an RCA of a reportable event; 26
(c) information the person was given, or questions the 27
person was asked, by an RCA team during its conduct of 28
an RCA of a reportable event. 29
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Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`Division 6 Protections 1
`38ZD Protection from liability 2
`(1) A person who is or was a member of an RCA team, or 3
relevant person for an RCA team, is not civilly liable for an 4
act done, or omission made, honestly and without negligence 5
under this part. 6
`(2) Without limiting subsection (1), if the act or omission 7
involves giving information-- 8
(a) in a proceeding for defamation, the person has a defence 9
of absolute privilege for publishing the information; and 10
(b) if the person would otherwise be required to maintain 11
confidentiality about the information given under an 12
Act, oath, or rule of law or practice, the person-- 13
(i) does not contravene the Act, oath, or rule of law or 14
practice by giving the information; and 15
(ii) is not liable to disciplinary action for giving the 16
information. 17
`(3) If a person who is or was a member of an RCA team, or 18
relevant person for an RCA team, incurs costs in defending 19
proceedings relating to a liability against which the person is 20
protected under this section, the person must be indemnified 21
by-- 22
(a) if the chief executive appointed the RCA team 23
members--the State; or 24
(b) otherwise--the person who appointed the RCA team 25
members. 26
`38ZE Giving of information protected 27
`(1) This section applies to a person who honestly and on 28
reasonable grounds gives information to an RCA team, or a 29
relevant person for an RCA team, for the RCA team's conduct 30
of an RCA of a reportable event. 31
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Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Examples of persons who may give information under subsection (1)-- 1
· a commissioning authority 2
· a relevant person for a commissioning authority 3
`(2) The person is not subject to any liability for giving the 4
information and no action, claim or demand may be taken or 5
made of or against the person for giving the information. 6
`(3) Also, merely because the person gives the information, the 7
person can not be held to have-- 8
(a) breached any code of professional etiquette or ethics; or 9
(b) departed from accepted standards of professional 10
conduct. 11
`(4) Without limiting subsections (2) and (3)-- 12
(a) in a proceeding for defamation, the person has a defence 13
of absolute privilege for publishing the information; and 14
(b) if the person would otherwise be required to maintain 15
confidentiality about the information under an Act, oath, 16
or rule of law or practice, the person-- 17
(i) does not contravene the Act, oath, or rule of law or 18
practice by giving the information; and 19
(ii) is not liable to disciplinary action for giving the 20
information. 21
`38ZF Reprisal and grounds for reprisals 22
`(1) A person must not cause, or attempt or conspire to cause, 23
detriment to another person because, or in the belief that, 24
anybody has provided, or may provide, assistance to an RCA 25
team in its conduct of an RCA of a reportable event. 26
`(2) An attempt to cause detriment includes an attempt to induce a 27
person to cause detriment. 28
`(3) A contravention of subsection (1) is a reprisal or the taking of 29
a reprisal. 30
`(4) A ground mentioned in subsection (1) as the ground for a 31
reprisal is the unlawful ground for the reprisal. 32
s5 29 s5
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`(5) For the contravention to happen, it is sufficient if the unlawful 1
ground is a substantial ground for the act or omission that is 2
the reprisal, even if there is another ground for the act or 3
omission. 4
`38ZG Offence for taking reprisal 5
`(1) A person who takes a reprisal commits an offence. 6
Maximum penalty--167 penalty units or 2 years 7
imprisonment. 8
`(2) The offence is a misdemeanour. 9
`38ZH Damages entitlement for reprisal 10
`(1) A reprisal is a tort and a person who takes a reprisal is liable in 11
damages to any person who suffers detriment as a result. 12
`(2) Any appropriate remedy that may be granted by a court for a 13
tort may be granted by a court for the taking of a reprisal. 14
`(3) If the claim for damages goes to trial in the Supreme Court or 15
the District Court, it must be decided by a judge sitting 16
without a jury. 17
`Division 7 Miscellaneous 18
`38ZI Delegation by chief executive 19
`(1) The chief executive may delegate the chief executive's power 20
of appointment under section 38K(a),6 or power to give an 21
authorisation under section 38X(1),7 to-- 22
(a) an appropriately qualified officer or employee of the 23
department or health service employee; or 24
(b) a health executive. 25
`(2) In this section-- 26
6 Section 38K (Appointment of RCA team)
7 Section 38X (Giving of copy of RCA report or chain of events document--patient
safety entity)
s5 30 s5
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
appropriately qualified includes having qualifications, 1
experience or standing appropriate to exercise the power. 2
Example of standing-- 3
a person's classification level in the department 4
`38ZJ Application of provisions of this part 5
`If a commissioning authority acts or purports to act under 6
section 38K and it transpires the event the basis of the action 7
is not a reportable event, the provisions of this part apply as if 8
the event were a reportable event. 9
`38ZK RCA report not admissible in evidence 10
`(1) An RCA report is not admissible in evidence in any 11
proceedings, including, for example-- 12
(a) a civil proceeding; or 13
(b) a criminal proceeding; or 14
(c) a disciplinary proceeding under the Health Practitioners 15
(Professional Standards) Act 1999. 16
`(2) However, a copy of an RCA report given to a coroner under 17
section 38Y may be admitted in evidence by a coroner in an 18
inquest under the Coroners Act 2003 into the death of a 19
person-- 20
(a) if section 38Y(1) applies--if the reportable event is the 21
death; or 22
(b) if section 38Y(2) applies--if the reportable event 23
happened while a health service was being provided to 24
the person at a health service facility. 25
`(3) Subsection (1) applies subject to section 38ZB(2).8 26
`38ZL Review of pt 4B 27
`(1) The Minister must, before the second anniversary of the 28
commencement of section 38K, start a review of this part to 29
8 Section 38ZB (Information not to be given in evidence)
s6 31 s8
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
ensure it is adequately meeting community expectations and 1
its provisions remain appropriate. 2
`(2) The Minister must, as soon as practicable after the review is 3
finished, cause a report of the outcome of the review to be laid 4
before the Legislative Assembly.'. 5
Clause 6 Amendment of s 63 (Functions) 6
Section 63, from `sections 33'-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`section 33, part 4B, division 5, sections 38ZG and 57, part 7 9
and this part (the applicable provisions).'. 10
Clause 7 Amendment of ss 63K, 63R, 63S, 63ZB, 63ZC, 63ZD and 11
63ZF 12
Sections 63K, 63R, 63S, 63ZB, 63ZC, 63ZD and 63ZF, 13
`section 62A(1) or this part'-- 14
omit, insert-- 15
`an applicable provision'. 16
Clause 8 Insertion of new pt 7B 17
After section 63ZJ-- 18
insert-- 19
`Part 7B Proceedings 20
`63ZK Summary offences 21
`An offence against this Act, other than an offence against 22
section 38ZG(1),9 is a summary offence. 23
9 Section 38ZG (Offence for taking reprisal)
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Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`63ZL Limitation on time for starting proceedings for 1
summary offence 2
`A summary proceeding under the Justices Act 1886 for a 3
summary offence against this Act must start within whichever 4
is the longer of the following-- 5
(a) 1 year after the commission of the offence; 6
(b) 1 year after the offence comes to the knowledge of the 7
complainant, but within 2 years after the commission of 8
the offence. 9
`63ZM Proceedings for indictable offences 10
`(1) A proceeding for an indictable offence against this Act may 11
be taken, at the election of the prosecution-- 12
(a) by way of summary proceeding under the Justices Act 13
1886; or 14
(b) on indictment. 15
`(2) A magistrate must not hear an indictable offence summarily 16
if-- 17
(a) the defendant asks at the start of the hearing that the 18
charge be prosecuted on indictment; or 19
(b) the magistrate considers the charge should be 20
prosecuted on indictment. 21
`(3) If subsection (2) applies-- 22
(a) the magistrate must proceed by way of an examination 23
of witnesses for an indictable offence; and 24
(b) a plea of the person charged at the start of the 25
proceeding must be disregarded; and 26
(c) evidence brought in the proceeding before the 27
magistrate decided to act under subsection (2) is taken to 28
be evidence in the proceeding for the committal of the 29
person for trial or sentence; and 30
s9 33 s9
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
(d) before committing the person for trial or sentence, the 1
magistrate must make a statement to the person as 2
required by the Justices Act 1886, section 104(2)(b).10 3
`63ZN Limitation on who may summarily hear indictable 4
offence 5
`(1) The proceeding must be before a magistrate if it is a 6
proceeding-- 7
(a) for the summary conviction of a person on a charge for 8
an indictable offence; or 9
(b) for an examination of witnesses for a charge for an 10
indictable offence. 11
`(2) However, if the proceeding is brought before a justice who is 12
not a magistrate, jurisdiction is limited to taking or making a 13
procedural action or order within the meaning of the Justices 14
of the Peace and Commissioners for Declarations Act 1991.'. 15
Clause 9 Amendment of s 68 (Regulations) 16
(1) Section 68, heading-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
`68 Regulation-making power'. 19
(2) Section 68(2)-- 20
insert-- 21
`(i) provide for the procedures to be followed by an RCA 22
team in its conduct of an RCA of a reportable event.'. 23
10 Justices Act 1886, section 104 (Proceedings upon an examination of witnesses in
relation to an indictable offence)
s 10 34 s 13
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Part 3 Amendment of Mental Health 1
Act 2000--Mental Health Court 2
Clause 10 Act amended in pt 3 3
This part amends the Mental Health Act 2000. 4
Clause 11 Amendment of s 381 (Mental Health Court established) 5
Section 381-- 6
insert-- 7
`(3) The court consists of the president of the court and other 8
members of the court.'. 9
Clause 12 Amendment of s 382 (Constitution) 10
(1) Section 382(1), `Supreme Court judge'-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`member of the court'. 13
(2) Section 382(3), `constituting judge'-- 14
omit, insert-- 15
`member of the court hearing the matter'. 16
(3) Section 382(4)-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
`(4) The member of the court hearing a matter must decide the 19
assisting psychiatrists who are to assist the court for the 20
hearing.'. 21
Clause 13 Replacement of ch 11, pt 2 22
Chapter 11, part 2-- 23
omit, insert-- 24
s 13 35 s 13
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`Part 2 Provisions about membership 1
of Mental Health Court 2
`385 Appointment of a member of Mental Health Court 3
`(1) The Governor in Council may, by commission, appoint a 4
Supreme Court judge to be a member of the Mental Health 5
Court. 6
`(2) The judge is appointed for the term, not more than 3 years, 7
stated in the commission. 8
`386 Appointment does not affect judge's tenure 9
of office etc. 10
`(1) The appointment of, or service by, the judge as a member of 11
the Mental Health Court does not affect-- 12
(a) the person's tenure of office as a judge; or 13
(b) the person's rank, title, status, precedence, salary, 14
annual or other allowances or other rights or privileges 15
as the holder of his or her office as a judge. 16
`(2) The person's service as a member of the court is taken to be 17
service as a Supreme Court judge for all purposes. 18
`387 When judge's office ends etc. 19
`(1) The judge holds office as a member of the Mental Health 20
Court until the earlier of the following days-- 21
(a) the day the person's appointment as a member of the 22
court ends; 23
(b) the day the person ceases to be a Supreme Court judge. 24
`(2) However, if the judge ceases to hold office as a member of the 25
court while hearing a matter, the Governor in Council may, 26
without reappointing the person as a member of the court, 27
continue the person in office for the time necessary to enable 28
the hearing to be completed. 29
s 13 36 s 13
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`(3) The person continued in office may exercise the jurisdiction 1
and powers of the court necessary or convenient for the 2
hearing to be completed. 3
`Part 2A Provisions about president of 4
Mental Health Court 5
`388 President of Mental Health Court 6
`(1) The Governor in Council is to appoint a member of the 7
Mental Health Court to be the president of the court. 8
`(2) A person may be appointed as the president of the court at the 9
same time the person is appointed as a member of the court. 10
`388A Arrangement of business 11
`(1) The president of the Mental Health Court is responsible for 12
the administration of the court and for ensuring the orderly 13
and expeditious exercise of the jurisdiction and powers of the 14
court. 15
`(2) The president of the court has power to do things necessary or 16
convenient to be done for the administration of the court and 17
for ensuring the orderly and expeditious exercise of the 18
jurisdiction and powers of the court. 19
`388B President of Mental Health Court holds office while a 20
member of court 21
`The president of the Mental Health Court holds office as the 22
president of the court while the person is a member of the 23
court. 24
`388C Resignation of office 25
`(1) The president of the Mental Health Court may resign office by 26
signed notice of resignation given to-- 27
s 14 37 s 15
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
(a) if the president of the court is the Chief Justice--the 1
Governor; or 2
(b) otherwise--the Chief Justice. 3
`(2) A notice of resignation under subsection (1) takes effect when 4
the notice is given to the relevant person or, if a later time is 5
stated in the notice, the later time. 6
`(3) Resignation as the president of the court does not affect the 7
person's membership of the court. 8
`388D Appointment of acting president of Mental Health 9
Court 10
`The Governor in Council may appoint a member of the 11
Mental Health Court to act as the president of the court-- 12
(a) for any period the office is vacant; or 13
(b) for any period, or all periods, when the president of the 14
court is absent from duty or Queensland or can not, for 15
another reason, perform the duties of the office.'. 16
Clause 14 Amendment of s 398 (Registrar's powers--general) 17
Section 398(2), from `given by'-- 18
omit, insert-- 19
`given by-- 20
(a) a member of the Mental Health Court for a proceeding 21
being heard by the member of the court; or 22
(b) the president of the court.'. 23
Clause 15 Insertion of new s 415A 24
Before chapter 11, part 6-- 25
insert-- 26
`415A What happens if a member of Mental Health Court 27
dies or is incapacitated 28
`(1) This section applies if, after starting to hear a proceeding, the 29
member of the Mental Health Court hearing the proceeding 30
s 16 38 s 17
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
dies or becomes incapable of continuing to hear the 1
proceeding. 2
`(2) A party to the proceeding may, after giving 7 days' notice to 3
the other party or parties, apply to the president of the court 4
for an order directing the action to be taken in the proceeding. 5
`(3) The president of the court, on the application or his or her 6
initiative, may after consulting with the parties to the 7
proceeding-- 8
(a) order the proceeding be reheard; or 9
(b) adjourn the proceeding to allow the incapacitated 10
member of the court to continue when able; or 11
(c) with the consent of the parties, make an order the 12
president of the court considers appropriate about-- 13
(i) deciding the proceeding; or 14
(ii) completing the hearing and deciding the 15
proceeding. 16
`(4) If, under subsection (3)(a), a proceeding is reheard, the first 17
hearing is taken not to have happened. 18
`(5) An order mentioned in subsection (3)(c) is taken to be a 19
decision of the Mental Health Court.'. 20
Clause 16 Amendment of s 416 (Contempt of court) 21
Section 416(4), `constituting judge's own initiative'-- 22
omit, insert-- 23
`initiative of a member of the court'. 24
Clause 17 Amendment of s 418 (Protection and immunities for 25
constituting judge of Mental Health Court ) 26
(1) Section 418, heading, `constituting judge'-- 27
omit, insert-- 28
`member'. 29
(2) Section 418, `The constituting judge'-- 30
s 18 39 s 21
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
omit, insert-- 1
`A member'. 2
Clause 18 Amendment of s 419 (Rule-making power) 3
Section 419(2), `constituting judge'-- 4
omit, insert-- 5
`president'. 6
Clause 19 Amendment of s 420 (Directions about practice) 7
(1) Section 420(1), `constituting judge'-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`president'. 10
(2) Section 420(2), `judge'-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`president of the court'. 13
Clause 20 Amendment of s 421 (Approved forms--constituting 14
judge) 15
(1) Section 421, heading, `constituting judge'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`president of Mental Health Court'. 18
(2) Sections 421, `constituting judge of'-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`president of'. 21
Clause 21 Amendment of s 435 (Annual report) 22
Section 435(1), `constituting judge'-- 23
omit, insert-- 24
`president of the Mental Health Court'. 25
s 22 40 s 25
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Clause 22 Amendment of s 493 (Approved forms) 1
Section 493, `constituting judge'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`president'. 4
Clause 23 Amendment of ch 16, pt 2, hdg (Transitional provisions) 5
Chapter 16, part 2, heading, after `provisions'-- 6
insert-- 7
`for Act No. 16 of 2000'. 8
Clause 24 Amendment of s 583 (Appeals against Patient Review 9
Tribunal decisions) 10
Section 583-- 11
insert-- 12
`(5) In this section-- 13
constituting judge has the meaning the term had on the 14
commencement of this section.'. 15
Clause 25 Insertion of new ch 11, pt 3 16
After section 588-- 17
insert-- 18
`Part 3 Transitional provisions for 19
Health and Other Legislation 20
Amendment Act 2007 21
`589 Definitions for pt 3 22
`In this part-- 23
commencement means commencement of this section. 24
post-amended Act means this Act as in force immediately 25
after the commencement. 26
s 25 41 s 25
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
pre-amended Act means this Act as in force before the 1
commencement. 2
`590 Constituting judge taken to be a member of Mental 3
Health Court etc. 4
`(1) The constituting judge is taken to be a member of the Mental 5
Health Court under the post-amended Act, section 385. 6
`(2) The constituting judge holds office as a member of the court 7
until the earlier of the following days-- 8
(a) the day the person's appointment as constituting judge 9
would have ended under the pre-amended Act; 10
(b) the day the person ceases to be a Supreme Court judge. 11
`(3) In this section-- 12
constituting judge means the constituting judge of the Mental 13
Health Court immediately before the commencement. 14
`591 Rules relating to Mental Health Court 15
`The rules relating to the Mental Health Court in force 16
immediately before the commencement under the 17
pre-amended Act, section 419(1) are taken to have been made 18
under the post-amended Act, section 419(1). 19
`592 Directions about practice and procedure of Mental 20
Health Court 21
`The directions about the practice and procedure of the Mental 22
Health Court in force immediately before the commencement 23
under the pre-amended Act, section 420(1) are taken to have 24
been given under the post-amended Act, section 420(1). 25
`593 Approved forms 26
`The forms approved under the pre-amended Act, section 421 27
are taken to have been approved under the post-amended Act, 28
section 421.'. 29
s 26 42 s 29
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Clause 26 Amendment of sch 2 (Dictionary) 1
(1) Schedule 2, definition constituting judge-- 2
omit. 3
(2) Schedule 2-- 4
insert-- 5
`commencement, for chapter 11, part 3, see section 589. 6
post-amended Act, for chapter 11, part 3, see section 589. 7
pre-amended Act, for chapter 11, part 3, see section 589.'. 8
Part 4 Amendment of Mental Health 9
Act 2000--other amendments 10
Clause 27 Act amended in pt 4 11
This part amends the Mental Health Act 2000. 12
Clause 28 Amendment of s 4 (Purpose of Act) 13
Section 4, from `same time'-- 14
omit, insert-- 15
`same time-- 16
(a) safeguarding their rights and freedoms; and 17
(b) balancing their rights and freedoms with the rights and 18
freedoms of other persons.'. 19
Clause 29 Amendment of s 5 (How purpose of Act is to be achieved) 20
Section 5-- 21
insert-- 22
`(e) when making a decision under this Act about a forensic 23
patient, taking into account-- 24
(i) the protection of the community; and 25
s 30 43 s 31
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
(ii) the needs of a victim of the alleged offence to 1
which the applicable forensic order relates.'. 2
Clause 30 Amendment of s 223 (Restriction on making notification 3
order) 4
Section 223(2), examples 1 and 2-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`1 a direct victim of an alleged offence committed by the patient 7
1A if a direct victim of an alleged offence allegedly committed by the 8
patient has died as a result of the alleged offence, a relative of the 9
direct victim 10
2 a person who was with a direct victim of an alleged offence when it 11
was allegedly committed by the patient'. 12
Clause 31 Amendment of s 228B (Tribunal may make non-contact 13
order) 14
(1) Section 228B(1)(a)-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`(a) if a direct victim of the alleged offence is alive--the 17
person not contact the direct victim, for a stated time; 18
(aa) if a direct victim of the alleged offence has died as a 19
result of the alleged offence--the person not contact a 20
relative of the direct victim, for a stated time;'. 21
(2) Section 228B(1)(b), before `victim'-- 22
insert-- 23
`direct'. 24
(3) Section 228B(4)-- 25
omit, insert-- 26
`(4) A non-contact order that relates to a direct victim of the 27
alleged offence or relative or associate mentioned in 28
subsection (1)(a), (aa) or (b) is made in favour of that person.'. 29
s 32 44 s 34
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Clause 32 Amendment of s 228C (Restrictions on making 1
non-contact order) 2
(1) Section 228C(3)(a)(i)-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`(i) if the tribunal is considering making the order in 5
favour of a direct victim of the alleged 6
offence--the direct victim; 7
(ia) if a direct victim of the alleged offence has died as 8
a result of the alleged offence--a relative of the 9
direct victim in whose favour the tribunal is 10
considering making the order;'. 11
(2) Section 228C(3)(b) and (d), before `victim'-- 12
insert-- 13
`direct'. 14
(3) Section 228C(3)(d), example, `Domestic Violence (Family 15
Protection) Act 1989'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 1989'. 18
Clause 33 Amendment of ch 7, pt 6, div 6, hdg (Material submitted 19
by non-parties) 20
Chapter 7, part 6, division 6, heading, `non-parties'-- 21
omit, insert-- 22
`victims or concerned persons etc.'. 23
Clause 34 Amendment of s 284 (Submission and consideration of 24
relevant material by non-party) 25
(1) Section 284, heading, `relevant material by non-party'-- 26
omit, insert-- 27
`material from victim or concerned person etc.'. 28
(2) Section 284(1)-- 29
omit, insert-- 30
s 34 45 s 34
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`(1) In making a decision on a reference, the Mental Health Court 1
may take into account material submitted by a victim of the 2
alleged offence to which the reference relates or another 3
person who is not a party to the hearing of the reference 4
(concerned person) if the material is sworn. 5
`(1A) The purpose of submitting the material is to help the court in 6
making a decision on the reference, including, for example, 7
deciding-- 8
(a) whether the person to whom the reference relates was of 9
unsound mind when the alleged offence was allegedly 10
committed; or 11
(b) whether the person to whom the reference relates is unfit 12
for trial; or 13
(c) whether to make a forensic order; or 14
(d) whether to order, approve or revoke limited community 15
treatment; or 16
(e) what conditions the court should impose on an order or 17
approval for limited community treatment. 18
`(1B) The material may include the views of the person submitting 19
the material about-- 20
(a) the behaviour of the person to whom the reference 21
relates and the impact of the behaviour on the person 22
submitting the material; or 23
(b) the risk the person submitting the material believes the 24
person to whom the reference relates represents to the 25
person submitting the material or another person; or 26
(c) any other matter relevant to the decision of the court on 27
the reference. 28
`(1C) If the court takes the material into account, it may place the 29
weight it considers appropriate on the material.'. 30
(3) Section 284(5), after `person'-- 31
insert-- 32
`submitting the material under subsection (1)'. 33
s 35 46 s 36
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Clause 35 Replacement of s 285 (Reasons for decision about 1
non-party material) 2
Section 285-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`285 Reasons for decision about material submitted by 5
victim or concerned person 6
`(1) This section applies if, under section 284(1), a victim of the 7
alleged offence to which the reference relates or a concerned 8
person submits material to the Mental Health Court. 9
`(2) The court must, as soon as practicable after making its 10
decision on the reference, give the person who submitted the 11
material and persons who were parties to the hearing of the 12
reference-- 13
(a) reasons for-- 14
(i) taking the material into account; or 15
(ii) refusing to take the material into account; and 16
(b) if the material was taken into account by the court--a 17
statement about how it was taken into account. 18
`(3) However, a confidentiality order of the court may displace the 19
requirement to give the reasons or statement to the person to 20
whom the reference relates.'. 21
Clause 36 Insertion of new s 286A 22
After section 286-- 23
insert-- 24
`286A Notice about material submitted by victim or 25
concerned person 26
`(1) This section applies if, under section 284(1), a victim of an 27
alleged offence to which a reference relates or a concerned 28
person submits material to the Mental Health Court. 29
`(2) Subject to subsection (3), the registrar may after the court 30
makes its decision on the reference give a copy of the material 31
to-- 32
s 37 47 s 38
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
(a) the administrator of the authorised mental health service 1
responsible for the treatment and care of the person to 2
whom the reference relates; or 3
(b) the tribunal. 4
`(3) The court may order that a copy of the material not be given 5
under subsection (2). 6
`(4) If the court makes an order under subsection (3), the court 7
must in its decision on the reference give reasons for making 8
the order.'. 9
Clause 37 Amendment of s 313B (Mental Health Court may make 10
non-contact order) 11
(1) Section 313B(1)(a)-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`(a) if a direct victim of the alleged offence is alive--the 14
person not contact the direct victim, for a stated time; 15
(aa) if a direct victim of the alleged offence has died as a 16
result of the alleged offence--the person not contact a 17
relative of the direct victim, for a stated time;'. 18
(2) Section 313B(1)(b), before `victim'-- 19
insert-- 20
`direct'. 21
(3) Section 313B(4)-- 22
omit, insert-- 23
`(4) A non-contact order that relates to a direct victim of the 24
alleged offence or relative or associate mentioned in 25
subsection (1)(a), (aa) or (b) is made in favour of that person.'. 26
Clause 38 Amendment of s 313C (Restrictions on making 27
non-contact order) 28
(1) Section 313C(2)(a)(i)-- 29
omit, insert-- 30
s 39 48 s 40
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`(i) if the court is considering making the order in 1
favour of a direct victim of the alleged 2
offence--the direct victim; 3
(ia) if a direct victim of the alleged offence has died as 4
a result of the alleged offence--a relative of the 5
direct victim in whose favour the court is 6
considering making the order;'. 7
(2) Section 313C(2)(b) and (d), before `victim'-- 8
insert-- 9
`direct'. 10
(3) Section 313C(2)(d), example, `Domestic Violence (Family 11
Protection) Act 1989'-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 1989'. 14
Clause 39 Amendment of s 426 (Confidentiality orders) 15
Section 426(1)-- 16
insert-- 17
`(d) the reasons for taking into account, or refusing to take 18
into account, material submitted under section 284(1); 19
or 20
(e) if material submitted under section 284(1) was taken 21
into account by the court--how the material was taken 22
into account.'. 23
Clause 40 Amendment of s 450 (Right of appearance--reviews) 24
Section 450-- 25
insert-- 26
`(4) As a representative of the State, the Attorney-General's role at 27
the hearing for a review under chapter 6, part 3 or 4 is to 28
represent the public interest.'. 29
s 41 49 s 41
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Clause 41 Amendment of s 464 (Submission and consideration of 1
relevant material by non-party) 2
(1) Section 464, heading, `relevant material by non-party'-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`material submitted by victim or concerned person etc.'. 5
(2) Section 464(1)-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`(1) In making a decision in a proceeding, the tribunal may take 8
into account material submitted by a victim of the alleged 9
offence to which the proceeding relates or another person who 10
is not a party to the proceeding (concerned person). 11
`(1A) The purpose of submitting the material is to help the tribunal 12
in making a decision in the proceeding, including, for 13
example, deciding-- 14
(a) whether to revoke a forensic order; or 15
(b) whether to order, approve or revoke limited community 16
treatment; or 17
(c) what conditions the tribunal should impose on an order 18
or approval for limited community treatment. 19
`(1B) The material may include the views of the person submitting 20
the material about-- 21
(a) the conduct of the person to whom the proceeding 22
relates and the impact of the conduct on the person 23
submitting the material; or 24
(b) the risk the person submitting the material believes the 25
person to whom the proceeding relates represents to the 26
person submitting the material or another person; or 27
(c) any other matter relevant to the decision of the tribunal 28
in the proceeding. 29
`(1C) If the tribunal takes the material into account, it may place the 30
weight it considers appropriate on the material.'. 31
(3) Section 464(4), after `person'-- 32
insert-- 33
`submitting the material under subsection (1)'. 34
s 42 50 s 43
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Clause 42 Amendment of s 465 (Reasons for decision about 1
non-party material) 2
(1) Section 465, heading, `non-party material'-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`material submitted by victim or concerned person'. 5
(2) Section 465(1)-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`(1) This section applies if, under section 464(1), a victim of the 8
alleged offence to which a proceeding before the tribunal 9
relates or a concerned person submits material to the 10
tribunal.'. 11
Clause 43 Amendment of sch 2 (Dictionary) 12
(1) Schedule 2, definition victim-- 13
omit. 14
(2) Schedule 2-- 15
insert-- 16
`concerned person-- 17
(a) for chapter 7, part 6, divisions 6 and 7--see section 18
284(1); or 19
(b) for chapter 12, part 6--see section 464(1). 20
direct victim, of an alleged offence, means a person against 21
whom the alleged offence was allegedly committed. 22
expert's report, for chapter 7, part 9, see section 314. 23
immediate family member, of a direct victim of an alleged 24
offence, means the direct victim's spouse, child, step-child, 25
parent, step-parent, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, 26
grandparent, guardian or personal guardian. 27
report, for chapter 14, part 5, see section 523. 28
victim, of an alleged offence, means-- 29
(a) a direct victim of the alleged offence; or 30
s 44 51 s 46
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
(b) an immediate family member of a direct victim of the 1
alleged offence.'. 2
Part 5 Amendment of Tobacco and 3
Other Smoking Products Act 4
1998 5
Clause 44 Act amended in pt 5 6
This part amends the Tobacco and Other Smoking Products 7
Act 1998. 8
Clause 45 Amendment of s 26W (Meaning of outdoor eating or 9
drinking place) 10
Section 26W(2)(a), after `provided'-- 11
insert-- 12
`, or is available to be provided,'. 13
Clause 46 Insertion of new s 26ZPA 14
Part 2D-- 15
insert-- 16
`26ZPASale, supply and display of ice pipes 17
`(1) A person must not-- 18
(a) sell an ice pipe or a component of an ice pipe; or 19
(b) supply an ice pipe, or a component of an ice pipe, as part 20
of a business activity; or 21
(c) display an ice pipe, or a component of an ice pipe-- 22
(i) in a shop; or 23
(ii) near, and in connection with, a shop. 24
s 47 52 s 47
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Note-- 1
`Sell' in paragraph (a) includes expose for sale. See the 2
schedule, definition sell. 3
Maximum penalty--140 penalty units. 4
`(2) It is a defence for the person to prove that an ice pipe, or a 5
component of an ice pipe, is designed primarily to be used for 6
a purpose other than administering a dangerous drug. 7
Examples of devices designed primarily to be used for another purpose-- 8
aluminium foil, spoons, test tubes 9
`(3) For subsection (2), evidence of a disclaimer does not, of itself, 10
prove that the ice pipe or component of an ice pipe is designed 11
primarily to be used for a purpose other than administering a 12
dangerous drug. 13
`(4) In this section-- 14
component, of an ice pipe, means a device that-- 15
(a) is apparently intended to be part of an ice pipe; and 16
(b) is not capable of being used for administering a 17
dangerous drug in the way described in the definition ice 18
pipe without an adjustment, modification or addition. 19
disclaimer means a statement on, or made in relation to, the 20
ice pipe or component of an ice pipe, at or before the time of 21
the commission of the alleged offence, to the effect that the 22
ice pipe or component is designed or intended to be used for a 23
purpose that is not a purpose related to administering a 24
dangerous drug. 25
ice pipe means a device capable of being used for 26
administering a dangerous drug by the drawing of smoke or 27
fumes resulting from heating or burning the drug, in the 28
device, in the drug's crystal, powder, oil or base form.'. 29
Clause 47 Replacement of s 26ZQ (Production, sale or public 30
display of cannabis utensils) 31
Section 26ZQ-- 32
omit, insert-- 33
s 47 53 s 47
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`26ZQ Sale, supply and display of bongs 1
`(1) A person must not-- 2
(a) sell a bong or a component of a bong; or 3
(b) supply a bong, or a component of a bong, as part of a 4
business activity; or 5
(c) display a bong, or a component of a bong-- 6
(i) in a shop; or 7
(ii) near, and in connection with, a shop. 8
Note-- 9
`Sell' in paragraph (a) includes expose for sale. See the 10
schedule, definition sell. 11
Maximum penalty--140 penalty units. 12
`(2) It is a defence for the person to prove that a bong, or a 13
component of a bong, is designed primarily to be used for a 14
purpose other than administering a dangerous drug. 15
Examples of devices designed primarily to be used for another purpose-- 16
buckets, garden hoses, water bottles 17
`(3) For subsection (2), evidence of a disclaimer does not, of itself, 18
prove that the bong or component of a bong is designed 19
primarily to be used for a purpose other than administering a 20
dangerous drug. 21
`(4) In this section-- 22
bong-- 23
(a) means a device capable of being used for administering 24
a dangerous drug by the drawing of smoke or fumes, 25
resulting from heating or burning the drug in or on the 26
device, through water or another liquid in the device; but 27
(b) does not include a hookah. 28
component, of a bong, means a device that-- 29
(a) is apparently intended to be part of a bong; and 30
(b) is not capable of being used for administering a 31
dangerous drug in the way described in the definition 32
bong, paragraph (a), without an adjustment, 33
modification or addition. 34
s 48 54 s 48
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
disclaimer means a statement on, or made in relation to, the 1
bong or component of a bong, at or before the time of the 2
commission of the alleged offence, to the effect that the bong 3
or component is designed or intended to be used for a purpose 4
that is not a purpose related to administering a dangerous 5
drug. 6
`26ZQADisplay of hookahs 7
`A person must not display in a shop more than the number of 8
hookahs prescribed under a regulation. 9
Maximum penalty--140 penalty units.'. 10
Clause 48 Amendment of schedule (Dictionary) 11
Schedule-- 12
insert-- 13
`dangerous drug see the Drugs Misuse Act 1986, section 4. 14
hookah means a fully assembled device-- 15
(a) for smoking tobacco by the drawing of smoke or fumes, 16
resulting from heating or burning the tobacco in the 17
device, through water or another liquid in the device; 18
and 19
(b) that has-- 20
(i) 1 or more openings; and 21
(ii) 1 or more flexible hoses, each with a mouthpiece, 22
through which the smoke or fumes are drawn. 23
s 48 55 s 48
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Example of a hookah-- 1
mouthpiece, in relation to a flexible hose of a hookah, means 2
a device or part of a device-- 3
(a) of a type usually attached to the end of the hose; and 4
(b) designed particularly for the purpose of being held in 5
the human mouth for inhaling smoke or fumes drawn 6
through the hose. 7
shop includes-- 8
(a) any part of a building or place that is used for the sale, or 9
supply as part of a business activity, of goods; and 10
(b) a stall or other structure used for the sale, or supply as 11
part of a business activity, of goods at a market or 12
elsewhere.'. 13
s 49 56 s 50
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Part 6 Amendment of Ambulance 1
Service Act 1991 2
Clause 49 Act amended in pt 6 3
This part amends the Ambulance Service Act 1991. 4
Clause 50 Insertion of new pt 4A 5
After part 4-- 6
insert-- 7
`Part 4A Root cause analyses 8
`Division 1 Preliminary 9
`36A Definitions for pt 4A 10
`In this part-- 11
chain of events document see section 36G(2). 12
commissioning authority see section 36E. 13
coroner see the Coroners Act 2003, schedule 2. 14
notice means written notice. 15
RCA report see section 36G(1). 16
RCA team means a group of persons appointed under section 17
36E. 18
relevant person-- 19
(a) for the commissioning authority, means a person who 20
provides administrative or secretarial services to the 21
authority to help it exercise its powers under this part; or 22
(b) for an RCA team, means a person-- 23
(i) who provides administrative or secretarial services 24
to the RCA team; or 25
(ii) who advises the RCA team about-- 26
s 50 57 s 50
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
(A) conducting an RCA of a reportable event; or 1
(B) preparing an RCA report or chain of events 2
document for a reportable event. 3
reportable event-- 4
(a) generally, means any of the following events that happen 5
while an ambulance service is being provided to a 6
person-- 7
(i) the death of the person, or permanent injury 8
suffered by the person, while giving birth; 9
(ii) the death of the person caused by the incorrect 10
management of the person's medication; 11
(iii) the death of the person, or neurological damage 12
suffered by the person, caused by an intravascular 13
gas embolism; 14
(iv) the death of the person, or permanent loss of 15
function suffered by the person, unrelated to the 16
natural course of the person's medical condition 17
for which he or she was receiving the ambulance 18
service; 19
(v) the death of the person, or permanent injury 20
suffered by the person, contributed to by an 21
unreasonable delay in the provision of the 22
ambulance service or a failure to meet recognised 23
standards for providing the ambulance service; 24
(vi) the wrong procedure being performed on the 25
person or a procedure being performed on the 26
wrong part of the person's body; or 27
(b) in relation to an RCA report or chain of events 28
document, means the reportable event to which the 29
report or document relates. 30
`36B Meaning of root cause analysis 31
`(1) Root cause analysis or RCA, of a reportable event, means a 32
systematic process of analysis under which-- 33
(a) factors that contributed to the happening of the event 34
may be identified; and 35
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Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
(b) remedial measures that could be implemented to prevent 1
a recurrence of a similar event may be identified. 2
`(2) However, a root cause analysis or RCA of a reportable event 3
does not include-- 4
(a) investigating the professional competence of a person in 5
relation to the event; or 6
(b) finding out who is to blame for the happening of the 7
event. 8
`36C Purpose of pt 4A 9
`The purpose of this part is to facilitate the use of root cause 10
analyses by the Queensland Ambulance Service as a quality 11
improvement technique to assess and respond to reportable 12
events that happen while ambulance services are being 13
provided. 14
`36D Guiding principles for conduct of RCA of reportable 15
event 16
`The principles intended to guide the conduct of an RCA of a 17
reportable event are the following-- 18
(a) reporting and acknowledging errors happening while 19
ambulance services are being provided are encouraged 20
if people do not fear blame or reprisal; 21
(b) people involved in providing ambulance services should 22
be accountable for their actions; 23
(c) the focus of the RCA should be on identifying and 24
improving the policies, procedures or practices relating 25
to the provision of the ambulance service that 26
contributed to the happening of the event, rather than on 27
the conduct of individuals; 28
(d) participation in the RCA should be voluntary; 29
(e) the benefits of conducting the RCA will be 30
maximised-- 31
(i) in an environment oriented towards learning from 32
analysing the event; and 33
s 50 59 s 50
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
(ii) if the RCA is conducted in a timely way; 1
(f) teamwork, good communication and sharing of 2
information by people involved in providing ambulance 3
services should be fostered. 4
`Division 2 RCA teams 5
`36E Appointment of RCA team 6
`The commissioner (the commissioning authority) may 7
appoint persons to be members of an RCA team to conduct an 8
RCA of a reportable event. 9
`36F Requirements for appointment 10
`(1) Before appointing persons to be members of an RCA team to 11
conduct an RCA of a reportable event, the commissioning 12
authority must be satisfied that-- 13
(a) the persons-- 14
(i) have the appropriate skills, knowledge and 15
experience to conduct an RCA of the event, having 16
regard to the nature of the event; and 17
(ii) were not directly involved in providing the 18
ambulance service during the provision of which 19
the event happened; and 20
(b) the conduct by the proposed RCA team of an RCA of 21
the event would be assisted by the provision of 22
immunities and protections provided to persons under 23
divisions 5 and 6; and 24
(c) the potential benefit in disclosing relevant information is 25
outweighed by the potential benefit of restricting 26
disclosure of the information under division 5. 27
`(2) In this section-- 28
relevant information means information that will be 29
compiled by the proposed RCA team in the conduct of an 30
RCA of the reportable event. 31
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Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`Division 3 Reporting 1
`36G RCA team's report and chain of events document 2
`(1) An RCA team must, as soon as practicable after conducting 3
an RCA of a reportable event, prepare a report (the RCA 4
report) stating the following-- 5
(a) a description of the event; 6
(b) a statement of the factors the RCA team considers 7
contributed to the happening of the event; 8
(c) any recommendations about changes or improvements 9
in a policy, procedure or practice relating to the 10
provision of ambulance services, to reduce the 11
likelihood of, or prevent, the same type of event 12
happening again during the provision of ambulance 13
services. 14
`(2) In addition to the RCA report, the RCA team may prepare a 15
document (the chain of events document) that details, or 16
pictorially represents, the chain of events identified by the 17
RCA team as having led to the happening of the reportable 18
event. 19
`(3) The RCA report or chain of events document must not contain
the name or address of-- 20
(a) a person involved in providing the relevant ambulance 21
service; or 22
(b) the person who received the relevant ambulance service; 23
or 24
(c) a member of the RCA team. 25
`(4) In this section-- 26
relevant ambulance service means the ambulance service 27
during the provision of which the reportable event happened. 28
`36H Reporting to commissioning authority 29
`(1) The RCA team must, as soon as practicable after preparing 30
the RCA report, give the report to the commissioning 31
authority. 32
s 50 61 s 50
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`(2) If the RCA team prepares a chain of events document for the 1
reportable event, it must at the time of giving the RCA report 2
under subsection (1) also give the document to the 3
commissioning authority. 4
`Division 4 Stopping conduct of RCA of 5
reportable event 6
`36I Definition for div 4 7
`In this division-- 8
blameworthy act means any of the following-- 9
(a) an intentionally unsafe act; 10
(b) deliberate abuse of a person receiving an ambulance 11
service; 12
(c) conduct that constitutes a criminal offence. 13
`36J Stopping conduct of RCA of reportable event--RCA 14
team 15
`(1) This section applies if, while conducting an RCA of a 16
reportable event, the RCA team conducting the RCA 17
reasonably believes-- 18
(a) the event involves a blameworthy act; or 19
(b) the capacity of a person who was directly involved in 20
providing the relevant ambulance service to safely and 21
effectively provide the service was impaired by alcohol 22
consumed, or a drug taken, by the person. 23
`(2) The RCA team must-- 24
(a) stop conducting the RCA; and 25
(b) give notice to the commissioning authority that the RCA 26
team has stopped conducting the RCA. 27
`(3) For subsection (2)(b), the notice-- 28
(a) must be in the form approved by the chief executive; and 29
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Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
(b) must not contain any information about why the RCA 1
team stopped conducting the RCA. 2
`(4) In this section-- 3
relevant ambulance service means the ambulance service 4
during the provision of which the reportable event happened. 5
`36K Stopping conduct of RCA of reportable 6
event--commissioning authority 7
`(1) This section applies if-- 8
(a) the commissioning authority has appointed persons to 9
be members of an RCA team to conduct an RCA of a 10
reportable event; and 11
(b) the commissioning authority-- 12
(i) receives information that leads the commissioning 13
authority to reasonably believe-- 14
(A) the event involves a blameworthy act; or 15
(B) the capacity of a person who was directly 16
involved in providing the relevant ambulance 17
service to safely and effectively provide the 18
service was impaired by alcohol consumed, 19
or a drug taken, by the person; or 20
(ii) becomes aware that a relevant entity has started an 21
investigation or assessment of, or enquiry into, the 22
event; or 23
(iii) later comes to the view that the event the basis of 24
the appointment is not a reportable event. 25
`(2) If subsection (1)(b)(i) or (iii) applies, the commissioning 26
authority must, by notice given to the RCA team, direct it to 27
stop conducting the RCA. 28
`(3) If subsection (1)(b)(ii) applies, the commissioning authority 29
may, by notice given to the RCA team, direct it to stop 30
conducting the RCA. 31
`(4) For subsection (2) or (3), the notice given to the RCA team 32
must be in the form approved by the chief executive. 33
s 50 63 s 50
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`(5) Before acting under subsection (3), the commissioning 1
authority may consult with any relevant entity. 2
`(6) In this section-- 3
relevant ambulance service means the ambulance service 4
during the provision of which the reportable event happened. 5
relevant entity means-- 6
(a) the Health Quality and Complaints Commission; or 7
(b) a coroner; or 8
(c) a board under the Health Practitioner (Professional 9
Standards) Act 1999; or 10
(d) the Queensland Nursing Council; or 11
(e) the commissioner of the police service; or 12
(f) another entity that has the power under an Act of the 13
State, the Commonwealth or another State to investigate 14
the event. 15
`Division 5 Disclosure or release of information 16
`36L Definitions for div 5 17
`In this division-- 18
information includes a document. 19
medical director means the Queensland Ambulance Service 20
officer with the title `medical director' or, if from time to time 21
the title is changed, the changed title. 22
`36M Disclosure of information--RCA team member or 23
relevant person 24
`(1) A person who is or was a member of an RCA team must not 25
disclose to someone else information acquired by the person 26
as a member of the RCA team, other than for the purpose (an 27
authorised purpose) of-- 28
(a) the RCA team conducting an RCA of a reportable event; 29
or 30
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Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
(b) the RCA team preparing an RCA report or chain of 1
events document; or 2
(c) the RCA team giving the commissioning authority-- 3
(i) an RCA report or chain of events document under 4
section 36H; or 5
(ii) a notice under section 36J. 6
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 7
`(2) Also, a person who is or was a relevant person for an RCA 8
team must not disclose to someone else information acquired 9
by the person as a relevant person for the RCA team, other 10
than for an authorised purpose. 11
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 12
`(3) If information that may be disclosed under subsection (1) or 13
(2) for an authorised purpose is information to which section 14
49(1)11 applies, the information is for the purposes of section 15
49(2)(a) information that is expressly authorised or permitted 16
to be given under this Act. 17
`(4) In this section-- 18
information includes-- 19
(a) the identity of a member of the RCA team; and 20
(b) information from which a member of the RCA team 21
could be identified. 22
`36N Disclosure of information--commissioning authority 23
or relevant person 24
`(1) A person who is or was the commissioning authority must not 25
disclose to someone else information contained in an RCA 26
report or chain of events document, or give someone else a 27
copy of an RCA report or chain of events document, received 28
by the person under section 36H, other than-- 29
(a) as required or permitted under sections 36O to 36S; or 30
(b) as permitted under subsection (2). 31
11 Section 49 (Confidentiality)
s 50 65 s 50
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 1
`(2) The commissioning authority may give a safety and quality 2
report prepared by the commissioning authority to an entity 3
with responsibilities for the management of safety initiatives 4
and programs for the Queensland Ambulance Service. 5
`(3) Also, a person who is or was the commissioning authority 6
must not disclose to someone else-- 7
(a) the identity of a member of an RCA team; or 8
(b) information from which a member of the RCA team 9
could be identified. 10
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 11
`(4) Subsections (1) and (3) do not apply to the disclosure of 12
information by the commissioning authority that is necessary 13
or incidental to the exercise by the authority of its powers 14
under this part. 15
`(5) Also, a person who is or was a relevant person for the 16
commissioning authority must not disclose to someone else 17
information acquired by the person as a relevant person for the 18
authority. 19
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 20
`(6) Subsection (5) does not apply to the disclosure of information 21
by a relevant person for the commissioning authority for the 22
purpose of helping the authority exercise its powers under this 23
part. 24
`(7) If information that may be disclosed under this section is 25
information to which section 49(1)12 applies, the information 26
is for the purposes of section 49(2)(a) information that is 27
expressly authorised or permitted to be given under this Act. 28
`(8) This section does not authorise the attachment of a copy of an 29
RCA report or chain of events document to a safety and 30
quality report. 31
`(9) In this section-- 32
safety and quality report means a report about the safety and 33
quality of the ambulance service to which an RCA report 34
12 Section 49 (Confidentiality)
s 50 66 s 50
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
relates that is based on information contained in the RCA 1
report. 2
`36O Release of information to Health Quality and 3
Complaints Commission 4
`The commissioning authority must, as soon as practicable 5
after receiving an RCA report under section 36H, give the 6
Health Quality and Complaints Commission-- 7
(a) a copy of the report; and 8
(b) details of the place where the reportable event happened. 9
`36P Giving of copy of RCA report or chain of events 10
document--medical director 11
`(1) The commissioning authority may give a copy of each RCA 12
report or chain of events document received by the authority 13
under section 36H to the medical director for an authorised 14
purpose. 15
`(2) At the time of giving a copy of an RCA report or chain of 16
events document to the medical director under section 36H, 17
the commissioning authority must also give the medical 18
director-- 19
(a) details of the reportable event; and 20
(b) details of the place where the event happened. 21
`(3) The medical director-- 22
(a) must not give a copy of the report or document to 23
anyone else, other than a person who performs functions 24
relating to the authorised purpose for the medical 25
director; and 26
(b) must not disclose any information contained in the copy 27
of the report or document, or information mentioned in 28
subsection (2), to anyone else other than for the 29
authorised purpose for which the copy of the report or 30
document was given; and 31
(c) must not use the copy of the report or document, and the 32
information mentioned in subsection (2), other than for 33
s 50 67 s 50
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
the authorised purpose for which the copy of the report 1
or document was given. 2
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 3
`(4) A person who performs functions relating to the authorised 4
purpose for the medical director-- 5
(a) must not give a copy of the report or document to 6
anyone else; and 7
(b) must not disclose any information contained in the copy 8
of the report or document, or information mentioned in 9
subsection (2), to anyone else other than for the 10
authorised purpose for which the copy of the report or 11
document was given; and 12
(c) must not use the copy of the report or document, and the 13
information mentioned in subsection (2), other than for 14
the authorised purpose for which the copy of the report 15
or document was given. 16
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 17
`(5) An authorised purpose mentioned in subsection (3)(b) or (c) 18
or subsection (4)(b) or (c) does not include the disclosure of 19
information contained in the copy of the RCA report or chain 20
of events document, or information mentioned in subsection 21
(2), that may lead to the identification of-- 22
(a) a person involved in providing the relevant ambulance 23
service; or 24
(b) the person who received the relevant ambulance service. 25
`(6) In this section-- 26
authorised purpose means a purpose relating to the planning, 27
implementation, management and evaluation of safety 28
initiatives and programs for the Queensland Ambulance 29
Service. 30
relevant ambulance service means the ambulance service 31
during the provision of which the reportable event happened. 32
s 50 68 s 50
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`36Q Giving of copy of RCA report etc.--investigation 1
under the Coroners Act 2003 2
`(1) This section applies if-- 3
(a) a coroner is investigating the death of a person; and 4
(b) the death is a reportable event that happened while an 5
ambulance service was being provided to the person. 6
`(2) This section also applies if-- 7
(a) a coroner is investigating the death of a person; and 8
(b) the coroner considers that a reportable event that 9
happened while an ambulance service was being 10
provided to the person may be relevant to the 11
investigation; and 12
(c) the event is not the death. 13
`(3) If the coroner, or a police officer helping the coroner to 14
investigate the death, asks the commissioning authority 15
whether an RCA team has conducted or is conducting an RCA 16
of the reportable event, the commissioning authority must 17
respond to the query as soon as practicable. 18
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 19
`(4) Subsection (5) applies if-- 20
(a) an RCA of the reportable event has been conducted by 21
an RCA team; and 22
(b) an RCA report relating to the event has been given under 23
section 36H to the commissioning authority; and 24
(c) the commissioning authority has under subsection (3) 25
received a query from the coroner or a police officer 26
helping the coroner to investigate the death. 27
`(5) The commissioning authority must-- 28
(a) if the commissioning authority received the report 29
before receiving the query under subsection (3)--give a 30
copy of the report to the coroner or police officer as 31
soon as practicable after receiving the query; or 32
(b) if the commissioning authority had not received the 33
report before receiving the query under subsection 34
s 50 69 s 50
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
(3)--give a copy of the report to the coroner or police 1
officer as soon as practicable after receiving the report. 2
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 3
`(6) Subsection (7) applies if-- 4
(a) an RCA has been started by an RCA team in relation to 5
the reportable event; and 6
(b) the RCA team has, under section 36J(2) or 36K(2) or 7
(3), stopped conducting the RCA; and 8
(c) the commissioning authority has under subsection (3) 9
received a query from the coroner or a police officer 10
helping the coroner to investigate the death. 11
`(7) The commissioning authority must-- 12
(a) if the RCA team stopped conducting the RCA before the 13
commissioning authority received the query under 14
subsection (3)--give the coroner or police officer a stop 15
notice as soon as practicable after receiving the query; 16
or 17
(b) otherwise--give the coroner or police officer a stop 18
notice as soon as practicable. 19
`(8) In this section-- 20
stop notice means a notice stating-- 21
(a) if the RCA team stopped conducting the RCA under 22
section 36J(2)--that fact; or 23
(b) if the RCA team stopped conducting the RCA because 24
of a direction given by the commissioning authority 25
under section 36K(2) or (3)-- 26
(i) that fact; and 27
(ii) the reasons for giving the direction. 28
`36R Giving of information to Minister or chief executive 29
`(1) The Minister or chief executive may, in relation to an RCA of 30
a reportable event, ask the commissioning authority-- 31
(a) whether an RCA report has been received by the 32
authority under section 36H; and 33
s 50 70 s 50
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
(b) if an RCA report has been received by the authority 1
under section 36H--for a copy of the report. 2
`(2) The authority must comply with the request as soon as 3
practicable. 4
`36S Giving of copy of, or information contained in, RCA 5
report--person who has sufficient personal or 6
professional interest 7
`The commissioning authority may give a copy of an RCA 8
report received by the authority under section 36H, or 9
information contained in the report, to a person who the 10
authority reasonably believes has a sufficient personal or 11
professional interest in the reportable event. 12
`36T Information not to be given in evidence 13
`(1) A stated person is neither competent nor compellable-- 14
(a) to produce in a proceeding, or in compliance with a 15
requirement under an Act or legal process, any 16
document in the person's possession or under the 17
person's control created-- 18
(i) by, or at the request of, a person under this part; or 19
(ii) solely for the conduct of an RCA of a reportable 20
event; or 21
(b) to divulge or communicate in a proceeding, or in 22
compliance with a requirement under an Act or legal 23
process, information that came to the person's notice as 24
a stated person. 25
Example-- 26
Under subsection (1), a stated person is neither competent nor 27
compellable to produce a document or give information mentioned in 28
paragraph (a) or (b) of the subsection to an authorised person under a 29
notice given to the stated person under the Health Quality and 30
Complaints Commission Act 2006, section 123. 31
s 50 71 s 50
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a requirement made in 1
proceedings for an alleged offence against this part or section 2
4913 by the stated person. 3
`(3) In this section-- 4
information includes-- 5
(a) the identity of a member of an RCA team; and 6
(b) information from which a member of an RCA team 7
could be identified. 8
stated person means a person who is or was any of the 9
following-- 10
(a) a member of an RCA team; 11
(b) the commissioning authority; 12
(c) a relevant person for an RCA team or the 13
commissioning authority; 14
(d) a person who performs functions for the medical 15
director. 16
`36U Information-provider can not be compelled to give 17
particular information in evidence 18
`A person can not be compelled to divulge or communicate in 19
a proceeding, or in compliance with a requirement under an 20
Act or legal process, any of the following information-- 21
(a) whether or not the person gave information to an RCA 22
team for its conduct of an RCA of a reportable event; 23
(b) what information the person gave to an RCA team for its 24
conduct of an RCA of a reportable event; 25
(c) information given by the person to an RCA team that 26
was created by the person or another person solely for 27
its conduct of an RCA of a reportable event; 28
(d) information the person was given, or questions the 29
person was asked, by an RCA team during its conduct of 30
an RCA of a reportable event. 31
13 Section 49 (Confidentiality)
s 50 72 s 50
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`Division 6 Protections 1
`36V Protection from liability 2
`(1) A person who is or was a member of an RCA team, or 3
relevant person for an RCA team, is not civilly liable for an 4
act done, or omission made, honestly and without negligence 5
under this part. 6
`(2) Without limiting subsection (1), if the act or omission 7
involves giving information-- 8
(a) in a proceeding for defamation, the person has a defence 9
of absolute privilege for publishing the information; and 10
(b) if the person would otherwise be required to maintain 11
confidentiality about the information given under an 12
Act, oath, or rule of law or practice, the person-- 13
(i) does not contravene the Act, oath, or rule of law or 14
practice by giving the information; and 15
(ii) is not liable to disciplinary action for giving the 16
information. 17
`(3) If a person who is or was a member of an RCA team, or 18
relevant person for an RCA team, incurs costs in defending 19
proceedings relating to a liability against which the person is 20
protected under this section, the person must be indemnified 21
by the State. 22
`36W Giving of information protected 23
`(1) This section applies to a person who honestly and on 24
reasonable grounds gives information to an RCA team, or a 25
relevant person for an RCA team, for the RCA team's conduct 26
of an RCA of a reportable event. 27
Examples of persons who may give information under subsection (1)-- 28
· the commissioning authority 29
· a relevant person for the commissioning authority 30
`(2) The person is not subject to any liability for giving the 31
information and no action, claim or demand may be taken or 32
made of or against the person for giving the information. 33
s 50 73 s 50
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`(3) Also, merely because the person gives the information, the 1
person can not be held to have-- 2
(a) breached any code of professional etiquette or ethics; or 3
(b) departed from accepted standards of professional 4
conduct. 5
`(4) Without limiting subsections (2) and (3)-- 6
(a) in a proceeding for defamation, the person has a defence 7
of absolute privilege for publishing the information; and 8
(b) if the person would otherwise be required to maintain 9
confidentiality about the information under an Act, oath, 10
or rule of law or practice, the person-- 11
(i) does not contravene the Act, oath, or rule of law or 12
practice by giving the information; and 13
(ii) is not liable to disciplinary action for giving the 14
information. 15
`36X Reprisal and grounds for reprisals 16
`(1) A person must not cause, or attempt or conspire to cause, 17
detriment to another person because, or in the belief that, 18
anybody has provided, or may provide, assistance to an RCA 19
team in its conduct of an RCA of a reportable event. 20
`(2) An attempt to cause detriment includes an attempt to induce a 21
person to cause detriment. 22
`(3) A contravention of subsection (1) is a reprisal or the taking of 23
a reprisal. 24
`(4) A ground mentioned in subsection (1) as the ground for a 25
reprisal is the unlawful ground for the reprisal. 26
`(5) For the contravention to happen, it is sufficient if the unlawful 27
ground is a substantial ground for the act or omission that is 28
the reprisal, even if there is another ground for the act or 29
omission. 30
`36Y Offence for taking reprisal 31
`(1) A person who takes a reprisal commits an offence. 32
s 50 74 s 50
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Maximum penalty--167 penalty units or 2 years 1
imprisonment. 2
`(2) The offence is a misdemeanour. 3
`36Z Damages entitlement for reprisal 4
`(1) A reprisal is a tort and a person who takes a reprisal is liable in 5
damages to any person who suffers detriment as a result. 6
`(2) Any appropriate remedy that may be granted by a court for a 7
tort may be granted by a court for the taking of a reprisal. 8
`(3) If the claim for damages goes to trial in the Supreme Court or 9
the District Court, it must be decided by a judge sitting 10
without a jury. 11
`Division 7 Miscellaneous 12
`36ZA Application of provisions of this part 13
`If the commissioning authority acts or purports to act under 14
section 36E14 and it transpires the event the basis of the action 15
is not a reportable event, the provisions of this part apply as if 16
the event were a reportable event. 17
`36ZB RCA report not admissible in evidence 18
`(1) An RCA report is not admissible in evidence in any 19
proceedings, including, for example-- 20
(a) a civil proceeding; or 21
(b) a criminal proceeding; or 22
(c) a disciplinary proceeding under the Health Practitioners 23
(Professional Standards) Act 1999. 24
`(2) However, a copy of an RCA report given to a coroner under 25
section 36Q may be admitted in evidence by a coroner in an 26
inquest under the Coroners Act 2003 into the death of a 27
person-- 28
14 Section 36E (Appointment of RCA team)
s 51 75 s 52
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
(a) if section 36Q(1) applies--if the reportable event is the 1
death; or 2
(b) if section 36Q(2) applies--if the reportable event 3
happened while an ambulance service was being 4
provided to the person. 5
`(3) Subsection (1) applies subject to section 36T(2).15 6
`36ZC Review of pt 4A 7
`(1) The Minister must, before the second anniversary of the 8
commencement of section 36E, start a review of this part to 9
ensure it is adequately meeting community expectations and 10
its provisions remain appropriate. 11
`(2) The Minister must, as soon as practicable after the review is 12
finished, cause a report of the outcome of the review to be laid 13
before the Legislative Assembly.'. 14
Clause 51 Amendment of s 50 (Proceedings for offences) 15
Section 50-- 16
insert-- 17
`(3) The requirement to proceed in a summary way is subject to 18
section 50B.'. 19
Clause 52 Insertion of new ss 50A and 50B 20
Part 6, after section 50-- 21
insert-- 22
`50A Proceedings for indictable offences 23
`(1) A proceeding for an indictable offence against this Act may 24
be taken, at the election of the prosecution-- 25
(a) by way of summary proceeding under the Justices Act 26
1886; or 27
(b) on indictment. 28
15 Section 36T (Information not to be given in evidence)
s 52 76 s 52
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
`(2) A magistrate must not hear an indictable offence summarily 1
if-- 2
(a) the defendant asks at the start of the hearing that the 3
charge be prosecuted on indictment; or 4
(b) the magistrate considers the charge should be 5
prosecuted on indictment. 6
`(3) If subsection (2) applies-- 7
(a) the magistrate must proceed by way of an examination 8
of witnesses for an indictable offence; and 9
(b) a plea of the person charged at the start of the 10
proceeding must be disregarded; and 11
(c) evidence brought in the proceeding before the 12
magistrate decided to act under subsection (2) is taken to 13
be evidence in the proceeding for the committal of the 14
person for trial or sentence; and 15
(d) before committing the person for trial or sentence, the 16
magistrate must make a statement to the person as 17
required by the Justices Act 1886, section 104(2)(b).16 18
`50B Limitation on who may summarily hear indictable 19
offence 20
`(1) The proceeding must be before a magistrate if it is a 21
proceeding-- 22
(a) for the summary conviction of a person on a charge for 23
an indictable offence; or 24
(b) for an examination of witnesses for a charge for an 25
indictable offence. 26
`(2) However, if the proceeding is brought before a justice who is 27
not a magistrate, jurisdiction is limited to taking or making a 28
procedural action or order within the meaning of the Justices 29
of the Peace and Commissioners for Declarations Act 1991.'. 30
16 Justices Act 1886, section 104 (Proceedings upon an examination of witnesses in
relation to an indictable offence)
s 53 77 s 54
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Clause 53 Amendment of s 54 (Regulation-making power) 1
Section 54(2)-- 2
insert-- 3
`(d) the procedures to be followed by an RCA team in its 4
conduct of an RCA of a reportable event.'. 5
Clause 54 Amendment of schedule (Dictionary) 6
Schedule-- 7
insert-- 8
`blameworthy act, for part 4A, division 4, see section 36I. 9
chain of events document, for part 4A, see section 36A. 10
commissioning authority, for part 4A, see section 36A. 11
coroner, for part 4A, see section 36A. 12
information, for part 4A, division 5, see section 36L. 13
medical director, for part 4A, division 5, see section 36L. 14
notice, for part 4A, see section 36A. 15
RCA report for part 4A, see section 36A. 16
RCA team see section 36A. 17
relevant person, for part 4A, see section 36A. 18
reportable event see section 36A. 19
reprisal means a reprisal mentioned in section 36X(3). 20
root cause analysis or RCA see section 36B. 21
takes a reprisal means the taking of a reprisal as mentioned in 22
section 36X(3).'. 23
s 55 78 s 56
Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2007
Part 7 Amendment of Freedom of 1
Information Act 1992 2
Clause 55 Act amended in pt 7 3
This part amends the Freedom of Information Act 1992. 4
Clause 56 Insertion of new s 11CA 5
After section 11C-- 6
insert-- 7
`11CA Application of Act to particular documents under the 8
Ambulance Service Act 1991 or the Health Services 9
Act 1991 10
`(1) This Act does not apply to any of the following documents-- 11
(a) a document prepared by an RCA team under the relevant 12
provision; 13
(b) a document prepared by a commissioning authority 14
under the relevant provision; 15
(c) a document prepared by a relevant person for an RCA 16
team or commissioning authority under the relevant 17
provision; 18
(d) a document given by a person to an RCA team that was 19
prepared by the person solely for the RCA team's 20
conduct of an RCA of a reportable event under the 21
relevant provision. 22
`(2) In this section-- 23
relevant provision means the Ambulance Service Act 1991, 24
part 4A or the Health Services Act 1991, part 4B.'. 25
© State of Queensland 2007
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