Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) The functions of
the Director are —
(a) to
undertake the receipt, conciliation and investigation of complaints under
Part 3 and to perform any other function vested in the Director by this
Act or another written law;
(b) to
review and identify the causes of complaints, and to suggest ways of removing
and minimizing those causes and bringing them to the notice of the public;
(c) to
take steps to bring to the notice of users and providers details of complaints
procedures under this Act;
(d) to
assist providers in developing and improving complaints procedures and the
training of staff in handling complaints;
(e) with
the approval of the Minister, to inquire into broader issues of health care
arising out of complaints received;
(f)
subject to subsection (4), to cause information about the work of the
Office to be published from time to time; and
(g) to
provide advice generally on any matter relating to complaints under this Act,
and in particular —
(i)
advice to users on the making of complaints to
registration boards; and
(ii)
advice to users as to other avenues available for dealing
with complaints.
(2) The Director may
do all things that are necessary or convenient to be done for the performance
of the Director’s functions.
(3) Without limiting
subsection (2) the Director may with the approval of a registration board
or the State Administrative Tribunal, as the case may be —
(a)
appear at any proceedings before that board or the State Administrative
Tribunal and call witnesses and otherwise adduce evidence and make
submissions; and
(b) do
any of those things through a representative.
(4) The function of
the Director under subsection (1)(f) does not include the publication of
information in a form that —
(a)
discloses the identity of a user involved in a complaint; or
(b)
might enable the identity of any such person to be ascertained,
but nothing in this
subsection affects the operation of section 56.
(5) The Director is to
perform any function conferred on or imposed on the Director under any other
Act.
[Section 10 amended by No. 44 of 1999
s. 28(2); No. 55 of 2004 s. 493.]