Services
		RISK MANAGEMENT IN PROTECTIVE ENVIRONMENTS is essential to meet the general duty of care to clients and provide for their special care needs whether they are children, adults or elderly people. The obligation to ensure the health, safety and welfare of clients, employees and volunteers is uppermost in the minds of the leaders of organisations providing care in schools, churches, youth organisations or aged care facilities. Legislation throughout Australia, particularly in Child Protection, Aged Care and Occupational Health & Safety, requires compliance by all service providers. There are stringent conditions that must be observed in the notification of abuse and subsequent actions by the organisation. The public image and reputation of the organisation depends on such matters being well handled. Eliminating abuse is essential for all protective environments. The development and continual improvement of a Protective System that meets the needs of all people who depend on it is a huge challenge. This System must be proactive and based on outstanding levels of care and risk management principles. The Australian Standards: AS/NZS 4360:1999 Risk management AS/NZS 4801:2001 Occupational health and safety management systems AS/NZS 4804:2001 Occupational health and safety management systems HB 203:2000 Environmental risk management establish first principles and provide specifications, guidance, systems and techniques. However, using these standards in conjunction with the legislation relating to specific care environments creates the challenge. Often, Protective Systems are not proactive in constantly seeking to minimise the potential for abuse. Rather they are reactive to complaints or allegations of abuse. RISK MANAGEMENT has become a high priority for many of our clients in protective environments. Requests for risk services have increased to the point where in mid 2002 we took the decisive step of forming a new company, LKA Risk Services Pty Ltd to meet clientsí needs. LKA RISK SERVICES will provide a highly experienced team to identify and treat the particular risks experienced by the organisation. The team will be selected because of their capacity to tailor a Protective System or appropriate response to alleged abuse. PROTECTIVE SYSTEMS will meet the requirements of the organisation, obligations under legislation and risk management principles. INVESTIGATIONS OF ALLEGED ABUSE will be undertaken by highly qualified and experienced, licensed investigators. They will meet stringent investigation standards, follow agreed protocols and provide outstanding documentation to allow organisations to meet reporting obligations to relevant government authorities. MAJOR AREAS OF PRACTICE CHILD PROTECTION Review and development of protective systems Compliance with legislation Monitoring and reporting systems Managing investigations of alleged child abuse (physical, sexual, emotional) Witness location, interviews, evidence discovery and examination for historical claims Preparation of material for disciplinary and court proceedings For: Schools and educational systems; childcare centres; coaching services; youth organisations; educational, recreational and tourist facilities; churches and religious groups; youth services providers and their insurers. INVESTIGATION AND MITIGATION OF ABUSE Review and development of protective systems in specialised environments e.g. aged care Compliance with legislation Monitoring and reporting systems Managing current investigations of abuse made against service providers and carers Witness location, interviews, evidence discovery and examination for historical claims Preparation of material for disciplinary and court proceedings For: Hospitals; aged care services including nursing homes, hostels and retirement villages; home nursing providers; disability service providers; community care facilities; churches; carers; and correctional facilities. TRAINING Induction programs for new employees (understanding protection and abuse) Annual revision programs Protective Systems Development Protective behaviours for clients and staff Eliminating abuse for principals, managers and supervisors Dealing with disclosures, complaints and allegations Managing investigations of abuse Investigation protocols and procedures For: All workplaces MANAGEMENT OF ABUSE INVESTIGATIONS All investigations are directly managed by Geoff Kelly, our Managing Director. As an investigator, Geoff Kelly has over 20 years experience with personal injury claims, most categories of general insurance claims, and commercial and administration matters. Geoff has advised insurers, major employers and government instrumentalities such as Comcare, on investigation and claims management procedures. Geoff led the investigation team for the Commonwealth in the landmark "Stolen Generations" cases. This involved interviewing a large number of elderly lay and religious people including many indigenous people. Much of this was undertaken in isolated interstate locations, predominantly in the Northern Territory. You would be aware of the sensitivity, tact and respect required in such interviews. Grahame Wilson joined LKA in 2002 after many years as a senior administrator with the NSW Department of Education and Training (DET). Grahame has significant qualifications and experience in Child Protection Investigations, Risk Management, Injury Prevention, Workers Compensation and Litigation Management. Grahame was a field investigator at the time of the Royal Commission in NSW and investigated matters of alleged sexual assault made against current and past employees of the DET. Some of these allegations went back 20 to 30 years. Later, he led the DET's Occupational Health and Safety Unit where he was responsible for managing litigation and instructing defending solicitors in relation to workers compensation claims. In some instances, these claims were made as a result of the employee being investigated for alleged child abuse. Most recently Grahame was the Director of Child Protection Investigation where he led a team of twenty five investigators who investigated allegations of child abuse (physical, sexual and emotional) made against the DET's employees. Geoff and Grahame have many years of exceptional experience in historical and current investigations of alleged abuse. They have personally interviewed many alleged victims, witnesses, family members, members of religious orders and the alleged perpetrators. These people range in age from the very young to the elderly. We provide a range of investigative services from conducting interviews on behalf of our client or their insurers, to carrying out a full investigation where we formally put allegations to the person subject of the allegations, seek their response and make findings on the balance of probability.  Contact Us

© Lee Kelly & Associates Pty Ltd 2002