Commonwealth of Australia
Hearing Services Administration Act 1997
Hearing Services Amendment Rules of Conduct 2006 (No. 1)
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Subsection 17(1) of the Hearing Services Administration Act 1997 (the Act) provides that the Minister must, by written instrument, formulate rules of conduct relating to the provision of hearing services to voucher-holders. The Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2005 (the Rules) currently prescribe rules for the purposes of subsection 17(1) of the Act. The Rules outline requirements and standards which service providers contracted to deliver hearing services under the Australian Government Hearing Services Program (the Program) must adhere to when supplying hearing services to voucher-holders. They also set out qualification and registration requirements for qualified practitioners engaged by service providers to undertake service delivery.
Paragraph 14(1)(e) of the Rules outlines the requirement that contracted service providers must deliver hearing services in accordance with the “Clinical Standards”. The “Clinical Standards” are contained in the document referred to in paragraph 4(1) of the Rules and form part of the contract between the Government and service providers. They set out the standards of services to be provided to voucher-holders by contracted service providers and personnel employed by the service provider.
The “Clinical Standards” are being revised to remove references to requirements that do not relate to standards of service. These requirements are being more appropriately included in the new Service Provider Contract which will commence from 1 July 2006. The date of effect of the revised “Clinical Standards” has been incorporated into the Hearing Services Amendment Rules of Conduct 2006 (No. 1) (the Amendment Rules) to be as existing on
1 July 2006.
Subrule 4(1) of the Rules defines the meaning of Trainee Audiometrists, while subparagraph 7(a)(vi) provides that these Trainee Audiometrists can provide hearing services to voucher holders. These and all other references to Trainee Audiometrists have been removed as the registration process for audiometrists has been replaced by a revised professional qualifications model. There has not been any registration of Trainee Audiometrists since 30 June 2000 and all existing Trainee Audiometrists have either completed their training or left the Program.
Paragraph 10(4)(a) of the Rules has been amended to remove ambiguity and to make the link between this paragraph and subparagraph 30(3)(c) clearer. The Program’s expectations of student audiometrists have not been changed by this amendment.
Rule 20 has been amended to specify and clarify to hearing service providers what is required of them in relation to providing ongoing follow up assistance to voucher-holders. The Program’s expectations of service providers have not been changed by this amendment.
Subrules 38(5) and 39(3) and Rule 39A were inserted to reinforce the authority of the Office to require refunds to a voucher-holder or the Office from a contracted service provider who obtains funds for an action that does not comply with the Rules relating to top-up devices, provision of information to potential voucher-holders and verification of voucher status. The Program’s expectations of service providers have not been changed by this amendment.
Rule 47 was omitted as it was potentially inconsistent with subsection 21(3) of the Act.
The determination also makes a minor technical amendment.
CONSULTATION
The Office wrote to all contracted service providers and industry associations on
23 March 2006 providing advice about the proposed changes to the Rules of Conduct and inviting comment and feedback on these proposed changes. All responses received have been assessed and, where necessary, the proposed changes have been modified to address the concerns raised. Further advice and feedback about the comments received was provided to contracted service providers and industry associations on 16 May 2006.
The determination is a “legislative instrument” for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Details of the determination are set out in the Attachment.
The determination commences on 1 July 2006.
Attachment
NOTES ON SECTIONS
1. Name of Rules
This section provides that the Rules may be cited as the Hearing Services Amendment Rules of Conduct 2006 (No 1).
2. Commencement
This section provides that the Rules commence on 1 July 2006.
3. Amendment of Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 1995
This section provides that Schedule 1 amends the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2005.
SCHEDULE 1 AMENDMENTS
Item [1] inserts the commencement date of 1 July 2006 in the definition of “Clinical Standards”.
Items [2], [3], [4], [6], [8], [9], [11] remove all references to Trainee Audiometrists, which is a discontinued classification of a person who is able to provide hearing services to a voucher-holder.
Item [5] inserts a requirement that that a Student Audiometrist must receive supervision by a qualified practitioner for 12 months following the completion of their 200 hours of clinical practice.
Item [7] defines what is meant by “ongoing follow up assistance”. It also specifies that a hearing services provider will be responsible for providing this ongoing follow up assistance, free of charge, for 12 months following the fitting of a hearing device.
Item [10] corrects a drafting error where the wrong Rule was cited.
Items [12], [13], and [14] inserts a requirement that a service provider must refund an amount of money up to the amount the voucher-holder, or person as the case may be, has paid where this money was paid inappropriately because the service provider has failed to comply with the Rules of Conduct.
Item [15] removes a rule which was potentially inconsistent with subsection 21(3) of the Act.