Nsw health bullying policy

This page provides more detailed information about the Anti-Bullying Advice Line. For clear and useful information about the ABAL service, please see the basic information page or the scope of this service at a glance.

General information about the Anti-Bullying Advice Line

NSW Health is addressing bullying in the workplace and as part of the Health Action Plan for NSW known as Caring Together, the role of the Anti-Bullying Advice Line is to:

• Provide a consistent state-wide approach to the management of bullying complaints
• Provide confidential, objective and consistent advice on policies and procedures for the management of bullying complaints
• To promote a positive culture with no tolerance for bullying or harassment
• Serve as a confidential point of contact for health employees
• To improve the long term environment in which clinical care is delivered.

• Advisors do not manage workplace complaints or represent staff involved in a complaint
• Advisors are not legally trained and cannot offer any legal advice or legal help
• The Anti-Bullying Advice Line is not a replacement for your local HR department
• Advisors will not give a ruling on complaints or make formal decisions on behalf of NSW Health or Local Health District/Entities
• Advisors are not counsellors and will not act as counsellors for staff
• The Anti-Bullying Advice Line is not a replacement for your doctor or the 000 emergency services. In a health emergency you should always call an ambulance on 000.

The Anti-Bullying Advice Line is a telephone advice service for all NSW Health staff, to answer any questions about the process for managing bullying complaints. The Anti-Bullying Advice Line is run by Healthshare NSW and provides easy access to objective advice to bullying or harassment complaints.

Your Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a professional, confidential counselling service for employees and their immediate family members. This service is provided by either an independent external provider or internal counsellors in each Local Health District. Please refer to your Local Health District intranet or Workforce Development Unit for more information about the service in your area. Counselling can help you with many personal or work related issues, such as:

The Anti-Bullying Advice line is available to all permanent, temporary and casual staff within NSW Health.

Advisors can provide advice to managers on effectively managing bullying complaints, helping them to improve their confidence and ability to deal with complaints.

Please refer to your Local Health District HR department to arrange an interpreter service as the Advice Line is not multilingual.

You will be charged the cost of a local call.

Yes. Calls to the Anti-Bullying Advice Line are shown on itemised phone bills. However, calls returned from an Advisor are done so using "withheld number" so the Anti-Bullying Advice Line number will not show up on a mobile phone log.

The role of an Anti-Bullying Advice Line Advisor

The Ant-Bullying Advice Line is committed to treating all calls seriously, promptly, sensitively, confidentially and without bias. Your call will be answered by an Advisor who will provide you with consistent and professional advice in line with NSW Health guidelines, policies and procedures. All Advisors are fully trained to provide confidential support and assistance to staff. Advisors do not "take sides" and will not advocate for callers.

The Advisor who takes your call will ask you a series of questions to better understand the reason for your call and ensure you are given the right information. If you do not feel comfortable answering a question please let the Advisor know and they will move on to the next question.

Questions may include the following:

Your name, ID and Local Health District/Entity (you may choose to remain anonymous)
• What is the history of the issue you are calling about - have you called before, have you spoken to anyone else about the issue etc.
• Who else is involved? (e.g. manager, colleague, staff member etc.)
• The effect this is having on your work and your workmates.

Advisors follow structured steps to ensure that your call is handled appropriately and provide you with advice and guidance on the necessary steps to manage a bullying complaint.

An Advisor will:

• Obtain information from you
• Clarify understanding of the complaint and seek your confirmation
• Determine and manage your expectations
• Assess the nature of the complaint to determine policy/procedural advice to resolve the issue
• Encourage self resolution where possible with your direct manager, the manager of your direct manager or to approach your local HR representative
• Measure and confirm your understanding of the advice given
• Advise of additional support where necessary.

The Advisor is there to advise you on bullying issues in your workplace. You can ask any questions which you feel will assist you in resolving your complaint and the Advisor will answer with policy and procedural advice, or point you in the right direction to find out more information.

The Anti-Bullying Advice Line has been established to provide you with convenient, professional advice to help you with bullying or harassment concerns. You could, for example, call the Anti-bullying Advice Line in the following situations:

• You believe you, or a colleague, or a manager, are either bullying or being bullied at work and you're not sure what to do
• You want more information on policies and procedures dealing with bullying and harassment
• You need to know where to go to find a solution to a bullying concern
• You are a manager and need advice on the interpretation and application of people management policies or procedures.

You do not have to be involved in the bullying to use the service and you can call on behalf of other staff in the workplace if they ask you to.

Tips for calling the Anti-Bullying Advice Line

Here are some things you can do to prepare yourself before you call the Anti-Bullying Advice Line. These things will also help you in the process, improve the results of the complaint and make sure you get the most out of our service:

1. Act sooner rather than later: Things usually get worse if they are left too late. If you believe there is a problem in your workplace involving bullying or harassment it is best to raise the issue straight away and try to resolve it quickly.
2. Arm yourself with knowledge: Do you have all the facts about the situation? Writing these down before you call the Anti-Bullying Advice Line may be helpful. The Advisor can then provide you with more information on policies and procedures and help to clarify the situation and what you can do.
3. Think things through: Think about the situation and what has been happening: What exactly happened, when and where did it happen? What is it that is affecting you? What outcome do you want and what do you want to achieve by calling the Anti-Bullying Advice Line? Knowing the answers to these questions will help the you make the most out of your call with an Advisor.

1. Keep records: It is a good idea to write down information about the issue, and what you have done to try to sort it out. You need to remember and explain the details of what has happened. Keeping a diary note will help you do this.
2. Get Support: Dealing with bullying or harassment can be difficult and stressful so you may wish to refer to the EAP or consider having a support person with you during your meetings. Please note that a support person cannot advocate on your behalf.

Your Privacy

All parties have rights and responsibilities in relation to privacy and confidentiality. Information relating to a complaint should only be provided on a "need to know" basis, and should not be provided to third parties who have no legitimate involvement in the process. Those involved in a complaint have both the right to confidentiality, and the responsibility for maintaining confidentiality.

You can always choose to deal with the Anti-Bullying Advice Line anonymously. Generally due to the personal nature of bullying, it is sometimes not possible to ensure a fair process if you do not provide enough information, and so the Advisor may be limited in the amount of advice they can provide if details are inadequate.

Should a staff member have a concern about the service he/she received from the Anti-Bullying Advice Line, the concerns should immediately be brought to the attention of the Anti Bullying Advice Line HR Supervisor by calling the 1300 416 088 and ask to speak with the Supervisor, or alternatively you can raise the issue with the unit HR Manager by asking for the HR Manager.

General Queries / Common Scenarios

• Have you followed up your complaint with your Human Resources department?
• Have you been provided with the reasons for the delay?
• Alternatively, you can raise your concerns with the next line manager.

• You can raise your concerns with the next level of management, i.e. your manager's manager.
• Alternatively, you can raise your concerns with your Human Resources department.

• Another option is to find their email address and email them.
• You can escalate to a more senior Human Resources person.

• Bullying complaints should be made according to your Local Health District complaints procedures.
• Whilst it is desirable that a verbal complaint be followed up in writing, responding to the complaint should not be dependent on its receipt in writing, please refer to your Local Health District procedures.

• You have a right to raise a complaint, it is up to you if you wish to make a complaint. You may want to report this if there is a significant workplace risk.
• You can also advise/remind the recipient of bullying that workplace bullying is unacceptable.

If we haven't answered your question, need any of the above questions further explained or if there is something you don't understand or if you just need to talk things through, please call the Anti-Bullying Advice Line on 1300 416 088.