Your rights and responsibilities

Your healthcare rights

Everyone seeking or receiving care through Smiling Starts has rights relating to their care. You should feel welcome, empowered and receive the best care by listening to and learning from your experiences and making sure you understand your rights and responsibilities.

Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights

The Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights applies to all people receiving health care in Australia. The Charter describes what you, or your child, can expect when receiving health care. This includes the right to:

• Access: You have the right to get care that meets your needs.
• Safety: You have the right to receive safe, high quality care in a place that makes you feel safe.
• Respect: You have the right to be treated as an individual with dignity and respect, and to have your culture and beliefs recognised and respected.
• Partnership: You have the right to ask questions and be involved in open and honest communication, including make decisions with the healthcare provider, to the extent that choice is available and you are able to include the people that you want in planning and decision-making.
• Information: You have the right to clear information about you or your child’s condition, the possible benefits and risks of different tests and treatments, so you can give informed consent. This includes receiving information about services, waiting times and costs, and to be given assistance, when needed, to help understand and use health information.
• Access my health information: You have the right to be told if something has gone wrong during health care, how it happened, how it may affect you and what is being done to make care safe in the future.
• Privacy: You have the right to have your personal privacy respected, including having information about you and your health kept secure and confidential.
• Give feedback: You have the right to provide feedback or make a complaint without it affecting the way that you are treated, including having your concerns addressed in a transparent and timely way, sharing your experience, and participating to improve the quality of care and health services.

The Charter is available in 29 languages.