We understand abuse can be difficult to talk about, but we will provide a safe private place for you to speak with us about any concerns you have.
Our people are trained to support you and we have the processes in place to respond quickly.
Definition of abuse and neglect
Abuse is when someone tries to take away your rights. Abuse is when someone does or says things to you that make you upset or frightened. You may be scared to speak out or to stop them. Sometimes a person may not realise they are hurting you. But some people do it on purpose. Either way, abuse is wrong.
There are different kinds of abuse. These include:
Physical abuse – When someone hurts your body, such as hitting or restraining you.
Sexual abuse – When someone makes you do sexual things that you don’t want to do or touching you where you do not want to be touched. This can include grooming of young people and children.
Emotional abuse – When someone does things to hurt your feelings.
Neglect – When your care and support is not enough to meet your basic needs.
Financial abuse – When someone spends your money or takes your belongings without asking or encourages you to buy them things.
Discrimination – When people treat you differently or unfairly because of who you are, your abilities and/or what you believe in or where you are from. Maintaining the cultural safety of clients, young people and children is important to preventing discrimination
Who should you speak to?
You can disclose allegations of abuse or provide feedback about any aspect of your service to anyone in your support team. It’s ok to speak to whomever you prefer but please keep speaking to people until you feel your matter has been resolved.
There are other internal resources that you can contact at any time to discuss your concerns:
Your Area Manager or State Manager, oversees all of the service delivery in your region and can be contacted at your local office on 1300 FUTURE (388 873). You can also contact our General Manager on 03 9481 9101.
