Human Service Workers and the Law Assignment - Desklib

HUMAN SERVICE WORKERS AND THE LAW JUST 2005
REVISION WEEK 1 – 3 SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS TO COMPLETE
AS PREPARATION FOR THE EXAM AT THE END OF THIS COURSE.
FOR SOME OF YOUR ANSWERS YOU NEED TO WRITE 2 TO 3
SENTENCES AND YOU CAN USE YOUR NOTES AND LECTURE POWER
POINTS IN ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS.
1. DESCRIBE THE POWERS AND FUNCTION OF THE HIGH COURT OF
AUSTRALIA
The High Court of Australia is the highest court in the judiciary system of
the nation. Back in 1901, the High Court was formed through section 71 of
the Constitution. The main function of the High Court is to interpret and
apply the laws in the nation, and to decide upon the cases which have
been referred to it particularly the ones challenging the constitutional
validity of laws, hearing appeals, by special leave.
2. WHAT IS MEANT BY THE SEPARATION OF POWERS
Separation of powers refers to the division of powers in the institution of
the government in the three distinctive branches of executive, legislative,
and judicial. The lawmaking power is with the legislative branch, the
executive branch puts the laws in operation and the judiciary branch
interprets the laws.
3. IN SECTION 51 OF THE AUSTRALIAN CONSTITUTION NAME 3 AREAS
THAT HUMAN SERVICE WORKERS MAY BE INVOLVED IN WORKING
WITH CLIENTS
Section 51 of the Australian Constitution gives the powers to the
Commonwealth, i.e., to the Australian Parliament, which are legislative in
nature, when subjected to the constitution. Under this section, there are
39 subsections, where each of these is described under a head of power
where the Parliament has the lawmaking power. The examples for which
the human service workers may be employed in includes parental rights,
custody of infants, and guardianship of infants.
4. IN THE AASW AND ACWA CODE OF ETHICS THERE IS A
REQUIREMENT TO SPEAK OUT ABOUT SOCIAL INJUSTICES, DISCUSS
THIS?
The Codes of Ethics given by the AASW and the ACWA work to address
and redress the injustice which affects the lives of the socially
disadvantaged, clients and client groups. These codes work towards
brining systematic social changes for reduced social injustice. Thus,
whenever such incidents occur where social injustice is caused these
codes require that the same should be brought to the attention of others.
5. USING THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS DISCUSS
WHAT HUMAN RIGHTS ARE

HUMAN SERVICE WORKERS AND THE LAW JUST 2005
The United Nations have adopted the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, which relates to the protection of human rights across the globe.
Human rights are the born rights of every human being irrespective of
their sex, race, language, ethnicity, religion, or any other status. So, a
person has the right to be free from slavery and torture, and express their
opinions in a free manner.
6. NAME 4 PIECES OF LEGISLATION IN AUSTRALIA THAT PERTAIN TO
HUMAN RIGHTS (CAN BE COMMONWEALTH OR STATE LEGISLATION)
In Australia, on order to protect from any kind of breach of human rights,
different legislations have been put forward. These include Australian
Human Rights Commission Act, 1986 (Cth), Age Discrimination Act, 2004
(Cth), Disability Discrimination Act, 1992 (Cth), Racial Discrimination Act,
1975 (Cth), and Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth).
7. DISCUSS PRINCIPLES OF ETHICAL DECISION MAKING AND HOW
DILEMMAS COULD BE WORKED THROUGH BY HUMAN SERVICE
WORKERS
In the work of human service workers, they are often faced with ethical
dilemmas. These are such situations in which the options available before
the workers are neither exactly right, nor exactly wrong, and thus making
the decision becomes a difficult task. In this regard, there is a need to
make ethical decision making by applying different ethical theories like
utilitarianism, virtue ethics and Kantianism.
8. UNDER THE CODE OF ETHICS THERE IS A REQUIREMENT OF
CONFIDENTIALITY, WHAT ARE SOME LIMITATIONS TO MAINTAINING
CONFIDENTIALITY
Confidentiality is a key component in social work as the social workers
have to ensure their clients that confidentiality would be maintained when
the issues of the clients are dealt with, particularly when it relates to some
sensitive information. The requirement of confidentiality is covered under
Codes of Ethics given by the AASW and the ACWA. However, there are
limitations in keeping confidentiality particularly due to its ethical
concerns. Often information or a complaint may not be relied on due to
anonymity of the client upheld by social workers. Limitations also include
such situations where failure to disclose information would contravene
mandatory reporting requirements or other legal obligations.
9. WHAT ARE THE AIMS AND PURPOSE OF DIVERSION COURTS, NAME 2
DIVERSION COURTS IN THE MAGISTRATE COURT AUTHORITY IN SA
The diversion courts come under the Magistrate Authority in South
Australia. The key goals of such courts is to prevent the further offending
behaviour by giving access to the person to an early assessment,
intervention and services through which the offences of such person are