AHPRA means the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.
Doctor/s means a registered medical practitioner/s.
Informed consent means a person’s voluntary decision about medical care that is made with knowledge and understanding of the benefits and risks involved. Good medical practice includes:
- providing information to patients in a way that they can understand before asking for their consent
- obtaining informed consent or other valid authority before you undertake any examination, investigation or provide treatment (except in an emergency), or before involving patients in teaching or research.
Intimate examination means an examination that a patient or a member of the public may reasonably regard as intimate, usually the breasts, genitalia or an internal examination (vaginal or rectal). The definition of an intimate examination may also be affected by a patient’s cultural values and beliefs.
National Law means the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, as in force in each state and territory.
Sexual exploitation or abuse in the doctor-patient relationship means a doctor using the power imbalance, knowledge or influence developed in the doctor-patient relationship to abuse or exploit the patient’s trust or vulnerability for sexual purposes or sexual gratification, including by conducting unwarranted physical examinations.
Sexual harassment means any unwelcome sexual behaviour which is likely to offend, humiliate or intimidate. Sexual harassment is a type of sex discrimination and the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) makes sexual harassment unlawful in some circumstances.
Sexual harassment includes:
- making an unsolicited demand or request for sexual favours, either directly or by implication
- irrelevant mention of a patient’s or doctor’s sexual practices, problems or orientation
- ridicule of a patient’s sexual preferences or orientation
- comments about sexual history that are not relevant to the patient’s healthcare
- requesting details of sexual history or sexual preferences not relevant to the patient’s healthcare
- conversations about the sexual problems or fantasies of the doctor
- making suggestive comments about a patient’s appearance or body
- sending sexually explicit emails or text messages
- making inappropriate advances on social media
- requests for sex or repeated unwanted requests to go out on dates
- behaviour that may also be considered to be an offence under criminal law, such as physical assault, indecent exposure, stalking, obscene communications or sexual assault.9
Sexual relationship means the totality of the relationship between two people, when the relationship has some sexual element, including any sexual activity between a doctor and their patient.
Substitute decision-maker means a person who has the authority to make decisions on behalf of a patient who does not have the capacity to make their own decisions. A substitute decision-maker can be a parent or a legally appointed decision-maker. If in doubt, seek advice from the relevant guardianship authority.
9 Definition adapted from the Australian Human Rights Commission definition of sexual harassment accessed 14 August 2018