Dear colleagues, 

Thank you to those staff who have been involved with fit testing across Metro North facilities, as well as staff for taking responsibility and getting fit tested, keeping yourselves and our patients safe. As of Thursday 15 July, 9,915 fit tests have been completed, with the Metro North trained fit testers having completed 8,416 fit tests across Metro North. These numbers include supporting hotel quarantine staff, Queensland Police Service, Australian Federal Police, hotel quarantine transport workers, and Australian Defence Force.

A reminder fit testing service is still available across all Metro North facilities, please see the Metro North Fit Testing Schedule for all staff to attend.

If any areas require a specific fit testing session locally, please contact Belinda or Julie via the MNHHSFitTestingProgram@health.qld.gov.au email account. All completed fit test results are uploaded into the TMS for individual, manager and service line reporting.

Following recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the law has been  strengthened to improve the protection of children from offences of a sexual nature.  On 5 July 2021, amendments to the Criminal Code Act 1899 (Qld) now make it an offence for any adult not to report sexual offending against a child by another adult to the police, unless they have a reasonable excuse not to do so.

It is vital that all Metro North employees familiarise themselves with the new reporting obligations and the legal implications for failing to report suspected child sexual abuse.

The amendments do not replace the mandatory reporting obligations for registered health practitioners under the Child Protection Act 1999 (Qld). Practitioners who make a voluntary or mandatory report to an appropriate government authority, such as Child Safety, are not required by the new laws to report the same offence to the police.

Metro North’s Clinical Governance, Safety, Quality and Risk team are currently developing resources to guide Metro North’s response to the new law, including a procedure for use across the Health Service. In the interim, the Queensland Health Child Safety home page offers a number of resources to support these regulatory changes. For further information please refer to the Queensland Health Child Safety website.

If you have any additional queries about the new reporting obligations, please contact the Clinical Governance, Safety, Quality and Risk team via MN_ClinGovQandRisk@health.qld.gov.au.

Regards, 

Michele