Resolving disputes

Group supervision

Group supervision is a shared process of consultation and decision making used by the Department. Group supervision involves practitioners, specialists and support staff meeting to discuss a child (or children) and reflect on practice. The group talks through and scrutinises and challenges thinking, values, culture and decisions.

Group supervision also helps staff manage any emotional response to their challenging work by creating the space to share their worries and hopes about their work with families. Caseworkers can draw on multiple viewpoints, research, and practice expertise to support their practice.

The Department regularly invites partner agencies to group supervision. Genuine partnership and collaboration creates faster and more effective information sharing, case planning and review, transparency around decisions, and ultimately better outcomes for children and families.

Resolving disputes

The Department and PSP providers exercising primary case responsibility may experience occasional disputes as a normal part of working collaboratively and playing different but complementary roles. Disputes may occur in part due to access to resources, different expectations in relation to service delivery or role clarity.

• However disputes are handled, the needs of the child remain a primary focus for the Department and the PSP provider.
• Children, their carers, parents, siblings and family/kin are not exposed to disputes between the Department and a PSP provider.
• Disputes between the Department and a PSP provider are addressed as much as possible in a way that does not interfere with or disrupt court proceedings.
• In principle, parties to a dispute are more likely to resolve the matter through face-to-face respectful and collegial discussion.

Local districts are free to use local procedures that aim to:

• resolve dispute at a district level in the first instance and
• strengthen the capacity of the service system to achieve better outcomes for children, their parents, siblings and family/kin.

Also see PCMP Resource - Poster: Recommended process for resolving disputes (PDF, 237.0 KB).

Collaborating in dispute resolution

The recommended process for handling disputes is:

Step 1

Disputes are resolved, where possible, at the local level by the Department and PSP provider practitioners (for resolution within two weeks).

The Department	PSP provider
Caseworker – CSC, CFDU, ISS Permanency Coordinator Contract Manager	Subject to operational structure: caseworker team leader

Step 2

When practitioners are unable to resolve the dispute in part or in whole, the Department and PSP provider managers intervene to mediate a solution focussed on immediate practice change.

Managers facilitate the development of an action plan to address the issues and identifies practice strategies, timeframes and review dates (for resolution within two weeks).

The Department	PSP provider
Manager Casework Manager Client Services Manager Commissioning and Planning Manager Practice and Permanency Permanency Coordinator	Subject to operational structure: team leader operations manager

Step 3

When managers are unable to resolve the dispute at a local level, the dispute is referred to senior leadership (for resolution within two weeks).

Senior leaders examine the nature of the dispute from a systems perspective. When gaps or inconsistencies are identified in the service system or policy framework, they are escalated (for resolution within two weeks) to:

• Child and Family (CF) OOHC Programs and
• Statewide Contracts.

The Department	PSP provider
Director Community Services Director Commissioning and Planning Director Operations Director Practice and Permanency	Subject to operational structure: equivalent director or senior manager

Step 4

The Department	PSP provider
Executive District Director	Subject to operational structure: deputy chief executive officer chief executive officer