Legal and ethical considerations relating to communication

Any organisational processes or protocols must be in line with relevant legislation and meet basic ethical requirements in community services. You should be familiar with legislation that relates to communication and ensure that these guide the development of processes and protocols. Legislation relating to privacy, mandatory reporting and discrimination are particularly important.

You should also be familiar with your sector’s ethical guidelines and how they impact communication (for example, being non-judgmental and respectful). Your specific sector may have its own code of ethics (for example, the Youth Work Code of Ethics).

Here is an example of a code of ethics.