Resident Wellbeing and the NZ and Australian Privacy Acts
Tracks
Stream 1
| Tuesday, August 6, 2024 |
| 2:25 PM - 3:15 PM |
| Crystal 1 |
Overview
Martin Thomas, Student Residence Trust Aotearoa
Details
Those working in pastoral care roles within student accommodation intuitively understand that open communication about early indicators of the condition of individual residents’ mental health and well-being are essential in order to provide what is necessary for a proper duty-of-care.
However, many student accommodation facilities are operated by organisations that are separate legal entities from the tertiary institutions for whose students they provide accommodation. In these instances, the privacy acts may become an impediment to accommodation staff in providing morally responsible pastoral care. As the levels of incidence and severity of mental health issues rise globally this becomes of increasing concern for caring staff with a moral conscience.
In New Zealand, since the Pastoral Care Code was mandated by government, open communication has been required between the tertiary institution and its accommodation provider(s). In order to achieve this the Privacy Act requires to be applied in non-customary, but still legal, ways.
Implementing the necessary adjustments has raised a range of issues that require to be navigated. Mostly, these relate to individual perception and differences of opinion. This in turn leads to unintentional lack of uniformity in handling privacy issues across the sector and, therefore, quality of care among student accommodation providers.
Our experience provides insights which are directly applicable to the New Zealand environment and, also provide a likely peek into future issues for the Australian student accommodation sector.
The presentation will expand on issues outlined by Martin Thomas within the article, “New Zealand's Pastoral Care Code of Practice: Reflections so far”, as published in the Student Accommodation Journal in September 2023 (p.19).
Speaker
Martin Thomas
General Manager
Student Residence Trust Aotearoa
Resident Wellbeing and the NZ and Australian Privacy Acts
Abstract Overview
Those working in pastoral care roles within student accommodation intuitively understand that open communication about early indicators of the condition of individual residents’ mental health and well-being are essential in order to provide what is necessary for a proper duty-of-care.
However, many student accommodation facilities are operated by organisations that are separate legal entities from the tertiary institutions for whose students they provide accommodation. In these instances, the privacy acts may become an impediment to accommodation staff in providing morally responsible pastoral care. As the levels of incidence and severity of mental health issues rise globally this becomes of increasing concern for caring staff with a moral conscience.
In New Zealand, since the Pastoral Care Code was mandated by government, open communication has been required between the tertiary institution and its accommodation provider(s). In order to achieve this the Privacy Act requires to be applied in non-customary, but still legal, ways.
Implementing the necessary adjustments has raised a range of issues that require to be navigated. Mostly, these relate to individual perception and differences of opinion. This in turn leads to unintentional lack of uniformity in handling privacy issues across the sector and, therefore, quality of care among student accommodation providers.
Our experience provides insights which are directly applicable to the New Zealand environment and, also provide a likely peek into future issues for the Australian student accommodation sector.
The presentation will expand on issues outlined by Martin Thomas within the article, “New Zealand's Pastoral Care Code of Practice: Reflections so far”, as published in the Student Accommodation Journal in September 2023 (p.19).
However, many student accommodation facilities are operated by organisations that are separate legal entities from the tertiary institutions for whose students they provide accommodation. In these instances, the privacy acts may become an impediment to accommodation staff in providing morally responsible pastoral care. As the levels of incidence and severity of mental health issues rise globally this becomes of increasing concern for caring staff with a moral conscience.
In New Zealand, since the Pastoral Care Code was mandated by government, open communication has been required between the tertiary institution and its accommodation provider(s). In order to achieve this the Privacy Act requires to be applied in non-customary, but still legal, ways.
Implementing the necessary adjustments has raised a range of issues that require to be navigated. Mostly, these relate to individual perception and differences of opinion. This in turn leads to unintentional lack of uniformity in handling privacy issues across the sector and, therefore, quality of care among student accommodation providers.
Our experience provides insights which are directly applicable to the New Zealand environment and, also provide a likely peek into future issues for the Australian student accommodation sector.
The presentation will expand on issues outlined by Martin Thomas within the article, “New Zealand's Pastoral Care Code of Practice: Reflections so far”, as published in the Student Accommodation Journal in September 2023 (p.19).
Biography
Martin Thomas is the general manager of a four-decade-old registered independent charitable trust, Student Residence Trust Aotearoa, the object of which is to provide student accommodation for a separate legal entity, Wintec | Te Pῡkenga.
He has an extensive background of experience, both within the broader education sector and as a strategic facilitation specialist consulting outside the education sector.
In the role of GM for the Trust, Martin has led a small, talented team to win the Waikato Chamber of Commerce Westpac not-for-profit business award. He has also established a stand-alone charitable company, Student Rentals NZ Ltd. trading as Hatch Property Management, fully owned by the Trust, which provides community-based property management services in support of the Trust’s primary object, student accommodation.
