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Duty of Candour introduced by the Victorian Government

Michael Gorton AM

Recent Victorian legislation has introduced a new duty and legal obligation for public health services to provide information to patients following a serious adverse event. Principal, Michael Gorton AM, was involved in developing these proposals for government.

What is a statutory duty of candour?

The Victorian Government define it as “a legal obligation to ensure that consumers of healthcare and their families are apologised to, and communicated with, openly and honestly when things have gone wrong in their care.”

It adds to the practice of open disclosure required by health services under the existing Australian Open Disclosure Framework, rather than replacing it.

Duty of Candour Resources

Find out more how this could impact your health operations with these useful resources. 

Victorian Healthcare Association

Webinar recording - Victorian Healthcare Association (VHA): Quality and Safety Act: What you need to know about Duty of Candour, featuring Michael Gorton AM where he explains the the impact of the legislation.

*The webinar recording will be made available until 9 September 2022. After this date, the full recording is available to purchase via the VHA website.
Australian Doctor

Michael was also interviewed by the “Australian Doctor” magazine. 

How we can help

If you require any advice relating to the new statutory duty of candour obligation, please contact Michael Gorton AM or a member of our Health team.

If you would like to stay up-to-date with Russell Kennedy’s Alerts and Insights from our Health team, you can subscribe to our mailing list here.

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