Tenants' Protection Association
Code of Ethics
Preamble
The Code of Ethics serves to:
- indicate what can be expected by clients of Tenants' Protection Association (TPA) and TPA's paid and unpaid workers,
- show agreed standards of responsible practice on which the TPA services are based,
- establish a basis for the making of complaints and the consideration of these,
- give protection to the rights and interests of paid and unpaid workers.
Personnel Principles
Paid and unpaid staff at TPA must be people who appreciate the purposes and objectives of TPA, and who are prepared to work within and towards these objectives and purposes. Any worker employed by TPA is expected to be aware of Maori issues, have a sensitivity towards and an understanding of Taha Maori, and be committed to redressing barriers for Maori people in accessing housing.
Code of Ethics
TPA workers will respect the client's right to privacy and preserve the confidentiality of information obtained in the course of their work. The keeping of confidences is a primary obligation. Non-identifying information should be used in presenting statistics for reports to the Committee, government organisations and funders. TPA workers will inform clients of the limits of confidentiality.
No TPA worker shall abuse their position by taking advantage of clients in any way for personal, institutional, political, financial, social, spiritual or sexual gain. No sexual element of any nature shall enter the relationship between TPA workers and clients
TPA workers have a responsibility to ensure that clients have as much information as possible for making their own informed choices and decisions. TPA workers will respect each client's individual process and be committed to empowering the client and fostering maximum self-determination.
TPA workers will not misrepresent their qualifications, experience or services. They will acknowledge the limits of their competence, suitability and availability, and refer clients to others when this is necessary or desirable in the best interests of the client.
TPA workers have an obligation to establish clearly with clients the expectations they have of the services, and to clarify how there might be met. Where the worker or TPA as an organisation is unable to meet the client's needs or expectations, the client will be told this and offered other suggestions to assist them in seeking alternative options.
TPA workers will be aware of how their personal functioning may influence their effectiveness in working with clients, and ensure that their functioning is monitored through consultation, supervision or therapy. Each TPA worker must undertake regular supervision of his or her work by a suitably skilled person.
TPA workers will take action through the organisation's Committee against unethical conduct by other workers, especially where this conduct is harmful to others.
TPA workers will follow the Complaints Procedure in the case of a complaint being laid by a client or other person.