About Policies and Procedures

What are policies and procedures? Policy = what has to be done (or not done). Sometimes it includes some information about why it has to be done. Procedure = how something has to be done. Procedures are often written as a list of actions. Note: It can be hard to tell the difference between a policy and a procedure. The main thing is to understand what they say.

Why do we have policies and procedures? Policies and procedures help to make sure that your agency: provides its services in a consistent way (They tell all staff how to do things.) is accountable to its board and funding bodies (When staff follow the policies and procedures, the organisation is doing what it says it will do for the money it is given.) is accountable to its clients (Making sure people with a disability get the service they are entitled to.)

Why do we have policies and procedures? (cont) Policies and procedures help to make sure that your organisation: provides safe workplaces (Safe working practices are built into the policies and procedures.) complies with the law (There are many laws that impact on your organisation, from laws about money to laws about disability services.) complies with the NT Disability Service Standards (These must be built into the organisation’s policies and procedures.)

When do we use policies and procedures? when we need to know the right way to do something when we need to remind ourselves about how to do something when we are doing work we haven’t done before to make sure we are doing something properly.