Ms Olivia Kelly1, Dr Kate Kersey, Associate Professor Marta Rychert, Professor Kate Diesfeld, Professor Lois Surgenor
1Auckland University of Technology, Aotearoa / New Zealand
Biography:
Olivia Kelly is a practising lawyer and a Senior Lecturer at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Her research interests include professional discipline, disability law, and digital harm in healthcare. She is currently on the research team for the Marsden-funded project: A Rehabilitation Model for Professional Discipline.
Abstract:
When making decisions, disciplinary tribunals in Aotearoa New Zealand must balance potentially conflicting penalty principles, including rehabilitation to safe practice, with protection of the public. However, little is known about the barriers and facilitators of rehabilitation. A qualitative analysis of disciplinary stakeholder insights about rehabilitation is the focus of this session. We explored the views and experiences of rehabilitation in the teaching, health, and legal professions in Aotearoa New Zealand through stakeholder interviews and focus groups. We asked what tribunal members, providers, monitors, and practitioners knew about rehabilitation. We examined what tools were available to tribunals and which ones operated successfully, according to the participants. We also asked them to identify whether any mechanisms and processes were missing, and why. Four key thematic principles were identified that were necessary for rehabilitation of practitioners, namely: 1) instilling pro-rehabilitation culture, institutions and processes; 2) crafting conditions that restored and retained practitioners; 3) promoting practitioner engagement; and 4) creating feedback mechanisms. We are interested in highlighting barriers and facilitators to rehabilitation, and welcome discussion of future application.