At Five Good Friends, we value fairness and transparency, and we want everyone to be treated this way. Our goal is to maintain a safe, reliable, and professional environment for our Helpers and our Members.
This page outlines important information about why and how a Five Good Friends Helper account may be temporarily or permanently deactivated. Here you’ll find the reasons for deactivation, advice on how to prevent deactivation, and steps on how to appeal a decision to deactivate your profile.
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FAQs
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Q. Why is my Five Good Friends account deactivated?
A Helper account may be temporarily or permanently deactivated for the following reasons:
- Inactivity:
If your account has not worked on the platform for a period of greater than 6 months Five Good Friends will archive your account. We will first message you about this, and give you the opportunity to reconnect. You can at any time reach back out to us to reactivate your account.
What can I do to avoid losing access?
- Advise Five Good Friends, and your Members, if your availability or location changes, so you can be offered appropriate and local work opportunities.
- Advise Five Good Friends, and your Members, if you plan to take an extended period of leave, including your intended return date.
- Requested by you
If we have received a message from you stating that you no longer wish to be active on the platform, your account will be archived.
- Compliance
Working in the Aged and Disability Care sector is a privilege that comes with a raft of compliance requirements that are set by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. There are also other government departments that require Five Good Friends to collect information (such as working rights). If we have not received the required documents, or they have expired, we are unable to have your profile active on the platform and must set your account to Inactive. Some examples of these of these include:
- Aged Care Worker Screening Check
- NDIS Worker Screening Clearance
- Right to Work in Australia and Current Visa Information
What can I do to avoid losing access?
- Keep track of your mandatory compliance items and their expiry dates
- Respond to our requests to provide Five Good Friends with your updated compliance items
- Renew compliance items ahead of time, to allow for system and department delays.
- Complaint or incident
If there is a serious complaint or allegation against the worker resulting in an investigation and/or reportable incident, we may need to temporarily suspend or permanently archive your account. We will notify you if this occurs.
- Breach of the Brokerage Agreement
If Five Good Friends has found that there is a violation of the Brokerage Agreement between yourself and Five Good Friends, your account may be either temporarily suspended or permanently archived. Some examples of violations include:
- Providing inaccurate of misleading information
- Engagement or alleged engagement in fraudulent or deceptive practices
- Failing to comply with safety guidelines or regulations
- Engaging in inappropriate or harmful behaviours.
What can I do to avoid losing access?
- Familiarise yourself with the Helper Brokerage Agreement
- Act in accordance with safety guidelines and regulations
- Act in accordance with Five Good Friends Code of Conduct
- Poor performance:
Consistent failure to meet performance standards, as determined by Five Good Friends, including but not limited to:
- Frequent last-minute cancellations
- Not attending scheduled visits
- Not meeting the requirements of the Member Help Plan
- Failing to respond to information or support on how to improve your performance as a Helper on the platform.
What can I do to avoid losing access?
- Remain in communication with Five Good Friend Members, and your care team.
- Attend visits as scheduled, and provide sufficient notice of cancellation when required.
- Familiarise yourself with, and action, Member help plans.
- Safety concerns
If a worker poses a safety risk to themselves or others your account may be either temporarily suspended or permanently archived. This includes abusive or unacceptable behaviour towards a Five Good Friends employee.
- Legal Issues
If a Helper is involved in legal proceedings that may negatively impact the platform’s reputation.
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Q. What steps are involved in the deactivation process?
- Notice: The platform will provide a Helper with a written notice, including the reason for deactivation, ways to respond to the deactivation, and the applicable appeal process.
- Temporary suspension: In some cases, the platform may temporarily suspend the worker's account pending an investigation or resolution of the issue. Temporary suspension will also be used as the initial step for compliance failures.
- Deactivation: If the issue cannot be resolved, the platform may proceed with the deactivation of the worker's account.
- Appeals process: Workers who believe their account has been deactivated unfairly may submit an appeal within 14 days of the deactivation notice. The appeal will be reviewed by the relevant Head of Department. The platform will provide the worker with a decision on their appeal within 14 days.
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Q. What does it mean if my profile is deactivated?
- You will lose access to the platform and its services.
- You will not be able to perform any service and must not communicate with any Member of Five Good Friends during this time.
- Any outstanding payments may be withheld until any disputes or obligations are resolved. If there are no disputes on payments, no money will be withheld.
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Q. Where can I get further information?