The Health Professions Act provides the following definitions:
Sexual Abuse: is defined as threated, attempted or actual conduct of a regulated member towards a patient that is of a sexual nature, including:
- Sexual intercourse between a regulated member and a patient of that regulated member;
- Genital to genital, genital to anal, oral to genital, or oral to anal contact between a regulated member and a patient of that regulated member;
- Masturbation of a regulated member by, or in the presence of, a patient of that regulated member;
- Masturbation of a regulated member’s patient by that regulated member;
- Encouraging a regulated member’s patient to masturbate in the presence of that regulated member; or
- Touching of a sexual nature of a patient’s genitals, anus, breasts or buttocks by a regulated member.
Sexual Misconduct: is defined as any incident or repeated incidents of objectionable or unwelcome conduct, behaviour or remarks of a sexual nature by a regulated member towards a patient that the regulated member knows or ought reasonably to know will or would cause offence or humiliation to the patient or adversely affect the patient’s health and well-being but does not include sexual abuse.
The ACSLPA Standards of Practice defines a patient as any individual to whom a regulated member provides a health service in their capacity as a speech-language pathologist or audiologist, but does not include:
- a patient’s substitute decision-maker, legal guardian, or parent, or
- the regulated member’s spouse, adult interdependent partner or other person with whom the regulated member is in an existing sexual relationship if the health service is provided in accordance with these standards.