Psychologists' Collection and Management of Clients' Information: An Ethico-legal Perspective

Abstract

Psychologists need clients’ information to provide a service to them and must do it within the parameters of the normative framework that regulates the collection and management (i.e., storing, accessing, amending, using, and disposing) of client information. Presiding officers’ comments in the course of tribunal hearings and research findings, however, suggest that many psychologists do not fully understand this framework and/or its practical implications. In this article we aim to provide information to psychologists that will allow them to keep records in a ethico-legal defensible manner and to the optimal benefit of their clients and society. We do this by exploring the Australian normative framework, paying special attention to the relevant legal provisions, case law, ethical principles and standards, and the aims of record-keeping. We then use this normative framework to examine the practical aspects of the collection and management of client information.

Key words:

• client
• ethics
• information
• notes
• professional
• records

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Rebecca Mathews, David Preece, and Mick Symons for their valuable comments on earlier drafts of the article.

Notes

1. See for instance the rules of the Northern Territory's Department of Health and Families (Northern Territory Department of Health and Families, 2010), which were framed under the Information Act 2002 (NT).