Provisional psychologists and supervisors have a legal and an ethical responsibility to maintain confidentiality and privacy of all material including all written records, electronic records, recordings and verbal material.

The practice of all psychologists is guided by the Australian Psychological Society (APS) Code of Ethics and Ethical Guidelines.

Exceptions to maintaining confidentiality which lead to disclosure to appropriate other parties include situations where there is the potential for serious physical danger to the client or to someone else, where there is risk of child abuse or neglect, or when a client is involved in a legal matter and information from a client’s file has been legitimately requested by a court.

At the first consultation all clients are provided with an information sheet and consent form which has clear and accurate information about the services that can be expected from the psychology clinic.

Clients are asked to read and sign the consent form prior to beginning treatment.

As the psychology clinic is a teaching clinic, consultations with clients are routinely recorded. This enables supervisors (clinical psychologists) to provide provisional psychologists with feedback and guidance on their work and gives clients access to the expertise and knowledge of these senior clinicians.