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Confidentiality is central to effective therapy. It allows children, young people and adults to speak openly and build trust with their counsellor. This policy explains what confidentiality means at Discovery Family Therapy, when we might need to share information, and how we manage the particular questions that arise when we work with children, teenagers, and families, including families where parents live separately.
Confidentiality is central to effective therapy. It allows children, young people and adults to speak openly and build trust with their counsellor. Discovery Family Therapy protects the privacy of everyone we work with, in line with the PACFA Code of Ethics, the ACA Code of Ethics, the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), and Western Australian law.
This policy explains what confidentiality means at Discovery Family Therapy, when we might need to share information, and how we manage the particular questions that arise when we work with children, teenagers, and families, including families where parents live separately.
Children and young people are entitled to a private, confidential space in therapy. What a child or young person shares with their counsellor is not automatically passed on to parents, guardians, or anyone else. This is one of the most important factors in effective therapy: it allows a child to speak honestly without fear of what will happen to what they say.
We do not disclose the content of a child’s or young person’s sessions to a parent or guardian without the young person’s knowledge, except in the circumstances set out in Section 3 below.
Confidentiality is not absolute. There are limited circumstances in which we might need to share information without a client’s consent, in order to keep someone safe or to comply with the law. These circumstances include:
Where any disclosure is necessary, we share only the minimum information required, and where safe and appropriate to do so, we will inform the client and/or their parent or guardian that a disclosure has been or will be made.
Under the Children and Community Services Act 2004 (WA), specific professions, including registered psychologists and school counsellors, are legally required (“mandatory reporters”) to report a reasonable belief of child sexual abuse. Not every counsellor holds this specific legal designation.
This distinction does not change how Discovery Family Therapy operates. Every practitioner at Discovery Family Therapy has a professional and ethical duty of care to act on a reasonable belief that a child is at risk of harm, regardless of their individual reporting status. Reports made in good faith are protected under Western Australian law from civil or criminal liability and are not treated as a breach of confidentiality.
Discovery Family Therapy applies the principle of Gillick competence when working with children and young people under 18. This means we assess whether a young person has sufficient maturity and understanding to make their own decisions about counselling and about their own information.
We recognise that most parents and guardians are trying to do the best for their child, and that questions of who is entitled to what information can be genuinely complex, particularly for separated families. This section explains our approach.
Under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), each parent generally holds parental responsibility for their child unless a court order says otherwise, regardless of who completed our intake form, who the child lives with, or who arranged the appointment. Being named as the contact on an intake form does not, on its own, remove another parent’s legal standing.
At intake, one parent or guardian is named as the primary contact for administrative information about their child’s counselling, such as appointment dates, times, frequency, and attendance.
It is this named contact’s responsibility to decide whether to share this information with the other parent or guardian. Discovery Family Therapy does not directly provide administrative information to a parent or guardian who is not the named contact.
We distinguish between two different types of information.
Can share, with the named contact only
This administrative information is provided only to the named contact. It is that parent’s decision whether to pass it on to the other parent or guardian.
Cannot share, without the young person’s consent
We do not share this protected therapeutic content with either parent without the young person’s consent, in line with Sections 2 and 4 above. Where a child is very young, or does not have the capacity to give informed consent, we use clinical judgement in consultation with their parent or guardian, guided by the child’s best interests.
We take seriously a child or young person’s wishes about their own privacy, and we will always consider these carefully as part of our clinical judgement. Session content is not shared with either parent without the young person’s consent. If there are safety concerns about a parent, these are addressed under Section 3 above.
We offer parent support sessions, separate from a child’s individual sessions, to help parents build the skills and understanding to support their child at home. These sessions are focused on the parent’s own strategies and progress.
In parent support sessions, we do not disclose the private content of a child’s individual therapeutic sessions. Where relevant themes or general guidance can help a parent support their child, we might share this in a way that protects the child’s confidentiality and does not repeat specific disclosures.
Where parents live separately, we aim to work in a way that is fair, transparent, and focused on the best interests of the child. In practice, this means:
Discovery Family Therapy provides therapeutic support to children, young people and families. We do not undertake custody assessments, parenting capacity assessments, or expert reports for family law proceedings, and our counsellors do not act as expert witnesses in custody or parenting disputes. This work requires specific forensic training and qualifications that sit outside our scope of practice, and undertaking it would compromise the therapeutic relationship we hold with the child.
If your family is involved in a parenting dispute or family law matter, we encourage you to engage an appropriately qualified professional, such as a family report writer or single expert witness appointed through the family law process, for any assessment or report the court requires.
We do not offer therapeutic update reports, custody suggestions, or become involved in any legal dispute. This is to protect the counselling space for your child. We work in a family-inclusive counselling manner and do not offer legal advice or custody advice.
Under Australian Privacy Principle 12, you have a right to request access to the personal information Discovery Family Therapy holds about you. To make a request, please contact us or call (08) 6114 1845, and we will explain the process and what we need from you to verify your identity.
We will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before releasing information, and will respond to requests within a reasonable timeframe. There are limited circumstances in which access may be declined, such as where release would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of another person, or where release is not permitted by law.
This policy is informed by the following legislation and professional codes. Mandatory reporting laws differ between Australian states and territories; the references below reflect Western Australian law, which governs Discovery Family Therapy’s practice.
This policy is reviewed regularly to reflect current legislation, professional ethical standards, and best practice.
Questions about this policy? Contact us or see our Privacy Policy.
