ADF protocols under fire amid biggest expansion in decades

Defence has come under fire for demanding mental health files of potential recruits as it launches a drive to hire another 18,500 troops.

The Department of Defence has come under fire for demanding the confidential mental health files of potential recruits as it launches its largest employment drive in decades to hire another 18,500 troops.

The access requests for the records of candidates’ workplace counselling notes have been criticised by psychologists who argue they undermine the privacy of ­clients who have sought counselling in the past.

But Defence has defended its decision to do so, telling The Deal Magazine the organisation believes accessing the confidential notes of those it has not yet employed helps “safeguard the welfare of candidates as they embark on their career”.

“As part of the Defence recruiting process, Defence requests a candidate’s personal medical information to assist in assessing the candidate’s health and fitness for service in the ADF,” a spokesperson said.

“Where a candidate discloses a previous or current health condition that may place them at increased risk of injury or illness from military service, Defence may request relevant reports to ­assist the recruitment process.”

The Deal on Saturday reveals that candidates who have accessed Employee Assistance Programs, a mental health counselling program in 80 per cent of Australia’s top 500 companies, are asked to retrieve their notes from a psychologist and hand them to an ADF recruiter.

The move has sparked alarm for the Employee Assistance Programs Association of Australasia, which oversees all EAP programs, as the nature of workplace counselling is meant to be guarded under strict privacy rules.

The body chair of ethics John McManus has accused the ADF of engaging in most “unusual conduct” which contradicts the purpose of EAP programs.

“It’s a mistake,” he said. “It’s a breach generally of the privacy of the individual they are seeking to consider as a candidate.”

Australian Association of Psychologists director Tegan Carrison said she was aware her organisation was experiencing an increasing number of calls from psychologists to ask whether its appropriate to sign out a client’s notes for the ADF’s request.

“There is a level of concern among psychologists who are wanting to do the right thing and make sure they’re adhering to the laws and requirements,” she said.

ADF recruiters are not allowed to request notes from a candidate’s EAP provider and therefore use the candidate as the carrier of their own confidential information.

The Deal in its investigation obtained an ADF form to an EAP provider which sought the candidate’s “presenting problem and any related diagnoses”; “frequency and duration of treatment, including date treatment ended”; “details of the treatment including medications prescribed”; “response to treatment”; “symptoms and prognosis upon discharge”; and “any pre-existing reports of relevance to the reason for referral”.

Ms Carrison said her association was concerned clients were not always aware of their rights. Many psychologists want to ensure clients are provided with informed consent about what could potentially happen if those reports or client notes are provided to a potential employer, she said.

Dr McManus questioned why the ADF was using information EAP clients had shared in private as part of a job interview.

“I think the great difficulty of this is it almost assumes if someone engages with an EAP that somehow they’re less healthy than someone who has not engaged in it,” he said. “If the intention is to get people who are healthier, then they should be finding people who have used EAP services.”

Read the full story in The Deal Magazine here.