The Centre for Women’s Safety and Wellbeing (CWSW) is seeking information from our services across Western Australia to better understand the scale and impact of subpoenas, summons and requests for counselling records and sensitive client information being issued to the sector.
The survey will gather data on the frequency and types of legal requests services receive, the resource and financial impacts of responding, and the implications for victim-survivor safety, confidentiality and service delivery. Findings will help inform advocacy for stronger protections for confidential client records.
The use of counselling records and personal information in court continues to be deeply problematic for victim-survivors and the specialist sexual assault and family and domestic violence services. While the current protected communications scheme under the Evidence Act 1906 prevents the use of sexual assault counselling records in criminal justice processes, there continue to be significant pressures on services for these records
We have heard that our sectors are receiving unprecedented volumes of subpoenas, summons and requests for information and not only for counselling records, but also other personal records. This trend is highly concerning for service providers, given the significant workload burden involved in responding, as well as the potential for serious and far-reaching consequences for victim-survivors, including impacts on trust, safety, and ongoing engagement with support services.
Understanding the extent of these requests and their impacts is critical to strengthening system responses and ensuring that legal processes do not undermine the safety and recovery of victim-survivors.
Services are strongly encouraged to complete this survey, if they have experiences of subpoenas, summons, or requests for counselling records or client information. This input is essential for us to build a clear evidence base to support advocacy for reform, and to better protect the confidentiality and wellbeing of the victim-survivors accessing services.
