PSYCHOTHERAPISTS —
REGULATION
746. Hon ALISON XAMON to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Minister for Health:
I refer to the ABC news article of
24 July 2020, ''Fake psychologist scam victim urges new code of conduct
to regulate counselling services''.
(1) Why are Western Australian still not protected
from harm caused by unregulated and untrained counsellors and
psychotherapists?
(2) Will the
minister act to address this gap?
(3) If yes to
(2), when and by what mechanism?
(4) If no to (2),
why not?
Hon ALANNA
CLOHESY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1) Western Australians
have a range of protections, including those under the health and Disability
Services Complaints Act 1995, consumer protection law and criminal law. The
Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (WA) Act 2010 also contains
provisions to protect the public from individuals who are ''holding
themselves out'' as registered health practitioners through using a protected
title—for example, ''psychologists''.
(2)–(3) Yes.
The mechanism will be the introduction of a national code of conduct for
healthcare workers by the Health and Disability Services (Complaints) Amendment
Bill.
(4) Not
applicable.