Tarasoff down Under: The Psychiatrist's Duty to Warn in Australia

Abstract

The authors discuss the differences between the U.S. and Australia in legal approach and in the codes of medical ethics to the issues of medical confidentiality and disclosure as represented by the Tarasoff case. It is argued that in Australia, a psychotherapist would not be justified in breaching his duty of confidentiality towards a patient. The ethical codes that govern clinical practice in Australia, and the common law, focus primarily upon the therapeutic relationship between the doctor and the patient, virtually excluding any considerations extraneous to that relationship.