The Labor government is pushing ahead with legislation requiring accountants to disclose personal mental health issues despite strong objections, Daily Mail Australia reports.
Former Australian of the Year and leading mental health expert, Professor Patrick McGorry, has now spoken out, condemning the changes and calling on the government to reverse its decision.
Professor McGorry ‘is in favour of clarifying the provision that tax officials should not be required to disclose their mental health history or status’.
A determination is a legal instrument that can be used to change the law.
Stephen Jones, assistant treasury secretary and a faction member of Anthony Albanese, is pushing the amendment, which is currently before the Senate.
Tax advisors would be required to disclose “any” matter that might persuade a client to engage their services.
This may involve a person’s psychological history, perhaps even a person’s religion or sexual orientation, which must be disclosed to clients.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been made aware of the problem but has failed to resolve it
But the Labour Party appears to be in denial about the implications of its changes, refusing even to acknowledge their unintended consequences.
Peter de Cure, chairman of the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB), which is responsible for enforcing the rules, has said mental health “could potentially be relevant” as a subject of disclosure.
The Prime Minister’s office declined to respond to questions from Daily Mail Australia when asked directly whether the TPB chairman was wrong to say accountants may have to provide mental health information.
Former Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry has condemned the change
These bizarre rules could result in an accountant struggling with depression being forced to disclose his or her condition to an employee who wants to complete his or her tax return.
A pro-Palestinian client may need to be told that his accountant is Jewish if the tax advisor believes this would influence the client’s choice to engage his services.
This could also be the case for an accountant who is married to someone of the same sex and who has to prepare the tax returns of a religiously conservative client who he knows is openly outspoken on the issue.
“These rules are so badly written that the Labor Party should be ashamed of themselves,” one accountant who asked not to be named told Daily Mail Australia.
While neither of these scenarios is the intended goal of the new laws, the government will not change the open wording, despite the profession saying changes could easily be made.
That is why tax advisors are advocating amending the provision or even abolishing it altogether.
Accountants would have to disclose their mental health history, sexual orientation or any complaints against them to their clients, if relevant – making tax filing incredibly awkward
The Prime Minister is now aware of the problem, but is not taking action to solve it.
And that’s despite accountants spoken to by Daily Mail Australia saying the uncertainty surrounding the changes is already having an impact on their health and wellbeing.
The changes being implemented also require accountants to disclose all allegations made against them in writing to all their clients, before the veracity of the allegations is even tested. And before any findings are made.
No other profession requires allegations to be made public in this manner before the findings are known.
And when Labor set up its new federal anti-corruption body, it refused to make public allegations to the watchdog until the investigation and findings were complete. The party said it did not want MPs and senators to be unfairly tarnished by unproven allegations.
The Labour Party’s changes do not offer the same protection to accountants.
According to the sector, this could have adverse consequences for tax advisors who are wrongly accused.
Last year, only seven percent of allegations of misconduct against accountants were upheld by the TPB. Yet the remaining 93 percent of those who had done nothing wrong would be forced, under Labor’s rule changes, to inform their clients in writing of the vexatious allegations made against them, putting their businesses at risk.
“Can you imagine how damaging that would be?” one accountant told Daily Mail Australia.
That is why the accountancy profession, not exactly known for its passion, has been so up in arms about the Labour government’s changes, calling on the opposition and independent party to block the changes.