The Labor government is pressing ahead with laws that would require accountants to disclose their personal mental health issues despite strong objections, Daily Mail can reveal.
Now former n of the Year and leading mental health expert Professor Patrick McGorry has weighed in, condemning the changes and calling on the government to reverse its decision.
Professor McGorry ‘supports clarification in the Determination that tax agents should not be required to disclose their mental health history or status’.
A Determination is a legal instrument used to change the law.
Stephen Jones, the Assistant Treasurer and a factional ally of Anthony Albanese, is pressing ahead with the change, which is before the Senate.
It would require tax practitioners to disclose ‘any’ matter that might influence a client to engage their services.
This could include someone’s mental health history, perhaps even their religion or sexual orientation, needing to be disclosed to clients.
But the Labor Party appears to be in denial about the implications of its changes, refusing to even acknowledge the unintended consequences they are creating.
The chair of the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB), Peter de Cure, who is responsible for enforcing the rules, has said that mental health ‘could possibly be relevant’ as a matter for disclosure.
The Prime Minister’s office failed to respond to questions from Daily Mail when asked directly if the chair of the TPB is wrong to say that mental health might need to be disclosed by accountants.
The bizarre rules could require an accountant battling depression to be forced to reveal their condition to a worker seeking to complete their tax return.
A pro-Palestinian client might need to be told that their accountant is Jewish, if the tax practitioner thinks that would influence a client choosing to engage their services.
That might also be the case for a same sex married accountant asked to do the tax returns of a religiously conservative client who they know has been vocal on the issue.
‘These rules are so badly drafted the Labor Party should be embarrassed,’ one accountant who wanted to remain anonymous told Daily Mail .
While none of these scenarios are the intended purpose of the new laws, the government won’t change their open ended wording, despite the profession saying changes could easily be made.
That is why tax professionals are advocating for the determination to be amended or dumped altogether.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has been made aware of the issue but won’t act to resolve it.
That’s despite accountants that Daily Mail has spoken to saying the uncertainty surrounding the changes is already affecting their health and wellbeing.
The changes being made will also require accountants to disclose any allegation made against them to all their clients, in writing, before the truthfulness of any allegations have even been tested. And before any findings are made.
No other profession requires allegations to be made public ahead of findings in this manner.
And when Labor established its new federal anti-corruption body it refused to allow allegations to the watchdog to become public before investigations and findings are completed, claiming that it didn’t want MPs and Senators to be unfairly tarnished by allegations that aren’t proven.
Labor’s changes aren’t giving accountants the same protections.
The sector says this could adversely affect tax practitioners who are wrongly accused.
Last year only seven per cent of allegations of wrongdoing made against accountants were upheld by the TPB, yet according to Labor’s rule changes the other 93 per cent found to have done nothing wrong would be forced to inform their clients, in writing, of the vexatious allegations made against them, crippling their businesses.
‘Can you imagine how damaging that would be?’ one accountant told Daily Mail .
Which is why the accounting profession – not known for its passion – is up in arms about the Labor government’s changes and is asking the Opposition and the crossbench to block the changes.