Legislative Acts which establish boundaries of massage practice in New Zealand/Privacy Act 1993

Objectives of the Privacy Act 1993
The objectives of this Act include:


 * Promoting and protecting individual privacy
 * Establishing principles for collecting, using, and disclosing information about individuals
 * Establishing principles for allowing each individual access to information about them that is held by public and private sector agencies
 * Providing for the appointment of a Privacy Commissioner to investigate complaints about interferences with individual privacy

Massage practice and the Privacy Act 1993
Massage practice is bounded by the privacy act in the following way.

Access to client records
No-one apart from you and your client are allowed to view client records unless your client specifically authorises someone else to have access.

Access must be provided to client records when it is asked for with appropriate authority.

It is your responsibility as your client's therapist to ensure the privacy of their records. This may be achieved by storing client records in a locked filing cabinet, and never leaving them lying around when you are not in the room.

Confidentiality
What is said within the massage session should stay within the massage session.

The only times that it is acceptable to breach confidentiality is when you believe that your client may endanger someone else, or be in danger themselves in the future.