The Dominion
December 5, 2001
King calls for secrecy briefing
by Leah Haines
Health Minister
Annette King has asked ministry officials to brief her on the secrecy of the
Psychologists Board after it planned not to publish that a top psychologist had
botched a sex abuse investigation.
And the former head of the board, Barry Parsonson, and an international expert
in child suggestibility, Maryanne Garry, have cast doubt on the ability of
other psychologists working in the Family Court system.
Last month,
These included that she asked leading questions of the children, did not
observe them with their father or interview their father, and did not consider
other explanations for the children's behaviour.
Ms Vincent was fined $5000 and censured.
The father, who has been prevented from seeing his children for several years,
was furious that the board allowed her to keep practising.
The board heard Ms Vincent's case in private and confirmed it had no plans to
publish her name in connection with the charges.
New medical practitioners competency legislation being
considered by the Cabinet is likely to amalgamate all medical disciplinary
tribunals into one body.
Ms King said it was her personal preference that the proceedings of any board
be held in public, though she would not comment specifically on Ms Vincent's
case.
Dr Parsonson said he had completed several second-opinion reports on the work
of court psychologists and he had concerns about some of them.
It was an issue that needed to be looked at by the Family Court, he said.
It was important that the court's primary responsibility was to protect
children. But psychologists, one of only a few professionals who gave evidence
in the court, needed to make sure they had good grounds for supporting
allegations of abuse, he said.
"The standard of proof in the Family Court is such that the person can be
deprived of access to their children on the grounds that may not withstand
proof in a criminal court, for example," Dr Parsonson said.
Dr Garry, a senior lecturer in psychology at
These should be taken annually by academic experts, not groups such as the
Psychologists Society, Dr Garry said.
Since July, there have been new guidelines to ensure psychologists working in
the courts keep up to scratch.
The manager of the operations and judicial support division of the Courts
Department, Fiona Saunders-Francis, said new practice guidelines would mean the
competence of psychologists was regularly checked.
Courts were going through a process of re-evaluating each psychologist
according to a list that included whether they were qualified, whether they
were the subject of any complaints, and had they kept up with new research, she
said.
The guidelines list a book co-authored by Ms Vincent as the only text specified
as recommended reading by all psychologists working in the court.
Meanwhile, ACT NZ MP Muriel Newman yesterday renewed her call to open up the
Family Court. She also called for an independent judicial inquiry into the
Family Court.
"Public and media scrutiny is absolutely necessary if justice is to be
done," she said.
"Courts need to have rigorous standards for their decisions to be seen to
be beyond reproach. Clearly, that doesn't happen in the Family Court."