If you’re a practice manager in a growing Allied Health Practice, there’s a good chance that you’ll seek to engage workers, (whether employees, agents, or contractors) who will have access to confidential information of the practice and the personal information of clients.
Such an engagement with the practice is mediated by their agreement (namely the employment agreement or the contractor agreement). However, the issue with these such agreements is that once the worker leaves, the agreements are terminated. The question is how then a practice can force its interests against these workers? The solution is a deed of confidentiality, privacy, and non-solicitation that sits in parallel with the engagement agreement. Such a deed remains on foot either indefinitely (in relation to confidentiality and privacy), or for a set period (in relation to non-solicitation).
1. Privacy
Allied health professionals deal with sensitive client information daily (session notes, treatment plans, diagnoses, insurance details, etc.). Privacy is crucial to:
- Meet legal obligations: The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) requires strict safeguarding of personal information (and sensitive personal information) held and used by the practice. A deed of privacy ensures that practices can enforce their privacy obligations against engaged workers after the engagement ceases.
- Protect patient trust: clients must feel safe sharing personal details, knowing their information won’t be misused or disclosed without consent. Deeds of Privacy uphold the norms around protection of this critical information.
- Maintain practice compliance: Data Breaches and/or improper disclosure of personal information can lead to litigation, fines, and/or reputational damage if the details are publicised.
2. Confidentiality
Confidentiality goes beyond privacy; it ensures all personal and organisational data (not just client data) remains protected.
- Protect staff and business data: Worker records, business strategies, and proprietary procedures must be kept private to avoid disadvantage to the commercial interests of the practice.
- Prevent identity theft or fraud: Safeguarding all personal data helps prevent cybercrimes targeting staff or other engaged workers.
- Protect Sensitive Commercial Data: Protecting commercial information such as your source of referrals, your templates, your practice information and your margins is critical to ensure the commercial longevity of your practice.
3. Non-Solicitation
Non-solicitation clauses prevent engaged workers (such as contractors or casual staff) from:
- Poaching clients/patients after leaving: Prevents outgoing staff from taking a practice’s patient base to a competing provider.
There is quite an increasing body of law in relation to the enforceability (or non-enforceability) of non-compete clauses. Additionally, the Federal government has announced in its 2025-2026 budget that it will be banning non-compete clauses along with non-poaching clauses (to the extent that these poaching clauses relate to poaching staff). However, non-solicitation clauses in relation to existing clients and referrers remain relatively non-controversial as long as they are commercially reasonable and clearly protect an established interest of the practice.
Why Are These Even More Critical with Engaged Workers?
Engaged workers (including temporary employees, contractors, or part-time staff) might:
- Have shorter, less invested tenures: They may not develop the same loyalty as long-term employees.
- May Work at multiple practices: This increases risks of cross-contamination of confidential practices or client lists.
- Be less familiar with internal procedures: They may inadvertently breach rules due to lack of exposure to internal policies and norms.
Conclusion
Allied health practices must be vigilant about confidentiality, privacy, and non-solicitation to protect patients, staff, and the business itself—particularly with engaged workers who may be less tied to organisational norms or at higher risk of inadvertently sharing sensitive information. Best practice in upholding these norms is for engaged workers to sign a deed of confidentiality, privacy and non-solicitation, in parallel with their engagement agreement, that will remain on foot potentially long after the engagement agreement ceases.
