Limits of Confidentiality

Confidentiality is a cornerstone of financial mentoring, helping clients feel safe sharing personal and financial information. However, there are limits to this confidentiality that mentors must communicate clearly to clients.

Key points include:

While financial mentors strive to maintain client confidentiality, clients should understand that certain circumstances including legal obligations, risk of harm, or professional consultation that may require disclosure. Clear communication about these limits builds trust and ensures clients can make informed decisions about what they share.

This means we need to understand and communicate the legal and ethical limits of confidentiality to protect clients and others from harm. 

In practice this means: 

• informing clients about circumstances where confidentiality may be breached 
• following mandatory reporting requirements while minimising harm to clients 
• balancing client confidentiality with duty of care responsibilities; and 
• understanding legal obligations regarding disclosure of information.