Ethics Statement

The ethics of The Job Winners are based on the fundamental values of career development and job search coaching and counselling. In addition to subscribing wholeheartedly to the Code of Ethics of the Career Development Association of Australia. Click here to download the CDAA Code of Ethics.

We are committed to:

• Respecting human rights and dignity
• Ensuring the integrity of practitioner-client relationships
• Enhancing the quality of professional knowledge and its application
• Alleviating personal distress and suffering
• Fostering a sense of self that is meaningful to the person(s) concerned
• Increasing personal effectiveness
• Enhancing the quality of relationships between people
• Appreciating the variety of human experience and culture
• Striving for the fair and adequate provision of counselling and psychotherapy services

The ethical principles of the Job Winners are:

Fidelity: honouring the trust placed in the practitioner
Being trustworthy is regarded as fundamental to understanding and resolving ethical issues. Practitioners who adopt this principle: act in accordance with the trust placed in them; regard confidentiality as an obligation arising from the client's trust; restrict any disclosure of confidential information about clients to furthering the purposes for which it was originally disclosed.

Autonomy: respect for the client's right to be self-governing
This principle emphasises the importance we place on helping clients take full control of their own careers and lives. We recognise that they are the captains of their own 'ship' and that our coaches are merely 'pilots' that have been engaged to advise the captain while navigating tricky waters.

We respect the autonomy of our clients: we ensure accuracy in any advertising or information given in advance of services offered; seek freely given and adequately informed consent; engage in explicit contracting in advance of any commitment by the client; protect privacy; protect confidentiality (see separate privacy statement); normally make any disclosures of confidential information conditional on the consent of the person concerned; and inform the client in advance of foreseeable conflicts of interest or as soon as possible after such conflicts become apparent.

Beneficence: a commitment to promoting the client's well-being
The principle of beneficence means acting in the best interests of the client. It directs attention to working strictly within one's limits of competence and providing services on the basis of adequate training or experience. Ensuring that the client's best interests are achieved requires systematic monitoring of practice and outcomes by the best available means. It is considered important that research and systematic reflection inform practice. There is an obligation to commit to updating practice by continuing professional development.

Non-malfeasance: a commitment to avoiding harm to the client
Non-malfeasance involves: avoiding sexual, financial, emotional or any other form of client exploitation; avoiding incompetence or malpractice; not providing services when unfit to do so due to illness, personal circumstances or intoxication. The practitioner has an ethical responsibility to strive to mitigate any harm caused to a client even when the harm is unavoidable or unintended.

Justice: the fair and impartial treatment of all clients and the provision of adequate services
The principle of justice requires being just and fair to all clients and respecting their human rights and dignity. It directs attention to considering conscientiously any legal requirements and obligations, and remaining alert to potential conflicts between legal and ethical obligations. Justice in the distribution of services requires the ability to determine impartially the provision of services for clients and the allocation of services between clients. A commitment to fairness requires the ability to appreciate differences between people and to be committed to equality of opportunity, and avoiding discrimination against people or groups contrary to their legitimate personal, cultural or social characteristics.

Self-respect: fostering the practitioner's self-knowledge and care for self
The principle of self-respect means that the practitioner appropriately applies all the above principles as entitlements for self. This includes seeking opportunities for appropriate personal and professional support as well as training and other opportunities for continuing professional development. The principle of self-respect encourages active engagement in life-enhancing activities and relationships that are independent of relationships in counselling or psychotherapy.

Personal moral qualities

The practitioner's personal moral qualities are of the utmost importance to clients. Many of the personal qualities considered important in the provision of services have an ethical or moral component and are therefore considered as virtues or good personal qualities. It is inappropriate to prescribe that all practitioners possess these qualities, since it is fundamental that these personal qualities are deeply rooted in the person concerned and developed out of personal commitment rather than the requirement of an external authority. Personal qualities to which coaches and counsellors are strongly encouraged to aspire include:

• Empathy: the ability to communicate understanding of another person's experience from that person's perspective.
• Sincerity: a personal commitment to consistency between what is professed and what is done.
• Integrity: commitment to being moral in dealings with others, personal straightforwardness, honesty and coherence.
• Resilience: the capacity to work with the client's concerns without being personally diminished.
• Respect: showing appropriate esteem to others and their understanding of themselves.
• Humility: the ability to assess accurately and acknowledge one's own strengths and weaknesses.
• Competence: the effective deployment of the skills and knowledge needed to do what is required.
• Fairness: the consistent application of appropriate criteria to inform decisions and actions.
• Wisdom: possession of sound judgement that informs practice.
• Courage: the capacity to act in spite of known fears, risks and uncertainty.

Adapted from the code of ethics of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.