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Responsibilities And Responsibilities Of Fiduciary Obligations

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I INTRODUCTION

In Australia, the doctor and patient relationship does not fall within an established category of fiduciary duty. The High Court in its decisions has been unwilling to alter equity’s principles in a manner that would allow fiduciary obligations to be imposed upon doctor and patient relationships. In order to understand the High Court’s unwillingness, this essay will examine and discuss the established categories of fiduciary relationships, fiduciary relations outside of the established categories and the nature of fiduciary obligations in terms of prohibitive (negative) and prescriptive (positive) duties and existing common law duties.

II DISCUSSION

A Fiduciary Obligations and the Established …show more content…

However, when one considers the primary role of a doctor, it seems much more suitable to describe their duty as relating to ‘the exercise of reasonable care and skill in the provision of professional advice and treatment’.

At first glance, it is easy to see how even this could be perceived to be fiduciary in nature, whereby patients often confide in and depend on their doctor who they believe will act in their best interests. Even so, there is a major difference between the doctor-patient relationship and the established fiduciary relationships.

In established fiduciary relationships the fiduciary acts like ‘a representative character in the exercise of his responsibility’. When considering the role of doctors generally, it cannot be said that the role of doctors is to act as the representatives of their patients. As such, the High Court in Breen v Williams determined that it would not impose fiduciary obligations between doctor and patient since traditionally there was no such established relationship in Australian law.

B Fiduciary Relations Outside the Established Categories

In spite of this, it should be noted that ‘the categories of fiduciary relationship are not closed’ and the courts’ powers may be extended, so as to be able to find a fiduciary relationship outside the established categories. The finding of a fiduciary relationship in such circumstances will be based on the factual

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