KEY POINTS:
The Nurses' Organisation journal Kai Tiaki had fully informed consent to publish controversial photographs of frail and sick elderly people in an essay on rest home carers, the Privacy Commissioner has found.
Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff said the elderly people concerned or their families had known the photographs were to be published in the journal.
The essay was part of a project to highlight the work of carers of elderly people in residential care. The elderly had given their consent at each step of the project, Ms Shroff said.
The issue arose when a family, who thought their father had been photographed, complained that he had been exploited.
They were mistaken, and the family of the man whose photo was used had signed a consent form saying they were happy for it to be used.
The photos, taken five years ago, included the photo of the man sitting on a commode.
Another of the photographs, of a woman in her 90s, who has since died, showed her naked in a shower with her breasts visible, and a third showed a woman having her incontinence pants pulled up.
The photos featured residents living in two rest homes, in Christchurch and Wellington, and highlighted the value of caregivers' work to support the joint Nurses Organisation-Service & Food Workers Union "fair share" campaign.
The Privacy Commission received five complaints that centred on mainly what the complainants perceived as exploitation of the residents.
In her ruling, Ms Shroff said the purpose of the publication of the photographs "was to raise the profile of aged care workers in New Zealand.
"I am satisfied that all subjects were aware of this purpose, and that they or their representatives agreed to personal information being used in this way."
Ms Shroff said there was no evidence of coercion, bad faith or compulsion in the collection of the information for the essay.
"On the contrary, it appears clear from our inquiry that there was a willingness by all subjects or their representatives to be involved, and that they agree with the aim of the project."
- NZPA
