A NSW children’s psychologist suspended over a “sexual in nature” relationship with a former patient is now providing services to children through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), Our News Outlet can reveal.
Benjamin French, 46, was found to have engaged in unsatisfactory professional conduct beginning just months after he treated the woman.
The NSW Health Care Complaints Commission investigated French, who was suspended in February 2025. This month, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) extended that suspension by another six months.
Although he has been prohibited from practising psychology for 20 months, French has established a learning support service aimed at children and teenagers with disabilities.
One of the programs offered through his NDIS business is an “ethical hacking” group designed to “turn curiosity into cyber-confidence”.
The service also provides literacy and numeracy lessons, vocational assistance and a book for neurodivergent adults focused on understanding how their brains work.
NCAT heard that French was 36 and working as principal psychologist at Port Psychology in Port Macquarie when he first met the woman, who was 24, in late 2016.
Between February 2017 and December 2020, French conducted 52 sessions with the single mother, discussing her mental health and bipolar disorder diagnosis. He also offered her employment at the practice.
Experienced psychologist Benjamin French was suspended after beginning an inappropriate relationship with a former female patient less than six months after treating her
Three months after their treatment relationship ended in December 2020, French connected with the woman on Facebook.
The pair soon formed an intimate relationship, meeting for dinners and walks while exchanging about 9,000 text messages.
Among the messages presented to NCAT, French said he feared others might believe he had “taken advantage” of her. The comments came a day after he invited her to his home for dinner and kissed her goodbye on the lips.
“We are both in complex relationships which makes us both vulnerable at times,” he wrote. “Just reflecting on that today.
“The power dynamic of the relationship worries me. You were my client. So just had a wave of paranoia today.”
In evidence submitted to the tribunal, the woman said one of their exchanges left her feeling uncomfortable, guilty and confused.
The tribunal was told the two did not communicate between June 2021 and February 2023, when French contacted her through Facebook Messenger.
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In the weeks that followed, the woman sought his advice about obtaining an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnosis.
French was initially suspended in February 2025 and has now been barred for an additional six months
He was principal psychologist at Port Psychology in Port Macquarie when he first met the patient in late 2016
NCAT heard that French agreed to “coach her” to obtain the “right meds”. He also prepared a report about her possible diagnosis despite no longer being her psychologist, backdating it by three years to the period of their therapeutic relationship.
The pair ceased contact in August 2023 and two months later, the woman told her new psychologist about the relationship.
The new psychologist then made a complaint to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
The tribunal also heard French had a six-month ‘intimate relationship’ with a female colleague later that year, and revealed ‘inappropriate information’ about her NDIS clients.
As the treating psychologist for a number of the woman’s clients, French had access to sensitive information which he divulged to her, including details about one client’s suicide attempt and information about that client’s father.
This colleague also made a complaint to AHPRA about French.
In a judgment handed down on October 6, about 20 months after French was first suspended, NCAT upheld the complaints and found French had ‘demonstrated a reckless disregard’ for professional boundaries.
‘Psychologists occupy positions of particular trust with vulnerable patients, making boundary violations especially serious,’ the tribunal panel said.
‘We have particular concern about Mr French providing services to mental health patients who are extremely vulnerable but also in the context of family disputes which are very stressful.’
The Psychology Council of NSW is aware of his new employment, but French’s registration as a psychologist remains suspended on the AHPRA register.
Our News Outlet has contacted French for comment.
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