{"id":129455,"date":"2025-09-08T19:21:24","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T19:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/129455\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T19:21:24","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T19:21:24","slug":"daccord-oas-psychologists-reveal-mental-health-provider-refuses-pay-threatens-them-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/129455\/","title":{"rendered":"D\u2019Accord OAS psychologists reveal mental health provider refuses pay, threatens them"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mental health workers say D\u2019Accord OAS\u2019s actions have turned counsellors into debt collectors chasing a company that brands itself<\/a> as a \u201cnational industry leader\u201d and the best provider of \u201cemployee wellness in Australia\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s appalling,\u201d said one mental health worker who was called in to counsel Myer staff after the Bondi Junction stabbing but was not paid until months later. He estimates D\u2019Accord still owes him $10,000 for other services more than a year after he stopped working for the company. Like several other counsellors, he requested to remain anonymous to protect his future work.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t treat anybody like that, and especially when you work in the environment of allied health, where you\u2019re treating patients and assisting people with their own mental health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Counsellors became so frustrated last year that they contacted D\u2019Accords\u2019 corporate clients directly, telling them that they were not being paid for their work.<\/p>\n

The intervention prompted surprise from the clients, who said they had already paid D\u2019Accord for the contract, and fury from D\u2019Accord\u2019s head office, which accused counsellors of failing to file their invoices on time, breaching commercial terms and harming the mental health of head office staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have also had complaints from clients\/employers that they have been advised that their [employee assistance program] appointments have been put on hold due to not having been paid,\u201d D\u2019Accord wrote to counsellors in March last year.<\/p>\n

Then it threatened to destroy their careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been made aware of various group chats that associates have been participating in discussing\/sharing their grievances,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis behaviour is slander and defamation and totally destructive. Forensic IT specialists are looking into this chat room, and those that have been part of the group or currently involved will not only be struck off the associate register but will also be reported for unprofessional conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"D\u2019Accord<\/p>\n

D\u2019Accord OAS managing director Gino Carrafa.Credit: Instagram: Gino Carrafa<\/p>\n

Gino Carrafa, the company\u2019s sole director, has a penchant for extravagant European holidays, Balinese villas and inspirational quotes. \u201cTrust is the foundation and the glue that makes teams more than the sum of their parts,\u201d D\u2019Accord wrote on its Facebook in May.<\/p>\n

But when one counsellor messaged in March 2024 after going without payment for six months, Carrafa, a registered psychologist, accused her of threatening him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow dare you contact me, and especially a weekend, that\u2019s unprofessional you are mug covered under fair work [sic],\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

The counsellor told Carrafa she had a mortgage to pay and that she wanted to alert him to \u201cunethical\u201d behaviour at his company.<\/p>\n

Carrafa responded by telling her she had no idea how to run a business.<\/p>\n

Carrafa was busy preparing for his next trip to Europe. Instagram photos of the holiday, his third European summer in as many years, show him matching wine with cheese in the Tuscan hills of San Gimignano, watching opera in Verona and diving into the turquoise waters off Capri, while his counsellors struggled to pay the bills after going months without pay.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just gross,\u201d said one of D\u2019Accord\u2019s former counsellors, Marc, who asked to be identified by his first name.<\/p>\n

Three counsellors said they or their legal representatives had been on the receiving end of tirades from Carrafa after they raised concerns about being paid.<\/p>\n

In one instance, he allegedly threatened someone trying to recoup debts by telling them to \u201cf— off\u201d and \u201cI know where you live\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he should be disbarred [from being a psychologist], personally,\u201d said a counsellor who worked with D\u2019Accord for five years and at one stage estimated he was owed $20,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way he spoke to me, and basically on the phone, told me, \u2018I owe you nothing, get f—-d\u2019. The way he went off at me for just trying to nicely enquire was just totally unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The counsellor eventually received the amount he was owed, but only after threatening legal action.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was lucky to get my money, and I took it and ran and never looked back,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought he would be out of business and shut down by now, to be honest with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a phone interview, Carrafa dismissed the claims of 18 counsellors as \u201cunfounded\u201d. The 59-year-old accused them of having \u201cpoor business practices\u201d and failing to file their invoices on time, allegations the counsellors deny.<\/p>\n

\"Carrafa<\/p>\n

Carrafa on one of his European holidays. Credit: Instagram: Gino Carrafa<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s rubbish,\u201d Carrafa said. \u201cDon\u2019t ring me and go my business, mate.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a subsequent email, Carrafa said counsellors who attended the Bondi stabbing had been paid.<\/p>\n

\u201cClinicians have been paid and subsequently continue to get paid,\u201d he said. \u201cAny further harassing and aggressive calls will not be tolerated.\u201d<\/p>\n

In June 2025, as Carrafa chowed down on risotto with a mountain of shaved truffles in Sardinia on his latest European sojourn, another counsellor was pursuing the company through the Melbourne Magistrates Court for $10,000 after going 12 months without payment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t pay me, so after several months, I had to stop trauma counselling mid-process with clients,\u201d the counsellor said.<\/p>\n

The company paid the counsellor $7000 in July, almost a year after her invoices were due, mirroring the experience of half a dozen other counsellors who say they were paid only after pursuing legal action or engaging debt collectors.<\/p>\n

D\u2019Accord\u2019s response not only increased their financial strain but put counsellors in an invidious position: work for free or leave domestic violence survivors, victims of crime and witnesses to horrific incidents in vulnerable situations.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The D\u2019Accord OAS head office in Melbourne.Credit: D\u2019Accord OAS<\/p>\n

All the counsellors this masthead spoke to ensured that their clients had alternative support services around them before they ceased their treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s that compassion with us, mental health social workers, psychologists and counsellors, that we will continue to do that because we aren\u2019t going to let our client down, that we\u2019ll kind of forgo payment because the client needs us,\u201d said Glavas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was not going to close on them until I felt like a good safety plan was in place,\u201d said Adams.<\/p>\n

D\u2019Accord said it would pay Adams last week, but only after she publicly shamed the company on Google.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is deeply concerning that a company operating in the mental health sector, where trust, integrity and ethical practice should be at the forefront, treats its contractors in this way,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

In response, D\u2019Accord threatened to report Adams to the Australian Association of Social Workers. Adams still has not been paid for her work.<\/p>\n

One counsellor said D\u2019Accord OAS was a stain on the industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sad thing is that these people give EAP such a bad reputation. Less than 10 per cent of employees take up that entitlement for EAP,\u201d the counsellor said, who claims the company owes her $12,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cCounselling is such a good thing for everybody, and people can get this through their workplace, but they\u2019re fearful. And then people like D\u2019Accord really give it a bad name.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love my money, but I just want it to stop,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Counsellor<\/p>\n

Counsellor Ursula Adams. Credit: Dan Peled<\/p>\n

PACFA said it first became aware of member concerns about D\u2019Accord\u2019s conduct in 2022 and removed D\u2019Accord from its list of known EAP providers.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince then, we have continued to support our members to advocate for their contracted rights and encourage people to report D\u2019Accord to the relevant authorities as appropriate,\u201d said de Wever.<\/p>\n

The Employee Assistance Professional Association of Australasia [EAPAA] has also struck D\u2019Accord OAS from its website. The Australian Counselling Association said D\u2019Accord has not been associated with the peak body since August 2023. Neither industry group would comment on why they were no longer affiliated with the mental health provider.<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission said it encouraged anyone with concerns about conduct that affected the delivery of health services to lodge a complaint.<\/p>\n

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, which is responsible for Carrafa\u2019s registration as a psychologist, said it could not comment on individual matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who has concerns about the conduct of a registered health practitioner is encouraged to report this to AHPRA so the concerns can be considered,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

Tresna Lammonby, a former D\u2019Accord counsellor, said the real victims were people seeking mental health care.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are the people who actually need protecting. They are the people who are at risk,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s always about the client. But you can\u2019t see people for nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mental health workers say D\u2019Accord OAS\u2019s actions have turned counsellors into debt collectors chasing a company that brands…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,393,394],"class_list":{"0":"post-129455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}