Emma Lee McCallum denied Wagga Local Court bid to avoid conviction for accessing MLHD patient records

Emma Lee McCallum, 34, of Glenfield Park, faced Wagga Local Court on Monday for a sentencing hearing on four counts of unauthorised access to restricted data held in a computer.

McCallum changed her pleas to guilty in August, admitting to knowingly gaining illegal access to the private health records of three people on 14 occasions while working as an Aboriginal health project lead.

McCallum's solicitor, John Weir, on Tuesday last week applied for a diversion under section 14 of the Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act.

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Mr Weir said a doctor had found McCallum at the time of offending had "destabilised thinking" due to "highly traumatic circumstances".

The police prosecutor opposed the application due to the seriousness of McCallum's offending and her prior training on privacy issues soon after starting her position with the MLHD, which has now been terminated.

The application, if granted, would have allowed McCallum to avoid a criminal record on the basis of suffering a mental health impairment.

Magistrate Christopher Halburd had adjourned the matter until Monday to give himself further time to properly consider the application, which was made during a busy day at Wagga Local Court.

Magistrate Halburd on Monday denied the mental health application, convicted McCallum on all four counts and sentenced her to three community correction orders, with no further punishment on one count.

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