Confidentiality

Information from reference checks, as with other personal information, must be kept confidential. Also, assuring the referee that you will keep information that they give you confidential may allow them to speak more openly with you.

Below you will find links to reference checking:
http://www.kellyservices.com.au/web/au/services/en/pages/recruitment_kit_reference_check_questions.html

It is best if references are checked for every candidate who has interviewed successfully. It is not good practice to employ someone without carrying out reference checks. The information gained from these should be looked on as another means of finding out about a person. But remember, there could be reasons other than poor performance that someone is given a poor reference (for example, personality clashes) so use more than one reference.

Information from reference checks should be kept confidential in the same way as other employee files are.