A family counsellor can be called to give evidence at the murder trial of Brisbane man Gerard Baden-Clay, a judge has ruled.
The Relationships Australia counsellor had argued her conversations with Baden-Clay, 43, and his slain wife Allison, were confidential.
However, Supreme Court judge James Douglas on Thursday ruled counsellor Carmel Ritchie will be required to give evidence at a pre-trial hearing next year.
The ruling means the crown can call Ms Ritchie as a witness during the trial, which has been set down for June next year.
The counsellor spoke with Mrs Baden-Clay on March 27, 2012, and with Baden-Clay and his wife separately on April 16, 2012.
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Baden-Clay sat in the dock during Thursday's brief hearing.
Mrs Baden-Clay was reported missing on April 20 last year, and her body was found on the banks of a creek in Brisbane's west 10 days later.
Baden-Clay was arrested in June 2012 and charged with murder.
He maintains he is innocent.
In an earlier court hearing, Relationships Australia's barrister George Kalimnios had argued the Family Law Act prohibited Ms Ritchie giving evidence, and could claim privilege on the grounds of public interest.
But in his written judgment on Thursday, Justice Douglas said both arguments were misconceived, and there were no grounds to claim privilege.
"Even if such a privilege existed separate from the Act, the balance is decisively in favour of permitting access to the evidence for the purposes of Mr Baden-Clay's trial on the charge of murder."
