This document describes the privacy policy of Your Psych Centre for the management of clients’ personal information. The psychological service provided is bound by the legal requirements of the Australian Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
Client information
Client files are held in a secure electronic document management systems or locked filing cabinet which is accessible only to authorised employees. The information on each file includes personal information such as name, address, contact phone numbers, medical history, and other personal information collected as part of providing the psychological service.
How clients’ personal information is collected
A client’s personal information is collected in a number of ways during psychological consultation with Your Psych Centre, including when the client provides information directly to Your Psych Centre using hardcopy forms, correspondence via email, when the client interacts directly with Your Psych Centre employees such as the receptionist, and when other health practitioners provide personal information to Your Psych Centre, via referrals, correspondence and medical reports.
Consequence of not providing personal information
If the client does not wish for their personal information to be collected in a way anticipated by this Privacy Policy, Your Psych Centre may not be in a position to provide the psychological service to the client. Clients may request to be anonymous or to use a pseudonym, unless it is impracticable for Your Psych Centre to deal with the client or if Your Psych Centre is required or authorised by law to deal with identified individuals. In most cases it will not be possible for the client to be anonymous or to use a pseudonym, however if the Your Psych Centre agrees to the client being anonymous or using a pseudonym, the client must pay consultation fees at the time of the appointment.
Purpose of holding personal information
A client’s personal information is gathered and used for the purpose of providing psychological services, which includes assessing, diagnosing and treating a client’s presenting issue. The personal information is retained in order to document what happens during sessions and enables the psychologist to provide a relevant and informed psychological service.
Disclosure of personal information
Clients’ personal information will remain confidential except when:
- It is subpoenaed by a court; or
- Failure to disclose the information would in the reasonable belief of the Your Psych Centre place a client or another person at serious risk to life, health or safety; or
- The client’s prior approval has been obtained to:
- provide a written report to another professional or agency, e.g., a GP or a lawyer; or
- discuss the material with another person, e.g. a parent, employer or health provider; or
- disclose the information in another way; or you would reasonably expect your personal information to be disclosed to another professional or agency (e.g. your GP) and disclosure of your personal information to that third party is for a purpose which is directly related to the primary purpose for which your personal information was collected; or
- disclosure is otherwise required or authorised by law.
4. A client’s personal information is not disclosed to overseas recipients, unless the client consents or such disclosure is otherwise required by law. Clients’ personal information will not be used, sold, rented or disclosed for any other purpose.
Requests for access and correction to client information
At any stage clients may request to see and correct the personal information about them kept on file. The psychologist may discuss the contents with them and/or give them a copy, subject to the exceptions in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). If satisfied that personal information is inaccurate, out of date or incomplete, reasonable steps will be taken in the circumstances to ensure that this information is corrected. All requests by clients for access to or correction of personal information held about them should be lodged with Stacey Hansen (Owner, Your Psych Centre). These requests will be responded to in writing within 30 days. and an appointment will be made if necessary for clarification purposes.
Concerns
If clients have a concern about the management of their personal information, they may inform Stacey Hansen (Owner). Upon request they can obtain a copy of the Australian Privacy Principles, which describe their rights and how their personal information should be handled. Ultimately, if clients wish to lodge a formal complaint about the use of, disclosure of, or access to, their personal information, they may do so with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner by phone on 1300 363 992, online at http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/making-a-privacy-complaint or by post to:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, GPO Box 5218, Sydney, NSW 2001.
Your Psych Centre Website and Email Subscription
This following information sets forth the Privacy Policy for the Your Psych Centre website, https://www.yourpsychcentre.com.au.
Your Psych Centre is committed to providing you with the best possible customer service experience. Your Psych Centre is bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), which sets out a number of principles concerning the privacy of individuals.
Collection of your personal information
There are many aspects of the site which can be viewed without providing personal information, however, for access to future Your Psych Centre customer support features you are required to submit personally identifiable information. This may include but not limited to your name and email address.
Sharing of your personal information
We may occasionally hire other companies to provide services on our behalf, including but not limited to handling customer support enquiries. Those companies will be permitted to obtain only the personal information they need to deliver the service. Your Psych Centre takes reasonable steps to ensure that these organisations are bound by confidentiality and privacy obligations in relation to the protection of your personal information.
We will not share or sell your personal information with any third party agency without your express permission.
Use of your personal information
We will use the information you have provided to send you relevant information from time-to-time. Whilst the information can be useful, you are free opt-out or change your subscription details at any time.
For each visitor to reach the site, we expressively collect the following non-personally identifiable information, including but not limited to browser type, version and language, operating system, pages viewed while browsing the Site, page access times and referring website address. This collected information is used solely internally for the purpose of gauging visitor traffic, trends and delivering personalized content to you while you are at this Site.
From time to time, we may use customer information for new, unanticipated uses not previously disclosed in our privacy notice. If our information practices change at some time in the future we will use for these new purposes only, data collected from the time of the policy change forward will adhere to our updated practices.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
Your Psych Centre reserves the right to make amendments to this Privacy Policy at any time. If you have objections to the Privacy Policy, you should not access or use the Site.
Accessing Your Personal Information
You have a right to access your personal information, subject to exceptions allowed by law. If you would like to do so, please let us know. You may be required to put your request in writing for security reasons. Your Psych Centre reserves the right to charge a fee for searching for, and providing access to, your information on a per request basis.
Contacting us
Your Psych Centre welcomes your comments regarding this Privacy Policy. If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy and would like further information, please contact us by any of the following means during business hours Monday to Friday.
Call: 0755023912
Post: Attn: Privacy Policy,
Your Psych Centre,
Shop 7a, 2 Cottonwood Place
Oxenford QLD 4210
E-mail: contact@yourpsychcentre.com.au