Privacy Policy

The type and amount of Personal Information We collect about individuals varies depending on the circumstances, and may be collected in various forms including verbally, or through written records, audio files, and images.

Personal Information We collect includes: personal and business contact details, including email address, street address, and emergency contact; identification details such as name, date of birth, place of birth, gender, employment details, marital status, names and ages of any children, educational and professional qualifications and other demographic information, all if provided; transactional information such as service requirements, service satisfaction feedback, and referral mechanisms; Medicare number and insurance claim information (if relevant); Australian Business Number; and financial information such as bank account details, and credit card number.

Sensitive Information We collect includes: prognosis and diagnosis, information relevant to care requirements, service and clinical practice information, health assessment feedback, accessibility and dietary requirements, memberships, associations and other relevant health information, indigenous status (if provided) and any other personal or sensitive information you provide.

Where practical, Sensitive Information about individuals collected in relation to Our research and studies is de-identified. Other than as disclosed in this Policy, or to the extent we are authorised or required by Law, we will not use or disclose any Sensitive Information other than with your consent. Personal health Information is collected in accordance with the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997 Privacy Principles.

Personal health Information is collected in accordance with the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997 Privacy Principles.

We will generally collect Personal Information:

1. from you directly when you provide your details to Us;
2. from a person responsible for you;
3. from third parties where the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997 and the Privacy Act 1988 or other law allows it.

This may include personal information collected in person, in writing, by telephone, through our website, mobile applications and other electronic communication channels. Wherever practicable, We will collect this personal information from you directly.

We also collect personal information through events and activities that we hold or are involved in, such as seminars, workshops, promotional and other events.

We may also collect Personal Information indirectly such as through–

• mail and electronic correspondence, quotations, invoices received;
• your authorised representative, attorney, or guardian, providing it to Us;
• internet and publicly available databases;
• other medical professionals that have referred you to us or whose details you have provided to us;
• publications;
• internet surveys;
• Our service providers; and
• government agencies and organisations

If Northside receives unsolicited Personal Information, such as unrequested job applications, it will be handled in accordance with the Act. We may keep records of unsolicited Personal information if permitted by the Act.

We will only collect Personal Information we reasonably require in connection with the functions and activities or to otherwise deal with you.

Northside is committed to protecting Personal Information it collects. We will take all reasonable steps to protect the Personal Information We hold from misuse, interference, and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

When using electronic systems for storage your Personal Information will be secured by a password accessible by authorised officers that require access to undertake their official functions and roles. Sensitive Information will have restricted access placed on it and will be managed under strict governance requirements which will vary depending on the nature of the Sensitive Information and the electronic system concerned.

Our internally operated electronic databases and network are secured by a firewall and anti-virus software to ensure, so far as practicable, that it is not accessed by unauthorised parties.

Your Personal Information may be stored in hard copy or electronic format in secure facilities that We own and operate, or that are owned and operated by Our service providers, or in locations authorised for temporary backup storage. This includes but is not limited to the following cloud based applications –

• Hostus for client database and company files; and
• Microsoft Cloud for company emails (together Our Cloud Services)

Our security measures and processes meet industry standards. These may include access control procedures, network firewalls, encryption and physical security. Although we will endeavour to protect your personal information, we are unable to guarantee that any information you transmit to us over the internet is 100% secure. Where We receive Personal Information about You from a third party which was not solicited, then that Personal Information will be dealt with in accordance with this Privacy Policy and the Act. Specifically, We will determine, within a reasonable period of time after receiving the Personal Information, whether We could have collected the Personal Information lawfully and fairly if We had solicited the Personal Information and only retain such Personal Information if We believe this is the case.

In general, we may collect, your or a prospective client’s Personal Information to inform and enable the services We provide and to enable Us to carry out Our business functions and activities, including:

• administering psychological health services;
• administering your interactions and transactions with Us;
• enabling third parties to provide services on Our behalf;
• providing information to third parties including insurance companies, GP’s and other health providers;
• providing information and educational resources to you ;
• maintaining and providing you access to Our website;
• assisting you with enquiries;
• promoting better practice and to facilitate quality improvement of processes;
• enabling communication in the form of newsletters, appointment reminders, marketing, media releases, and invitations;
• conducting research, clinical supervision and peer review;
• data processing and analysis;
• complying with regulatory, governance, and funding reporting requirements; and
• contacting next of kin and emergency contacts

While it is possible for you to interact with Us under a pseudonym or anonymously in some cases, it may be necessary for Us to collect Personal Information in order to respond to your enquiry or provide services.

We may not be able to deal with you in some situations unless you provide Us with the Personal Information we reasonably require, including where you use a pseudonym or remain anonymous.

We may obtain personal information from third parties if is not reasonable or practicable to collect from you or where you have otherwise consented.

Use of Government related identifiers

Our policy is to not:

1. use a government related identifier of an individual (such as a Medicare number or driver’s licence number) as Our own identifier of individuals; or
2. otherwise use or disclose such a government related identifier unless this is permitted by the Act, or reasonably required for the performance or undertaking of Our activities and functions.

Quality of Personal Information

We take reasonable steps to ensure that Personal Information that We collect is accurate, up to date and complete. This includes by:

1. recording Personal Information in a consistent format;
2. where necessary, confirming the accuracy of Personal Information and updating our records accordingly; and
3. destroying or de-identifying Personal Information that is no longer required.

How can you access and correct your Personal Information?

Subject to the rights and exceptions set out in the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997, you may seek access to and correction of the Personal information which we hold about you. The psychologist may discuss the contents, subject to the exceptions of the aforementioned Acts. 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. An appointment may need to be made and fees charged (if necessary) for clarification purposes or where requests are unreasonable or onerous.

We will deal with your request within a reasonable time. If We do not agree with the corrections you have requested (for example, because We consider that the Personal Information is already accurate, up to date, complete, relevant and not misleading), We are not required to make the corrections.

However, where We refuse to do so, We will give you a written notice setting out the reasons. You may request that We make a record of your claim and associate that record with the Personal Information in dispute.

Once we no longer have a need for your Personal Information, then We will destroy the Personal Information when it is reasonably practicable to do so.

Please contact the Privacy Officer to access your Personal Information

Address: Privacy Officer, Northside Psychology, Suite 3, Level 4

40 Cameron Avenue | Belconnen ACT 2617

Phone: 02 6255 3008

Email: info@northsidepsychology.com.au

Interactions with you via the internet

We may display advertisements on our website. We may add cookies to users’ browsers and use web beacons and measurement software and tools on our websites to enable us to serve ads based on prior visits to the website. Cookies are small files that a website can store on a user’s computer and are used for keeping the ‘state of a user session’ i.e. remembering who you are from a page requesting information through to supplying it.

If you prefer not to have cookies collected, you can disable this option in your browser settings. However, in doing so, you may be unable to access certain pages or content on our website.

When you access our websites and mobile applications, our Internet Service Provider may make a record of your visit and logs the following information for statistical purposes only – the user’s server address, the user’s top level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .au, etc), the date and time of the visit to the site, the pages accessed and documents downloaded, the previous site visited, and the type of browser used.

Our website contains links or references to other websites or organisations. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of the linked websites and other pages hosted by Us.

Links to third party websites are provided for information, and do not indicate Our endorsement of that business or any assurances about the content on that site. Third party websites may have their own privacy and security policies, which We encourage you to read before supplying any Personal Information to them.

Disclosure of Personal Information

Your Personal Information may be disclosed where:

1. it is subpoenaed by a court; or
2. a failure to disclose the information would in the reasonable belief of Northside places you or another person at serious risk to life, health or safety; or
3. your prior approval has been obtained to:
   • provide a written report to another third party, e.g., a GP or a lawyer; or
   • discuss the material with another person, e.g. a parent, a contractor to provide services on Our behalf, an employer, insurance company, a manager or clinical supervisor within Our practice or health provider;
   • discuss your Personal Information for research or peer review purposes; or
   • disclose the information in another way; or
4. you would reasonably expect your Personal Information to be disclosed to third parties (e.g. the clients’ 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
5. personal information is disclosed to third parties engaged to assist Us with services including data processing, data analysis, information technology services and support, event management, website maintenance/development, printing, record archiving, data mailing and research; or
6. disclosure is required through mandated reporting or otherwise authorised by law.

Your Personal Information is not directly disclosed to overseas recipients, unless you consent or such disclosure is otherwise required by law. Personal Information may be indirectly disclosed overseas by Our use of Cloud Services from time to time, the location of which is not reasonably available. However, this indirect disclosure is primarily related to storage and transmission of the information.

Your Personal Information will not be used, sold, rented or disclosed for any other purpose.

We will take reasonable steps to protect the security of the clients’ information and comply with our legal obligations. Our staff are trained and required to respect the clients’ privacy. We take reasonable steps to protect information held from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

If you have any questions about privacy-related issues or wish to complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles or the handling of the clients’ personal information by us, please contact our Privacy Officer.

You may lodge your complaint in writing. Any complaint will be investigated by the Privacy Officer and you will be notified of the making of a decision in relation to your complaint as soon as is practicable after it has been made, usually within 30 days.

If you would like to contact us, including to ask a question, request removal from our communications or make a complaint, our Privacy Officer can be reached at:

Address: Privacy Officer, Northside Psychology, Suite 3, Level 4

40 Cameron Avenue | Belconnen ACT 2617

Phone: 02 6255 3008

Email: info@northsidepsychology.com.au

If you are unhappy with our response and you wish to lodge a formal complaint about the use of, disclosure of, or access to, your Personal Information, you 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.

Updates to this Policy

This Policy will be reviewed from time to time to take account of new laws and technology, changes to our operations and other necessary developments. See www.northsidepsychology.com.au