We take your privacy seriously.
Our Counsellors are bound by the privacy policies, rules and guidelines of Psychotherapy and Counsellors Federation Australia (PACFA) and by Australian privacy legislation.
WHAT INFORMATION DO WE RETAIN
When you first contact us (either by phone or by email), you will generally provide information like your name, phone number and address and you may also provide some background information relating to your need for counselling. This information is held in our secure database.
Except with your express permission and except as described above, we will keep all information you provide to us confidential and secure at all times. Please note that there may be exceptions to this policy, under circumstances such as:
– in the case of a legal court subpoena, or
– if we identify an imminent threat of harm to you or another person we may decide, without obligation to do so, to report that information.
HOW DO WE USE THE INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE
The personal information you provide to us is used to administer and manage our services to you.
WHAT INFORMATION DOES YOUR COUNSELLOR RETAIN
Often, we may make notes about your session, either prior, during or immediately following, your appointment.
This information is securely held according to the confidentiality policies stipulated by PACFA and you can view their privacy guidelines here: https://www.pacfa.org.au/about/mission-values/ ; And in accordance with Australian privacy law.
ACCESS TO YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
You are entitled to access the information we keep about you. Please contact our office for more information.
FEES AND BILLING
We are a private billing practice and fees are payable prior to your consultation.
CANCELLATION POLICY
We understand there are sometimes extenuating circumstances, where possible please ensure you give us at least 24 hours notice if you need to cancel your appointment. This enables other patients to attend for an appointment. Failure to attend an appointment or to give 24 hour notification of cancellation will incur an $80 fee.
Website Privacy and Cookie Policy
KEY DETAILS
Our website, like many others, stores and retrieves information on your browser using cookies. This page explains what cookies are and how we use them on our website.
We never participate in the disclosure or resale of customer data. We only engage in the collection of data essential to facilitate in providing products or services to you, in a safe and efficient manner.
If you are asked to provide information when using this website, it will only be used in the ways described in this privacy policy.
This policy is updated from time to time, the latest version is published on this page.
This website privacy policy was updated on: 12 October 2020
If you have any questions about this policy, please contact us.
INTRODUCTION
We gather and use certain information about individuals in order to provide products and services and to enable certain functions on this website.
We collect information to better understand how visitors use this website and to present timely, relevant information to them.
When you first visit our website, browsing and remaining on our website will imply that you agree to our use of cookies as explained in this Privacy and Cookie Policy.
You can decide to withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies on your computer (or mobile device) using the settings and configuration of your Internet browser.
DATA WE MAY GATHER
We may collect the following information:
- Name
- Contact information including email address
- Demographic information, such as postcode, preferences and interests
- Website usage data
- Other information relevant to customer enquiries
- Other information pertaining to special offers and surveys
How we use this data
Collecting this data helps us to understand what you are looking for from our business, and helps us deliver improved products and services.
Specifically, we may use data:
- For our own internal records.
- To improve products and services we provide.
- To contact you in response to a specific enquiry.
- To customise the website for you.
- To send you promotional emails about products, services, offers and other things that may be relevant to you.
- To contact you via email, telephone or mail.
COOKIES AND HOW WE USE THEM
What is a cookie?
A cookie is a small piece of data that our website asks your browser to store on your computer or mobile device.
Cookies do not provide us with access to your computer or any information about you, other than that which you choose to share with us.
Generally, it contains certain information that is not personally identifiable to you, but is used to improve and personalise your web experience.
For example, a cookie can include the date and time of visits to the website, the pages viewed and the time spent on the website.
How we use cookies
We may use cookies to:
- Analyse our web traffic using an analytics package. Aggregated usage data helps us improve the website structure, design, content and functions.
- To check if are you are signed in to our website and if you have used our site before.
- Record information about your preferences regarding our website.
- If you return to our website, we may show your relevant content or provide functionality you used previously.
We work to protect the security of your information during transmission by using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL/TLS) protocols, which encrypts the information you input.
Our cookies help us to:
- Support our website security.
- Boost the speed of the site.
- Enhance our website for browsers.
- Improve our marketing.
We do NOT use cookies to:
- Collect any sensitive information (without your express permission).
- Pass data to advertising networks.
- Pass personally identifiable data to third parties.
Controlling cookies
You can use your web browser’s cookie settings to determine how our website uses cookies. If you do not want our website to store cookies on your computer or device, you should set your web browser to refuse cookies.
However, please note that doing this may a render some pages and services as unavailable to you.
Unless you have changed your browser to refuse cookies, our website will issue cookies when you visit it.
Why does the message explaining cookies keep appearing?
If you close the banner and it reappears the next time you visit us, you most likely have cookies disabled. We use a persistent cookie to remember that you closed the banner, but this only works when cookies on our site are enabled.
Controlling information about you
When you fill in a form or provide your details on our website, you may see one or more tick boxes allowing you to:
- Opt-in to receive communications from us by email, telephone, text message or post.
If you have agreed that we can use your information for contact purposes, you can change your mind easily by contacting us.
We will never lease, distribute or sell your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or the law requires us to.
Any personal information we hold about you is stored and processed under our data protection policy, in line with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the EU GDPR 2018 legislation.
You can learn more about cookies here.
SECURITY
How do we protect your information?
Our website is scanned on a regular basis for security vulnerabilities in order to make your visit to our site as safe as possible.
All sensitive/credit information you supply is encrypted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology.
To enhance the safety of your personal information we use and implement a variety of security measures when a user submits information or accesses information.
All transactions are processed through a gateway provider and are not stored or processed on our servers.
Links from our site
Our website may contain links to other websites.
Please note that we have no control of other websites outside our domain. If you provide information to a website to which we link, we are not responsible for its protection and privacy, please read any other website’s data protection and privacy policies.
