Privacy Statement

The following policy describes how we collect, use and disclose client’s personal information. The services provided by VIDA are governed by the Australian Privacy Principles and the Privacy Act 1988(Cth).

Collection and use of client information

We are committed to protecting the privacy of our clients and others who provide us with their personal information. We endeavour to only collect personal information we deem necessary for effective and efficient interaction with you.

We collect and hold personal information such as your name, phone number, address, and financial payment details. These details may be collected in various ways including phone, printed copy or electronically. We also collect and store sensitive information such as session notes and medical information. Your personal information is only accessible by VIDA staff and used to provide services to you. This information is stored on our secure client management software, Halaxy. For more information, please see Halaxy’s privacy policy: https://www.halaxy.com/article/privacy

We use your personal information for the purposes of providing psychological services to you. Personal information is collected and retained to document the nature of the service.

You have the right to refuse providing us personal information however this may restrict our ability to provide services to you.

Disclosure of personal information

Client’s information will remain confidential except in the following circumstances:

1.     It is required by law, for example, through receipt of a court ordered subpoena.

2.     We believe that disclosure of personal information is necessary to prevent harm to a client or another person’s life, health or safety.

3.     Prior approval has been granted directly by the client. This will be necessary to facilitate communication with relevant third parties, such as GPs, support agencies or other third parties.

Disclosure of personal information will only occur for the primary purpose for which we collected it, or a related secondary purpose.

Access and correction of personal information

We take reasonable steps to keep your personal information accurate and up to date. We will also take reasonable steps to correct information that is incorrect, irrelevant or out of date. We may refuse to correct information in the circumstances prescribed by the Privacy Act.

 You may access and amend your personal information by contacting us. We may refuse to provide access to personal information if we reasonably believe that providing access would compromise the health and safety of others, would unreasonably impact on the privacy of others, if we believe the request is frivolous or vexatious, or if the information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings and would not be accessible by the discovery process, or in the circumstances otherwise prescribed by the Privacy Act. If we refuse your request for access to or correction of your personal information, we will provide you with written notice and explain the reasons for the refusal.

Website

Our website may use cookies and analytics. Cookies do not identify you personally, but they may link back to a database record about you. We use cookies to monitor usage of our website, and to create a record of when you visit our website and what pages you view so that we may provide you with a better service experience. Cookies are supported by most web browsers, but you can set your browser to block cookies and you can delete them whenever you like. However, if you decide to delete or block certain cookies, your experience on our website may be limited, or you may find that some parts of the website won’t work, especially where cookies are used for security and fraud detection functions.

Complaints

If you have any concerns about your privacy or the use or management of your personal information, please feel free to contact us at vidatelehealthpsychology@gmail.com. 

If you wish to lodge a formal complaint, you can submit a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. To lodge a complaint, visit the ‘Complaints’ section of the Information Commissioner’s website, located at http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints, to obtain the relevant complaint forms, or contact the Information Commissioner’s office. This office may also be contacted by phone on 1300 363 992.

For more information about privacy in general, you can visit the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s website at www.oaic.gov.au