As a psychologist, I am required to follow all applicable laws in relation to protecting your privacy. These include the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“Privacy Act”); the applicable Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act when handling personal information, together with the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) (“Health Records Act”) and the applicable Health Privacy Principles in the Health Records Act when handling personal information which is health information (“Health Information”).
I am also bound by ethics of my profession, which are outlined in the Australian Psychologist Society’s code of ethics, which can be found here: https://psychology.org.au/getmedia/d873e0db-7490-46de-bb57-c31bb1553025/18APS-Code-of-Ethics.pdf
Personal information
I will only collect personal information about you that is appropriate and relevant to enable me to provide services to you.
I may collect personal information about you:
- when you book an appointment, attend my practice, access my website, and/or at any other time from time-to-time in the course of me providing services
- from third party service providers – when they are engaged to supply services to me, provide information to me or invoice me for the provision of services
- when I receive an enquiry from you or someone on your behalf via email or telephone.
If you inquire about my services or your GP sends me a referral, I may need to store some personal information about you. This includes, but may not be limited to, the following:
- your legal name and, if provided, your preferred name and prounouns
- your address, email contact and phone number
- details of your medical and medication history
- psychological assessments carried out by your GP for the purposes of developing a mental health treatment plan (MHTP).
Should you engage in an intake call with me, I will take notes and store these, along with your GP referral if I have received one, on file. This will occur even if you do not progress with treatment with me.
Should you become an active client, I may store the above information, as well as (but not necessarily limited to):
- your credit card details (encrypted)
- your bank account details for Medicare rebates if relevant
- your Medicare card
- clinical notes summarising each of our sessions
- where clinically relevant, emails or other correspondence from you or from any of your other treating health professionals who provide me with information
- details of any assessments I undertake
- correspondence I have with your GP
The information I collect about you includes health information as defined by the Health Records Act. The health information I collect will be only information that is clinically necessary for me to provide services to you.
Storage of personal information
The information I store about you will be stored electronically on a secure device and on practice software called Halaxy. By engaging with my services in any way, you are also considered to have read and agree to Halaxy’s privacy policy, which can be found here: https://www.halaxy.com/article/privacy
I am required to store clinical information I have about you for 7 years following the end of your treatment. During that period I may transfer the information to another storage location or practice software, at my own discretion.
You can request access to information I store about you at any time. Please let me know if you have any concerns or complaints about the way I handle your information so I can address them. Should you notify me that any personal information I keep about you is inaccurate, I will rectify it as soon as possible.
Disclosure of information
I may be required to disclose some or all of your private and health in information to other parties in some limited situations, for example being subpoenaed by a court. I may also disclose relevant personal information about you should I be concerned that you or someone else is at imminent risk. The information I disclose would be to appropriate people or services and only for the purpose of reducing this risk.
Should I be required to provide someone else with any of your personal information, I will first take reasonable steps to contact you to inform you of the requirement and what information will be disclosed.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy forms part of the agreement between you and me (either in your capacity as a client or a third party service provider). I may, from time to time, amend this Privacy Policy, in whole or part. Any changes to this Privacy Policy will be effective immediately upon the updating of this page https://kimina.com/privacy-policy/ By continuing to use my service following any changes, you will be deemed to have agreed to such changes.
Contact us:
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, or if you wish to request access to your personal information, correct or update you details or raise any privacy concerns you may have, please contact us at reception@kimina.com
Further information
For further information about your privacy rights go to: www.privacy.gov.au
For further information about the Health Records Act, go to:
https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/about/legislation/health-records-act; http://www.health.vic.gov.au/hsc/downloads/hppextract.pdf