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Service Privacy and Confidentiality
This policy outlines the ways in which THOUGHTFUL CONNECTIONS PTY LTD manage, collect, use and disclose our clients’ personal information. We take privacy seriously and are committed to complying with the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Client information, based on the Act, includes Personal, Sensitive as well as general information.
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Personal information is any information about an individual that can be used to identify them directly or indirectly, such as name, address, phone number, email address, and date of birth.
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Sensitive information is a type of personal information which includes details, for example, about a person’s racial or ethnic origins, political or religious beliefs, sexual orientation, health or genetic information, family court orders or criminal record.
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Thoughtful Connections Pty Ltd also collects general information collected as part of providing the therapeutic service including emails, chat records, and text messages between the client and the company.
All practitioners are required under ethics to maintain some form of written clinical record of the session. By law, any clinical notes documented in session can only be viewed by your practitioner at Thoughtful Connections Pty Ltd.
WHY WE COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION
The sharing of personal information by a client to THOUGHTFUL CONNECTIONS PTY LTD assists us to assess and support the client in processing their identified concerns. Personal information is retained to enable us to provide a relevant and informed service. Within our practice and due to our duty of care a client cannot be anonymous. A client may request to use a pseudonym, but a name as listed on ID’s is required.
HOW WE COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION
We collect personal information through a variety of means, including:
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the information you verbally share with us
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written communication received from you via email, SMS or letter
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our online website or booking system
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our intake forms
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social media
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the legal guardian of those under 18 years of age
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a referral from your GP or another treating practitioner or service.
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notes written during your session which are required by law and our ethical obligations, ensuring the best continuation of your care.
OUR STORAGE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
To protect the personal information, we hold from misuse or loss, we store it in several ways, all of which are secure and can only be accessed by approved individuals. The method of storage varies between types of information and includes both hard copies and digital versions (either on a secure server or offline).
We do not retain any credit card or banking details once processing the payment is finalised. We also try not to retain unnecessary information, disposing of it securely from time to time depending on the type on information it is and our legal obligations.
If we become aware of a security breach we will promptly investigate and, where appropriate, take remedial action and notify the individual affected in accordance with the Privacy Act. 4 Good Practice Guidelines: Privacy, intake and consent in private practice.
CONSEQUENCE OF NOT PROVIDING PERSONAL INFORMATION
If you do not wish for your personal information to be collected in a way anticipated by this Privacy Policy, Thoughtful Connections Pty Ltd may not be in a position to provide you with the desired service. In some circumstances, you may request to remain anonymous or to use a pseudonym, unless it is impracticable for our social worker to deal with the you, or if our social worker is required or authorised by law to deal with identified individuals.
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DISCLOSURE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
We will not disclose personal information about you to third parties without your consent. The exceptions to this clause are:
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if the information is subpoenaed by a court, or disclosure is otherwise required or authorised by law
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if failure to disclose the information would, in the reasonable belief of the Thoughtful Connections Pty Ltd practitioner, place a client or another person at serious risk to life, health or safety
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if the client’s prior approval has been obtained:
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to provide a written report to another agency or professional (ie a GP or a lawyer)
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to discuss the material with another person (ie a parent / employer / health provider / third-party funder)
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to disclose to another professional or agency (e.g. your GP)
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to disclose the information in another way 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.
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Some of the third parties to whom we disclose personal information in the course of online business may be located outside Australia. The countries in which such third-party recipients are located depend on the circumstances. We will not purposefully disclose any information to a recipient outside of Australia.
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If unauthorised access, disclosure or loss of your personal information occurs, Thoughtful Connections Pty Ltd will activate its data breach plan and use all reasonable endeavours to minimize the risk of consequential serious harm.
ACCESSING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
You may request access to personal information we hold about you. We may ask you to specify what information you require. Subject to exceptions in the Privacy Act 1988, we may discuss the contents with you and/or give you a copy. If you determine that the personal information is incomplete, has inaccuracies and is out of date, reasonable steps will be taken in such circumstances to ensure that this information is corrected.
We deal with all requests for access to personal information as required by the Privacy Act 1988. We may refuse to provide access if the Privacy Act allows us to do so.
INTEGRITY OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
We try to ensure that the personal information we collect is accurate and up to date. You may request an update or correction to personal information we hold about you and we will deal with all such requests as required by the Privacy Act 1988.
COMPLAINTS
If you think your personal information has not been handled in line with the Privacy Act 1988, please contact us in the first instance. You may request to obtain a copy of the Australian Privacy Principles, which provides information regarding your rights and the way your personal information should be handled. We will investigate your complaint and try to promptly resolve your complaint directly with you.
Any concerns regarding the management and or use of their personal information or privacy, you may inform the Thoughtful Connections Pty Ltd Practice Manager (Email: admin@thoughtfulconnections.com.au or Phone: 0490 699 874). You may request to obtain a copy of the Australian Privacy Principles, which provides information regarding your rights and the way your personal information should be handled.
Ultimately, if you wish to lodge a formal complaint about the use of, disclosure of, or access to, your personal information, or for general enquiries on the operation and application of Queensland's Right to Information and Information Privacy legislation, you may do so with the Office of the Information Commissioner, Level 11, 53 Albert Street Brisbane, Queensland 4000, Telephone: (07) 3234 7373 or 1800 642 753, Email: enquiries@oic.qld.gov.au.
CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
We may make changes to this privacy policy from time to time and in such cases, we will notify clients by email or on our website.
CONTACT US
If you have any questions relating to privacy matters, please contact us by email at admin@thoughtfulconnections.com.au.
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