Privacy Policy
We provide psychology services for our clients, and in this capacity we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information for the purpose of providing these services to our clients, and for the purpose of managing our practice.
We are committed to confidentiality and protecting your privacy in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles
Our psychologists and staff will endeavour to only collect personal information that is necessary for us to provide psychology services.
Should you intend to engage in psychology services with us, you will be asked to complete client intake forms. These forms will explain how we manage client confidentiality.
Circumstances may arise where we may need to collect, use and disclose personal information for particular purposes that are outside of our usual business activities. If so, we will handle any such information in accordance with Australian Privacy Laws.
What information is collected
Personal information that we collect and hold may include:
your name, date of birth, company name and contact details (including email address, telephone number, home address)
your credit card details
your billing and claim information (include Medicare number and private health insurance details, billing address)
your geographic location, IP address, survey responses, support queries, blog comments and social media handles;
clinical notes/records and correspondence (eg letters to doctors) that our psychologists receive or create in the course of providing psychological services
information that an authorised representative may provide (which may include your medical history and current medications)
your emergency contact details
In some cases, we may need to collect certain information from third parties such as:
referring GPs or psychiatrists;
other support service providers;
your parent or guardian (if you are a minor)
an authorised representative or caregiver
Medicare or a private health fund
Information from third parties will be collected when it is reasonable to do so, or when we have explicitly discussed this with you.
In the event of an emergency, we may collect information from your emergency contact person or other people (such as family or friends).
How information is used
The information we collect is done to facilitate the provision of services to you. In addition to providing clinical services, this also includes: communicating with you, providing technical support, notifying you of updates, sharing useful content, measuring customer satisfaction, diagnosing problems and providing you with a personalised website experience.
We may also use information we collect in aggregated and anonymised forms to identify client needs and demands. This enables us to improve our service.
How information is stored
Reasonable means will be used to protect the confidentiality of your personal information.
Personal information is stored as either hard copy records, or electronically in our practice management system and other IT systems.
Hard copy records may be electronically uploaded onto our practice management system. Hard copy records are destroyed once they are deemed to no longer be necessary.
In order to limit any unauthorised access of your personal information, we use reputable IT service providers to host our website and to manage our practice management system. In order to process payments and make claims on your behalf, our billing and claims processes may also require the sharing of your information.
Access to personal information is limited to those staff who have an operational need to access it. In general, clinical records will only be accessed by the professional staff who are involved in your treatment. Access to all electronic records is password protected.
We retain personal information for as long as needed to provide services to you and as otherwise necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements.
In the event there is a breach of our security and your personal information is compromised, we will notify you in compliance with the applicable law
Disclosing of information to Third Parties
In providing psychological services, your personal information may be shared with other healthcare providers. In general, your personal information may be shared with other third parties outside of our practice:
when we have your explicit consent
for purposes set out in the client intake forms that you complete
when it is permitted or required by law.
when it is reasonably necessary to do so to provide an appropriate service
In emergency situations your personal information may also need be shared with your emergency contact person (if provided), emergency service providers, or other people who may be able to assist (such as family or friends).
In certain circumstances we also have legal requirements to disclose your personal information. This may include the requirement to respond to a subpoena or court order, as well as through mandatory requirements to report on matters of child protection and family violence (eg when there is perceived to be a risk of physical injury or sexual abuse).
Information obtained through our website
Information is obtained when you visit our website (www.chandralokapsychology.com). Information includes data about your visit and the device used to access the website. Information obtained may include: your geographic location, your IP address, browser type, operating system, and the website visited immediately before coming to our website. From our website we may also obtain information from you regarding survey responses, support queries, blog comments and social media handles.
A cookie is a small file placed in your web browser that collects information about your web browsing behaviour. Use of cookies allows a website to tailor its configuration to your needs and preferences. Cookies do not access information stored on your computer or any Personal Data (e.g. name, address, email address or telephone number). Most web browsers automatically accept cookies but you can choose to reject cookies by changing your browser settings. This may, however, prevent you from taking full advantage of our website. Our website uses cookies to analyse website traffic, provide social media sharing and liking functionality and help us provide a better website visitor experience. In addition, cookies and pixels may be used to serve relevant ads to website visitors through third party services. These ads may appear on this website or other websites you visit.
Our website may contain links to other websites. These links are meant for your convenience only. Links to third party websites do not constitute sponsorship or endorsement or approval of these websites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other websites. We encourage our users to be aware, when they leave our website, to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy policy applies solely to information collected by this website.
Complaints and enquiries regarding privacy
If you have any questions or complaints regarding privacy, or if at any time you believe we may have wrongfully disclosed your personal information or breached our privacy policy, please email us at contact@chandralokapsychology.com