From December 21st, 2001, the National Privacy Principles of the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act came into effect.

Consent for Service

Your consent is required for us to provide a therapeutic service. Your practitioner will explain to you the benefits and any potential risks of accessing psychological services. Please ensure that you fully understand the service information provided and ask for further information if you are unclear as to the information outlined in this consent form. Your consent is valid for one year by default. You may change or withdraw this consent at any time.

Withdrawal of Consent

You have a right to withdraw this consent at any time by telling your practitioner or putting your request in writing.  You cannot withdraw consent for a service that has already occurred. Your practitioner can discuss with you any implications of withdrawing consent.

Personal Information

As part of providing a therapeutic service, such as assessment or treatment, we will need to collect and record personal information that is relevant to your current situation. This information is a necessary part of the services provided and guides treatment. You do not have to give all of your personal information, but choosing not to share your relevant information may mean that the service may be affected.

Purpose of collecting and holding information

Your personal information is gathered as part of your assessment and treatment. Your information will be confidentially retained to document what happens during sessions and enable the psychologist to provide a relevant and informed psychological service to you.

At times, with your consent we may also gather information from others to help to inform the psychological service.  That information is treated in the same way as your personal information.

Client Information Storage

Client files are held in a secure filing cabinet (physical or digital with password protection and two factor authentication) with restricted access only to the treating practitioners.

Management and Admin staff have access for administrative purposes only. The information in each file includes the personal information supplied on the Client Contract and other information gathered during the therapeutic services provided.

Confidentiality of information

Personal information gathered by your psychologist will remain confidential except for certain circumstances. In most cases, any sharing of information will only occur with your consent. Our practice asks for your consent to share information when:

• Sharing information with a family member, guardian or carer.

• Discussing with others, such as your GP, employer, or any agencies which may be paying for your attendance.

• Providing a written report regarding your assessment or treatment to another professional or agency, such as your GP, lawyer or insurance company.

• For disclosing the information in any other way not referenced in this document.

To ensure the highest quality of care and best therapeutic outcomes, our therapists engage in professional consultation and supervision with colleagues. When information about your case is discussed in this context, all care is taken to de-identify it so that you remain completely anonymous. Your explicit consent is required for this process.

Exceptions to confidentiality

There are times when your therapist may release your information without obtaining your consent such as:

• When a court requires information by issuing a subpoena, or providing information is otherwise required or authorised by law.

• When it is required because the therapist must make a mandatory report on a concern.

• When the therapist discloses information because they believe you or someone else is at risk of serious harm.

Q-Interactive and Novopsych – Assessment Tools

Where electronic testing is done we may use a system called Pearson’s Q-interactive that is currently administered through i-Pads or Computers on which data is securely encrypted, both on computers and the Q-Interactive server. For more information see http://www.helloq.com.au/security. Personally identifiable data cannot be used by Pearson for research except with your prior express written consent. Your personal data is only accessible by the Primary Database Administrator.  Pearson may use statistically aggregate raw data in non-personally-identifiable form of test responses and other non-identifying information collected during the testing process for research, quality control, operations management, security and marketing purposes and to enhance, develop or improve the tests and testing processes. This non-identifiable raw data may be provided to researchers, test developers and Pearson contractors. See http://www.helloq.com.au/faq

NovoPsych

Other testing may be completed with the software called NovoPsych. NovoPsych is Australia’s largest provider of outcome monitoring software for mental health providers. NovoPsych uses scientifically validated psychometric scales focused on tracking symptoms over time, diagnosis and case formulation. NovoPsych enables automated and remote symptom monitoring and evaluation of treatment efficacy, laying the groundwork for services to automate treatment program evaluations.

Novopsych has taken care to structure our privacy policy and security protocols to be consistent with Australian (APP), European (GDPR) and North American (HIPAA) standards. For more information see https://novopsych.com/security/.

Zanda Health and Halaxy

We use Zanda Health and Halaxy as our practice management software. Both follow all required practices of Privacy and Data Security required in a healthcare setting. For more information please check their webpages. Ask your practitioner which practice management software they use.

https://zandahealth.com/au/privacy-policy/

https://www.halaxy.com/privacy/au https://support.halaxy.com/hc/en-au/articles/360044013354-Data-security-in-Halaxy

Request for Access to Client Information

At any stage you may request to see the information kept on file. Should you wish a copy of your confidential case notes a request should be lodged in writing. An appointment will be made when the therapist will discuss the contents of the file with you. A fee will be charged for both of these services and will not be covered by your private medical health fund or Workcover. The fee will be plus GST.

For couples or family sessions, it can be an extremely long and complex process to de-entangle what is each of the attendees’ information. It is our policy to keep any individual sessions confidential to the individual present, and any couple or family session information release needs to have the permission of all members present.

Concerns about the management of personal information

If you have a concern about the management of your personal information, please inform Brett Williams, Director Adelaide Night and Day Family Therapy and CIO of Attuned Psychology on 0419806700. You may obtain a copy of the National Privacy Principles from the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner/ Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Any complaints should also be lodged with the Commissioner on 1300 363 992 or GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 1042. https://www.oaic.gov.au/

Complaints and Compliments

We have a complaints process available to clients at:

https://attunedpsychology.com/compliments-and-complaints/

https://adelaidetherapy.com/complaints-and-compliments/