Privacy Policy

Chapter One Counselling may collect personal and health information that is reasonably necessary to provide counselling and related services.

This may include:

• your name, date of birth and contact details;
• information you provide when making an enquiry or booking;
• information about your health, wellbeing, circumstances and treatment;
• referral and healthcare information;
• Medicare, private health, NDIS, SIRA, Workers Compensation or other funding information where relevant;
• appointment, clinical and treatment records;
• correspondence with you and, where appropriate, other professionals involved in your care; and
• billing and payment information.

You are not required to provide detailed or sensitive clinical information through the website contact form. We recommend providing only enough information for us to understand the nature of your enquiry and respond appropriately.

Information may be collected directly from you when you:

• contact us through our website, email or telephone;
• complete intake, consent or other practice forms;
• attend counselling sessions; or
• make or manage an appointment.

With your consent, or where otherwise permitted or required by law, information may also be obtained from another person or organisation involved in your care, such as a GP, healthcare provider, insurer, referrer or funding body.

Your information may be used to:

• respond to enquiries and arrange appointments;
• assess and provide counselling and therapeutic services;
• maintain appropriate clinical records;
• communicate with you regarding your care;
• process accounts, rebates or funding claims;
• communicate with other professionals or organisations where you have provided consent;
• meet professional, legal, insurance and regulatory obligations; and
• maintain and improve the operation of the practice.

Your information will generally only be disclosed with your consent.

Information may also be disclosed where reasonably necessary to provide your care, administer an approved funding arrangement, or where disclosure is authorised or required by law.

This may include disclosure to healthcare professionals, Medicare, insurers, SIRA, NDIS-related parties, funding bodies or other organisations involved in your care or claim where relevant.

There may also be limited circumstances where information can be disclosed without consent, including where required by law or where permitted in response to a serious threat to health or safety.

Chapter One Counselling takes reasonable steps to protect personal and health information from loss, misuse, interference, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Information may be stored using secure electronic practice-management, communication, payment and record-keeping systems.

We may use reputable third-party service providers to assist with services such as website hosting, appointment management, email, payments and website analytics. These providers may have their own privacy policies and security practices.

Some third-party technology providers may process or store limited information outside Australia. Where applicable, reasonable steps are taken to use providers with appropriate privacy and security protections.

Clinical records are retained and disposed of in accordance with applicable professional and legal requirements.

Our website may use cookies and website analytics tools to help us understand how visitors use the website and improve its functionality. These services may collect technical information such as browser type, device information, approximate location, pages viewed and how visitors interact with the website. You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Our website is not intended to be used to communicate urgent, emergency or highly sensitive clinical information.

You may request access to personal or health information held about you and may ask for information that is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date to be corrected. In some circumstances, access may be limited or refused where permitted by law. Requests can be made using the contact details below.

If you have a question or concern about how your information has been handled, please contact Chapter One Counselling so that we can review and respond to your concern.

If you are not satisfied with the response, you may also be entitled to contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) or the Information and Privacy Commission NSW (IPC NSW).