The following section describes the privacy policy of The Teal Psychology Space Pty Ltd for the management of your (i.e. client) personal information. The psychological services provided is bound by the legal requirements of the Australian Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). More information on the Australian Privacy Principles can be found here: Australian Privacy Principles quick reference | OAIC.

Your personal information is collected so that The Teal Psychology Space Pty Ltd can provide relevant and appropriate psychological services, including assessment, diagnosis, support and treatment.

Your personal information is collected during engagement in psychological services at The Teal Psychology Space Pty Ltd. and includes:

1. Name, date of birth, address, contact phone numbers, contact email address;

2. Notes outlining what was discussed in sessions;

3. Forms and questionnaires sent and completed;

4. Reports, referrals, and correspondence from other practitioners or services;

5. Reports, referrals, and correspondence to other practitioners or services (with consent from the client);

6. Information gathered and/or provided by others that you have given us consent to speak to;

7. Emails, text messages and notes about phone calls with staff at The Teal Psychology Space Pty Ltd.

Your client file is storied in a secure electronic document management system, Power Diary (see Practice Management Software to automate and simplify your health clinic – powerdiary.com) or in a secure and locked filing cabinet. Power Diary and locked filling cabinets are only accessible to the psychologist working with you and administrative staff, all of whom have signed a privacy statement.

Your personal information will not be shared with others except when:

1. The psychologist thinks that you or another person is at risk. This risk could be to life, health, safety or reputation;

2. You have given consent for us to:

   1. provide a written report to another professional or agency (e.g. a GP or a lawyer); or

   2. discuss the material with another person (e.g. a parent, employer or health provider);

3. It is subpoenaed by a court or required legally; or

4. Correspondence is required because of your referral (e.g. letter to a referring GP or to Worker Compensation organisation).

If you have consented to your psychologist speaking with a family member or friend as part of an assessment, your personal information will not be shared with them. Your family member or friend will be asked questions about you. The information they provide about you will inform your assessment and clinical formulation; some examples from their account may be shared with you and others will not.

Your personal information is not disclosed to people or organisations overseas unless you have consented, or we are required by law, to share the information. Your personal information will never be used, sold, rented, or disclosed for any other purpose.

If you don’t want your personal information to be collected and stored as described in this Privacy Policy, The Teal Psychology Space Pty Ltd may not be able to provide psychological services. You may request to be anonymous or to use a pseudonym; however, in most cases it will not be possible because it can mean we can’t provide appropriate and ethical services and record keeping.

You can request to see and correct your personal information on file. The psychologist may discuss the recorded personal information with you and/or give you a copy (as long as it is ok to do so according to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). If your personal information is inaccurate, out of date, or incomplete, we will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information. If you would like access to your personal file, or to correct personal information on file, please send an email request to info@thetealspace.com.au. We will do our best to respond to your request about your client file within 30 days, and we will contact you if we need to ask you questions about your request. If your psychologist has to ask you specific and detailed questions about your request, we may need to book you in for an appointment and the fee for the appointment will be charged to you (see fees pages for therapy for indicative costs).

If you have concerns about the management of your personal information by the Teal Psychology Space Pty Ltd, and you think that we are not using the Australian Privacy Principles (see Australian Privacy Principles quick reference | OAIC), you can email us at info@thetealspace.com.au.

If you would like to lodge a formal complaint about our management of your personal information, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner by phone on 1300 363 992 or online at http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/making-a-privacy-complaint.