Privacy Policy 14 March 2007
As part of providing a psychological service to you, we will need to collect and record personal information from you that is relevant to your current situation. This information will be a necessary part of the psychological assessment and treatment that we provide to you. All information and records will be kept strictly confidential.

The details of our policy for management of personal information, as required by the National Privacy Principles from the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000, are set out below. We will not normally release any information about you to anyone else, unless you give us a written and signed request to do so. There are some possible exceptions to this rule:

1. If you were referred to us by a doctor or other professional helper, we will usually send a brief report to him or her. This is a customary courtesy to the person making the referral so that he or she knows what is being done for the client. If you want to see that report before it is sent, please tell us. If you do not want a report sent, please tell us and we will tell the person making the referral.
2. If you are involved in a court case and an Understanding Minds staff member has to appear on your behalf or if a member of staff were subpoenaed to appear, we would not be allowed to withhold from the court any information you have given us.
3. If there is an overriding legal or social obligation to do so, we may disclose information to the relevant authorities about a client’s serious criminal acts.
4. If you indicate that you seriously intend to hurt or kill yourself or someone else, we are obliged to notify potential helpers or victims.
5. If you are legally a minor (under 18 years of age), we are obliged to keep your parent(s) or guardian(s) informed of your progress if they ask. But we are not obliged to give them specific details of our discussions.

If your costs for consulting with us are being paid by a third party (e.g. your employer or insurer), you should have a clear agreement with them regarding their access to the personal information that you provide.

Client files are held in secure filing cabinets which are accessible only to authorised employees. The information on each file includes personal information such as name, address, contact phone numbers, and other information which is relevant to the psychological service being provided. The information is gathered as part of the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of the client’s condition and is seen only by the treating psychologist. The information is retained in order to document what happens during sessions and enables the psychologist to provide a relevant and informed psychological service.

You may request to see the information in your file at any stage. Your psychologist may discuss the contents with you or give you a copy. If you believe any of the information in your file is not accurate, complete or up to date, you can ask to have it corrected. Any request for access to client files will be responded to within 14 days and an appointment will be made if necessary for clarification purposes.

If you have a concern about the management of your personal information, please inform your psychologist. Upon request you can obtain a copy of the National Privacy Principles, which describe your rights and how your information should be handled. Ultimately, if you wish to lodge a formal complaint about the use of, or access to, your personal information, you may do so with the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner on 1300 363 992, or at GPO Box 5218, Sydney, NSW 1042.