PRIVACY POLICY
FOX PSYCHOLOGY SERVICES PTY LTD PRIVACY POLICY
The purpose of Fox Psychology’s Privacy Policy is to provide you, the Client, with relevant information outlining how your personal information is managed and stored. Your privacy is of the utmost importance to us, and our Privacy Policy aligns with health industry standards as outlined below. If you are based in a country outside Australia which has different privacy laws, we do not purport to be compliant with them. If the laws in your country contain more protections than the Privacy Act, you must not use our website and must not provide us with any personal information.
Confidentiality
Every client has the right to confidentiality. Our services ensure that all personal information is managed appropriately, in accordance with the legal requirements of the Australian Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act (1988). That is, personal information shared during sessions will remain confidential and secure, or only discussed with other health professionals for the purpose of professional liaison or supervision. Under the requirements of Medicare, Registered Psychologists are required to provide reporting on treatment undertaken to the referring GP or mental health professional.
We reserve the right to break confidentiality if we believe that the client themselves, or someone else, is at risk of harm. We are generally obliged to release your file if it is subpoenaed by a court, however this is not always the case depending on the benefit and detriment to the client and relevancy of the client notes.
Health professionals are required by law to inform authorities if they have been given information about a past, present or future crime. If the therapist determines that confidentiality needs to be broken, then they will discuss this with the client as soon as practicable. Information may be released with the written permission of the client and agreed on by both parties in the context of couple’s work.
Consent
As a client of Fox Psychology, you are required to provide consent to the above terms as outlined in our Confidentiality & Consent agreement. Each client is required to provide written consent prior to the commencement of services. Clients may also be asked for written consent for the transfer of personal information to other health professionals.
Personal Information
Personal information includes client name, date of birth, contact details, Medicare number (for identification and claiming purposes), medical information, health fund details (if applicable), and credit card details. Personal information is collected to provide the client with a premium, thorough and professional healthcare service. We use personal information for activities relating to the healthcare service including Medicare claiming, payments, invoicing, online bookings and liaison with healthcare practitioners where required.
Personal information is collected online through our secure client portal called CorePlus.
You will be required to provide credit card details at the time of booking to secure your appointment time. This applies to both online and face-to-face appointments. Credit card details are securely stored in our bank-encrypted online billing system, SQUARE. For online appointments, payment is processed using your nominated credit card details via SQUARE. For face-to-face appointments, payment is processed using our secure square reader as well as via direct phone to phone payment system.
If there are any changes to personal information, please contact us via email at info@davidfocpsychology.com.
Data Security
Personal information is stored securely in line with health industry standards. This includes securing our premises under a two-door lock set up, and placing passwords or varying levels of accessibility on all accounts whereby personal information is stored.
Telehealth sessions are conducted via Zoom.
Privacy + Communication
We predominantly communicate with clients via email and SMS, both of which are performed within a private and secure system that meets health industry standards. By consenting to receive communication from Fox Psychology, you consent to receive appointment information, correspondence, and healthcare information via email and SMS. We ensure appointment and healthcare information via SMS is de-identified where possible.
The client understands that personal information can be sent by email and/or SMS, which is not a secure form of communication as it can be misdirected, disclosed to or intercepted by unauthorised third parties. By giving consent, the client is aware of the privacy risks of email and SMS communication. The client also consents to referrals and other health information be sent via email or post to referring practitioners.
Privacy + Our Website
All personal information gathered through our website (including enquiry forms, promotional database signup, and online bookings) remains confidential and is stored securely. Automated technologies or interactions: We use cookies on our website. A “cookie” is a small file stored on your computer’s browser, which assists in managing customised settings of the website and tailored delivery of content. We collect certain information such as your device type, browser type, IP address, pages you have accessed on our websites and on third-party websites. You are not identifiable from such information. You can use the settings in your browser to control how your browser deals with cookies. However, in doing so, you may be unable to access certain pages or content on our website.
We also use Google Analytics to measure how many people visit our website, how they found our website, which pages they view on our website, and whether they download any content. Google Analytics does not identify individual users or associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. By using our website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner described in Google’s Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy.
Do we use or disclose your personal information for direct marketing?
When you provide us with your contact details, you give your express and informed consent to us providing you with information and telling you about our products, services or events or any other direct marketing activity (including third party products, services, and events) which we consider may be of interest to you, whether by post, email, SMS, messaging applications and telephone (Direct Marketing Communications).
If at any time you do not wish to receive any further Direct Marketing Communications, you may do this at any time by using the “unsubscribe” facility included in the Direct Marketing Communication or by contacting us at the details set out at the end of this document.
If you opt-out of receiving our Direct Marketing Communications, we may still contact you in relation to our ongoing relationship with you.
How can you access or seek correction of your personal information?
Please let us know if there are any errors in your personal information and keep us up-to-date with changes to your personal information (such as your name or address).
You are entitled to request access any personal information relating to you which we hold. You are also entitled to request that we correct such information if it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading.
Please contact us via the details set out at the end of this document if you wish to access or correct any personal information we have about you. We will only decline your request where permitted or required under law including the Privacy Act.
Policy Review Statement
This Privacy Policy is current from November 2023 and is reviewed annually. Fox Psychology reserves the right to change information enclosed in its Privacy Policy as necessary.
How can you contact us?
Our contact details are:
Email: info@davidfoxpsychology.com
Phone: 0421 154 467
This Privacy Policy was last updated on 14 November 2023.