Privacy Policy

Talia Wahnon at Recalibrate Clinical Psychology and Coaching is committed to complying with legal requirements of the Australian Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act 1988.

Purpose of information collected:

Your personal information is gathered as part of your assessment and treatment. We would like to emphasise that your privacy and the information that you provide is protected at all times. Your personal information is retained in order to document what happens during sessions, and enables the psychologist to provide a relevant and informed psychological service to you.

How personal information is collected and stored:

Personal information is collected in a number of ways during psychological consultation, including when you provide information directly to the psychologist using hardcopy or online forms, correspondence via email, when you interact directly with Talia Wahnon - Recalibrate Clinical Psychology and Coaching via phone or in person, and when other health practitioners provide personal information to Talia Wahnon - Recalibrate Clinical Psychology and Coaching, via referrals, correspondence and medical reports. Client files are stored either in a secure electronic format accessible only to Talia Wahnon - Recalibrate Clinical Psychology and Coaching. Any hard copies containing personal information are scanned and stored electronically and then the hard copies are destroyed.

All of your contact information, clinical notes, and credit card details are securely stored in Halaxy, a cloud-based practice management system which is compliant with the GDPR, HIPAA, PIPEDA, and PCI DSS. This means all the information you give to us, personal and financial, is protected with the same level of security your bank uses to protect your finances. Only your clinician will access your clinical notes. Administrative staff may access your file in order to complete tasks related to your access to our services.

Furthermore, one clinical psychologist has been appointed as professional executors to implement a Practice Contingency Plan in the event that your clinician is unable to continue working (e.g., due to serious illness, sudden incapacitation or death). These professional executors will have access to your records in order to:

Inform you that your clinician can no longer provide services
Offer you referral options for ongoing care
Safely manage, store or transfer your records as required by law.

This clinical psychologist will only access your information for the purpose of implementing the Practice Contingency Plan designed to support your continuity of care. They are bound by the same confidentiality and privacy laws and guidelines as Talia Wahnon.

Disclosure of personal information:

All personal information gathered by the psychologist during sessions will remain confidential and secure except when:

Your prior written or oral approval has been provided to us to:
1. a. Provide a written report to another professional or agency, e.g., a GP or a lawyer; or
2. b. Discuss the material with another person, e.g., a parent, school, employer or health provider; or
3. c. Disclose the information in another way
Failure to disclose the information would, in the reasonable belief of the psychologist, place you or another person at risk of harm
You would reasonably expect your personal information to be disclosed to another professional or agency (e.g., your GP) and disclosure of your personal information to that third party is for a purpose which is directly related to the primary purpose for which your personal information was collected. This includes ongoing correspondence back to the referrer (e.g., GP, paediatrician or psychiatrist)
Responding to subpoenas issued by a court
Disclosure is otherwise required or authorised by law.
When consulting with colleagues for the purpose of professional development or in the course of supervision (although information will be de-identified in this case to maintain your privacy).

Personal information may be disclosed in person, or via phone, email, facsimile or post. We do send invoices and other communication to you and your referring GP via email. Please advise immediately should you not feel comfortable with this.

If you have a Mental Health Treatment Plan, we are required to provide short written communication to your doctor. The communication outlines the nature of the difficulty that led to your contact with us and explains to them the services being provided to you. If you have concerns about sharing specific information with your GP or other referring doctor, please discuss this with your clinician in the first session.

You will receive reminders of your appointments and receipts for payments via email and/or SMS. We may use a password-protected phone to SMS you about appointment changes or other administrative matters.

Requests for access to client information:

At any stage, clients may request to see the information about them kept on file. The psychologist may discuss the contents with them and/or give them a copy, subject to the exceptions in the Privacy Act 1988. All requests by clients for access to information held about them should be requested by contacting us. These requests will be responded to within 7 days and an appointment will be made if necessary for clarification purposes.

Security of Telehealth Consultations:

Scheduled Telehealth video consultations will be conducted via Google Meet. Whilst the privacy of any form of communication via the internet is potentially vulnerable and limited by the security of the technology, Google Meet through GSUITE is considered a secure platform that meet the privacy and security requirements for Telehealth consultation within Australia. You should however consider the privacy of any device(s) that you use and the location of where you will be when you participate in the video consultation.

Concerns:

If you have a concern about the management of your personal information, please inform Talia Wahnon, director of Recalibrate Clinical Psychology and Coaching. 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 Australian Information Commissioner on 1300 363 992, or by post to: GPO Box 5218, Sydney, NSW 2001.

If you require further information, please contact us at talia@recalibration.com.au.