Privacy Policy

Information discussed during our counselling sessions is confidential and may not be shared with anyone not directly involved in or supervising the provision of services, support and care to you without your written permission except when I am legally obliged which could include:

  • to report a serious threat to the life, health or wellbeing of yourself or another person to your carers, health professionals or other relevant persons or authorities as appropriate

  • to report any abuse or neglect experienced by a young person under the age of 18 years to authorities and/or the police, and/or

  • to release client records when required by court order.

I, Sarah of Clearing Clouds Counselling, have an ethical responsibility to reflect on my counselling practice. As part of this professional reflection, I may discuss my work with you with my clinical supervisor. In such situations, content presented is de-identified. This means your name, contact details will not be shared.

Clearing Clouds Counselling uses secure encrypted clinical platform, Halaxy, for bookings, video and phone call sessions and for keeping confidential notes from sessions to reflect the issues and goals identified. Halaxy is compliant with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). Your data on Halaxy is stored securely in protected data centres with multiple back-ups in place. This data is protected by 256-bit bank grade security and encryption; meaning patient records, notes, and payment information are protected to the same level required by banks.

Counsellors, including Sarah of Clearing Clouds Counselling, are required by law to keep your file for a minimum of 7 years, or if you are under the age of 18 at the time of services, until you are 25 years of age. You may access the information in your file on request, subject to limited exceptions in the Australian Privacy Principles.

By providing personal information to me, Sarah of Clearing Clouds Counselling, you consent to my collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and any other arrangements that apply between us. I may change this Privacy Policy from time to time by publishing changes to it on the Clearing Clouds Counselling website. I encourage you to check the Clearing Clouds Counselling website periodically to ensure that you are aware of my current Privacy Policy.

Personal Information includes information or an opinion about an individual that is reasonably identifiable. For example, this may include your name, age, gender, postcode and contact details. It may also include financial information, including your credit/debit card and/or bank account information.

In addition to this Privacy Policy, I comply with various privacy legislation, including:

  • the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“Privacy Act”) (including the Australian Privacy Principles under that Act);

  • health records legislation, including the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic), Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW), Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997 (ACT); and

  • marketing legislation, including the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) and the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (Cth).

Making a Complaint

If you think I, Sarah of Clearing Clouds Counselling has breached the Privacy Act, or you wish to make a complaint about the way I have handled your personal information, you can contact me at sarah@clearingcloudscounselling.com.au. Please include your name, email address and/or telephone number and clearly describe your complaint. I will acknowledge your complaint and respond to you regarding your complaint within a reasonable period of time. If you think that I have failed to resolve the complaint satisfactorily, I will provide you with information about the further steps you can take.

Last upated: 26.11.24
Clearing Clouds Counselling