Berwick Counselling & Psychology ("we", "us", "our") is a private psychology practice located at 161 High Street, Berwick VIC 3806. We collect, hold, and use personal information in order to provide psychological services to our clients.
This Privacy Policy applies to all clients, website visitors, and any other individuals whose personal information we hold. By engaging our services or using our website, you agree to the handling of your information as described in this policy.
We may collect the following types of information:
We collect this information directly from you (verbally, in writing, or via email), from referrers with your consent, or from other health professionals involved in your care.
We use your personal and health information to:
We will not use your information for any other purpose without your consent, unless required or permitted by law.
We treat all client information as strictly confidential. We will not disclose your personal or health information to third parties without your consent, except in the following circumstances:
These limits on confidentiality are explained to clients at their first appointment.
Your records are stored securely, with access restricted to your treating psychologist and authorised practice staff only. We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure.
Client records are retained for a minimum of 7 years from the date of last service (or until a child client turns 25, whichever is later) in accordance with professional guidelines and legal requirements. Records are securely destroyed when no longer required.
You have the right to request access to personal information we hold about you. To make a request, please contact us in writing. We will respond within a reasonable timeframe and in most cases provide access unless there is a legal or clinical reason not to do so.
If you believe any information we hold is inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date, you may request that we correct it. We will take reasonable steps to correct information promptly.
There may be a small administrative fee for providing copies of records. We will advise you of any applicable fee in advance.
In addition to the Commonwealth Privacy Act, we comply with the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) and the Health Privacy Principles. This legislation provides additional protections for health information held about Victorian residents.
If you have a concern about how we have handled your health information, you may contact the Office of the Health Services Commissioner (OHSC) in Victoria.
Our website may collect non-identifiable information about visitors, such as browser type, pages visited, and time spent on the site. This information is used in aggregate form to improve the website and is not linked to individual users.
We do not sell or share website visitor data with third parties for marketing purposes.
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to access your records, or have a privacy concern, please contact us:
If you are not satisfied with our response to a privacy concern, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au or the Office of the Health Services Commissioner (OHSC) at www.health.vic.gov.au/ohsc.
This policy is reviewed periodically and may be updated. The current version is always available on our website.