PRIVACY POLICY

Privacy policy for the handling of personal information 

Fremantle Clinical Psychology and Counselling is committed to providing quality services to you and this policy outlines our ongoing obligations to you in respect to how we manage your Personal Information.

We have adopted the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act). The NPPs govern the way in which we collect, use, disclose, store, secure and dispose of your Personal Information.

A copy of the Australian Privacy Principles may be obtained from the website of The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.aoic.gov.au

Personal information

As part of providing a psychological service to you in person or online, we will need to collect and record personal information from you. This information is a necessary part of your assessment and treatment and is required by law to provide you with our psychological services.  

Your personal information will be stored securely and only accessed by your psychologist and as required, by authorised administrative staff solely to support your psychologist in your care (for example scheduling appointments, uploading your referrals, processing your rebates). Your information will be stored securely using secure electronic systems (Halaxy and Google Business email) that strictly adhere to Australian Privacy laws and to the Psychology Board of Australia Code of Ethics. 

The information collected includes your personal details such as your name, address, email and phone number. Additionally, as part of providing our psychological services, we will also need to collect and record other personal information that is relevant to your current situation. This includes keeping a record of what happens during sessions, any psychological tests you complete, and any information received from others, such as your GP, lawyer or insurance company.  

How your personal information is collected

Where reasonable and practicable to do so, we will collect your Personal Information only from you. For example, your data will be collected when you interact with our administration staff or you provide information directly to your psychologist in your session and in writing between sessions such as via letters, emails or text messages.

However, in some circumstances we may be provided with information by third parties (e.g. your referring doctor, your lawyer, your insurance company, or another allied health professional engaged in your care.). In such a case we will take reasonable steps to ensure that you are made aware of the information provided to us by the third party.

Purpose of holding personal information

Your personal information is gathered and used for the purpose of providing a psychological service to you. Your personal information is retained in order to document what happens during your engagement with our service and enables your psychologist to provide a relevant and informed psychological service to you. This information and record keeping is a necessary part of the services provided and guides your treatment.

Your personal information must be kept for a minimum of seven years for adults from the last treatment date, and/or until a child turns 25 years old (unless they continued treatment as an adult). After this time, we will take reasonable steps to destroy your personal information.

Consequence of not providing personal information 

Psychologists are required to keep clear and accurate client records as part of their professional obligations. If you do not wish for your personal information to be collected, we may not be able to provide the psychological service to you. 

You do not need to disclose all of your personal information, however please keep in mind that your treatment will be planned based on the information you provide to your therapist. 

Confidentiality of information

All personal information gathered during the provision of the psychological service will remain strictly confidential and secure except under the following circumstances which your therapist will discuss in more detail in your first session:

  • You are attending under a GP referral and your access to Medicare rebate sessions requires that important details of your overall treatment are regularly reported to the referring GP. or; 

  • You are attending under a Worker's Compensation or other insurance claim and your third-party funding requires that important details of your overall treatment are discussed with and/or reported to key parties (such as your workplace rehabilitation provider, insurer, or treating practitioners) to ensure the appropriate services and supports are provided to you or; 

  • Your prior written consent has been obtained to: a) provide a written report to another professional or agency. eg. a lawyer or insurance company; or b) discuss agreed upon material with another person. eg. a parent, support person or employer or; 

  • Your personal information is subpoenaed by a court; 

  • Failure to disclose the information to your emergency contact, your GP or an emergency service may place you or another person at risk of serious harm or; 

  • Australian mandatory reporting laws for psychologists require that a concern be reported or; 

  • Your psychologist deems it necessary for your clinical care to discuss your treatment with another registered psychologist/s during formal clinical supervision to ensure they are providing you with safe, effective and ethical psychological support. However, please note that all clinical cases discussed in supervision are by law anonymised and thoroughly de-identified to protect every client's privacy. 

At all other times, personal information gathered by your psychologist will remain strictly confidential and any sharing of information will only occur with your prior written consent.

Correcting your personal information  
At any stage you may request to see and correct the personal information about you kept on file. Your psychologist may discuss the contents with you and/or give you a copy, subject to the exceptions in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).  

If your psychologist is satisfied that your personal information is inaccurate, out of date or incomplete, reasonable steps will be taken in the circumstances to ensure that this information is corrected. All requests by you for access to, or correction of personal information held about you should be submitted in writing directly to your psychologist or via our administration staff.  

All written requests for access to information will be responded to in writing within 14 days and an appointment will be made if deemed necessary for clarification purposes.  

Accessing your personal information

At any stage, you are entitled to access your personal information that we have collected and stored. Your psychologist may discuss the contents with you and/or give you a copy, subject to the exceptions in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).  

If you would like to access your information, please send a written request for your health record to your psychologist or to our administrative staff.

All written requests for access to information will be responded to in writing within 14 days and an appointment will be made to discuss your file with your psychologist if deemed clinically appropriate and/or necessary by your psychologist.  

Fremantle Clinical Psychology and Counselling will not charge any fee for your access request, but may charge an administrative fee for providing a copy of your Personal Information.

Data breach policy

In the event that any unauthorised access, disclosure or loss of your personal information occurs, your psychologist will instruct Fremantle Clinical Psychology and Counselling to activate our Data Breach Response Plan and use all reasonable endeavours to minimise any risk of consequential serious harm. 

Concerns and complaints

If you have a concern about the management of your personal information, you may inform your psychologist or our reception staff. Upon request you can obtain a copy of the Australian Privacy Principles, which describe your rights and how your personal information should be handled.  Please contact us:

  • By phone on 0405 999 191

  • By email at: admin@fremantleclinicalpsychology.com.au 

  • By post to: Fremantle Clinical Psychology and Counselling, 21 Parry Street, Fremantle, WA 6160


Ultimately, if you wish to lodge a formal complaint about the use of, disclosure of, or access to, your personal information, you may do so with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner:  

Policy Updates
This Policy may change from time to time and is available on our website.
Last updated 22.12.25