At Mindful Directions we may collect personal information from prospective clients.

This may include your:

• name
• contact information
• reason for referral/concern

We do this in order to:

• understand your needs.
• be able to determine if our services on offer can address your particular concerns
• be able to get back in touch with you.
• to ensure there are records for each client including the assessment notes and records of any intervention to aid appropriate ongoing intervention.
• As an aid to memory for the psychologist.
• To enable the transfer of care to another psychologist should that be desirable.
• To assist in the comparison of similar cases and assessing treatment approaches.
• To comply with relevant legislation.
• To support accounting processes and keeping statistical data.

All personal information is kept safe by storing it in password-protected files. Only relevant team members have access to the information we collect.

Mindful Directions will store your information for up to 10 years, in accordance with the Health (Retention of Health Information) Regulations 1996, at which point we will securely destroy your records by securely erasing electronic and any paper files.

According to Rule 9 of the Health Information Privacy Code, a health agency holding health information must not keep information longer than is required for the purpose for which the information may be lawfully used. This does not prohibit the health agency retaining information where it is desirable to do so for purposes of providing health services. Mental health services, obstetrics, and services to children are often included in lists of services where it is optimal to keep records for longer than the minimum requisite years, all of which may include psychological services. Where there is good reason for extending the period of retention, records should be retained for longer periods.

You have the right to ask for a copy of any personal information we hold about you, and for it to be corrected if you think it is wrong. If you’d like to ask for a copy of your information, or to have it corrected, please contact us.

If you have been assigned to a team member, you can also contact him/her in this regard.

Automated collection

When you visit this website, we may use automated tools and methods (such as cookies, sessions and website statistics software) to collect certain information about your visit, including:

(a) the internet protocol address and host name used by your computer to connect to this website
(b) the operating system and the browser your computer uses
(c) the search engine or inbound hyperlink you used to reach this website
(d) the date, time and duration of your visit
(e) the pages viewed by you

This information may be used (in aggregate form only) to analyse how this website is being used (for example, to improve the content and performance of this website). Except as set out in this Privacy Policy, we will not disclose this information other than in aggregate form.
We may gather more extensive information if we are concerned, for example, about abnormal website usage patterns or website security breaches.

Cookies

This website may use cookies to provide you with certain services or functionality. Cookies are small pieces of information stored on your computer which may be used to identify you as an individual user of this website. We may use cookies to:

(a) enable us to improve the content, reliability, and functionality of this website
(b) enable you to use certain services or functionality
(c) track website usage patterns

Accepting a cookie will not give us access to any data on your computer other than the data stored in the cookie. Although you may configure your web browser to not accept cookies, you may experience a loss of functionality as a result.

Use and disclosure

The personal information we collect from all users will be used to operate this website and to provide services you have authorised or requested. We may also use personal information collected by us to:

(a) respond to any questions or correspondence from you
(b) improve this website and any related services
(c) monitor the quality and standard of services provided by any of our contractors
(d) carry out internal research and development
(e) analyse website usage, trends and statistics
(f) carry out any other use that is authorised by you or is notified to you at the time of collection.

We will not sell or lease your personal information. We will not disclose your personal information except in accordance with this Privacy Policy (and in accordance with the Privacy Act). We may use or disclose your personal information if you have authorised us to do so, or in any of the following circumstances:

(a) we believe that the use or disclosure is reasonably necessary to enforce any legal rights we may have, or is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property and safety of you, us, or others
(b) we are required by law to disclose the information