Privacy Policy

Summit Psychology is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of personal and health information.

​

We manage personal information in accordance with applicable privacy legislation, including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles and the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic).

​

This Privacy Policy explains how Summit Psychology collects, holds, uses and discloses personal information, and how you may access or correct your information or raise a privacy concern.

 

Collection of Personal Information

We collect personal and health information that is reasonably necessary to provide psychological services and operate the practice. This may include:

• Name, address, date of birth, phone number and email address

• Emergency contact information

• Medical, psychological and mental health information

• Session notes, assessments and other clinical records

• Referral information and correspondence with GPs, psychiatrists and other health professionals

• Medicare, private health insurance or other relevant funding information

• Appointment and administrative information

• Payment and billing information

• Other information relevant to providing psychological services

 

Health information is considered sensitive information and is afforded additional protections under Australian privacy law.

We generally collect information directly from you. Information may also be collected through:

• Client intake and consent forms

• The Summit Psychology Client Portal

• Email, telephone or website enquiries

• Discussions during appointments

• Referrals from GPs, psychiatrists or other health professionals

• Correspondence provided with your consent or as otherwise permitted by law

• Practice management, payment and other technology services used by Summit Psychology

 

You may choose not to provide certain personal information. However, this may limit our ability to provide services safely or effectively.

 

Purpose of Collecting Information

We collect, hold, use and disclose personal information where reasonably necessary for purposes including:

• Providing psychological assessment and treatment

• Understanding your circumstances and clinical needs

• Maintaining accurate and appropriate clinical records

• Coordinating care with other health professionals

• Communicating with you about appointments and your care

• Processing payments, Medicare rebates and other administrative matters

• Meeting professional, ethical, legal and regulatory obligations

• Managing the administration and operation of Summit Psychology

 

Information will generally only be used or disclosed for the purpose for which it was collected, a related purpose that you would reasonably expect, or where otherwise authorised or required by law.

 

Confidentiality and Disclosure

Personal and health information is treated as confidential.

​

Information may be disclosed where:

• You have consented to the disclosure, such as communication with your GP, psychiatrist, another health professional or support service

• Disclosure is required or authorised by law, including in response to a valid subpoena, court order or other legal requirement

• We reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to the life, health or safety of you or another person, where permitted by law

• Disclosure is otherwise permitted under applicable privacy or health records legislation

 

As part of professional practice, your psychologist may also discuss aspects of clinical work in professional supervision or consultation. Where this occurs, reasonable steps are taken to protect your identity and confidentiality.

 

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information.

 

Third-Party Service Providers

Summit Psychology uses trusted third-party service providers to assist with the operation of the practice. These may include providers of:

• Practice management and client portal services

• Payment processing

• Email and electronic communications

• Information technology and data storage

• Website hosting and analytics

• Secure clinical documentation and note-taking tools

• Administrative support

• Videoconferencing and telehealth platforms

 

These providers may receive or process limited personal information where this is necessary to provide their services.

 

Where secure AI-supported tools are used to assist with clinical documentation or note-taking, they are used to support the documentation process and do not replace the clinical judgement of your psychologist. Further information about their use is provided as part of the client consent process. You are welcome to discuss this with your psychologist, including if you would prefer these tools not be used as part of your care.

 

We take reasonable steps to select service providers that maintain appropriate privacy, confidentiality and information security safeguards.

 

Overseas Access and Disclosure

Summit Psychology primarily uses systems designed to store and manage client information in Australia. However, some technology and service providers may access, process or disclose limited personal information outside Australia.

​

For example, Zanda, Summit Psychology's practice management system, stores data for Australian accounts in Australia. In limited circumstances, information may be accessed or processed from overseas for functions such as technical support or through third-party integrations.

​

Depending on the services being used, overseas processing or access may occur in countries including the United Kingdom, United States and Ireland.

 

Payment processors, communications providers and other technology providers may also use international infrastructure or service providers.

Where personal information is disclosed to an overseas recipient, Summit Psychology takes reasonable steps as required by Australian privacy law to ensure that information is handled appropriately.

 

The countries and service providers involved may change as technology services and their infrastructure change. This Privacy Policy will be updated where reasonably necessary to reflect material changes.

 

Storage and Security

We take reasonable steps to protect personal and health information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Electronic clinical records are stored using secure practice management and information systems. Appropriate security measures are used to protect information stored electronically.

​

Any paper records are stored securely and access to personal information is limited to people who require access for legitimate practice purposes.

Staff, contractors and service providers who have access to personal information are subject to appropriate privacy and confidentiality obligations.

If a data breach occurs, Summit Psychology will assess and manage the breach in accordance with applicable privacy legislation, including the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme where applicable.

​

Record Retention

Health records are retained in accordance with applicable legal and professional requirements.

​

Generally, health information relating to an adult client will be retained for at least seven years after the last occasion on which a health service was provided.

​

Where health information was collected while a client was under 18 years of age, records will be retained until the client reaches at least 25 years of age, or for at least seven years after the last health service was provided, whichever is later.

​

When records are eligible for destruction and are no longer required, they will be securely destroyed or otherwise managed in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

​

Access and Correction

You may request access to personal or health information held about you, or ask for information to be corrected if it is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date.

​

Requests can be made in writing using the contact details below. In some circumstances, access may be limited or refused where permitted by law.

Personal Information of Children and Young People

​

Where a client is under 18 years of age, personal and health information may be collected with the involvement of a parent or guardian, having regard to the young person’s age and capacity to consent to their own treatment.

​

Requests to access or correct a young person’s information may be made by the young person themselves, where they have capacity to make that decision, or by a parent or guardian. Each request will be considered individually, having regard to the young person’s best interests, wishes and capacity.

​

Website and Online Privacy

When you visit the Summit Psychology website, limited technical information may be collected automatically. This may include information such as your IP address, browser or device type, and pages visited.

​

This information may be used to maintain the website, understand how it is used and improve its functionality.

​

If you submit an enquiry through the website, we will collect the information you provide, such as your name, email address, telephone number and the content of your enquiry, so that we can respond to you and manage your enquiry appropriately.

​

Please consider the nature of the information you provide through general website or email communications, as ordinary email and internet communications may carry privacy and security risks.

​

Cookies and Analytics

The Summit Psychology website may use cookies and analytics tools to understand how visitors use the website and to improve its functionality.

These technologies may collect technical information about your browser, device and interaction with the website.

​

You can usually control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Disabling some cookies may affect the way certain website functions operate.

​

Links to Other Websites

The Summit Psychology website may contain links to third-party websites or online resources.

​

Summit Psychology does not control these websites and is not responsible for their privacy practices, security or content. We recommend reviewing the privacy policy of any external website before providing personal information.

​

Privacy Complaints

If you have concerns about how Summit Psychology has collected, held, used or disclosed your personal or health information, please contact us using the details below.

​

Please provide enough information for us to understand and investigate your concern.

​

We will review your complaint and may contact you if further information is required. We aim to respond to privacy complaints within 30 days. If additional time is required, we will let you know.

​

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may be able to make a complaint to:

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)
www.oaic.gov.au

 

or, in relation to the handling of health information in Victoria:

Health Complaints Commissioner Victoria
www.hcc.vic.gov.au

​

Changes to This Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time to reflect changes to Summit Psychology's services, technology, administrative arrangements or legal obligations.

​

The current version and date of the Privacy Policy will be published on the Summit Psychology website.

 

Contact Details

​Summit Psychology
65 West Fyans Street
Newtown VIC 3220

Email: support@summitpsychology.com.au
Phone: (03) 4232 2591
Fax: (03) 7054 6540