This privacy statement describes the policy of Veedre for the management of clients’ information. The psychological service provided by Veedre is bound by the legal requirements of the National Privacy Principles from the Privacy Act (1988) and Privacy Amendment Act - Private Sector (2000). Veedre services also conform to all Australian Psychological Society guidelines.

Veedre and its employees subscribe to the following privacy principles:

1. Veedre only collects information that is necessary for the conduct of its work in the provision of psychology services.
2. Veedre will not use information it collects for purposes other than the conduct of its psychology work.
3. Veedre will obtain informed consent from clients before reusing their information for alternative applications, and before disclosure to third parties.
4. Veedre will take all reasonable precautions to securely store and prevent unauthorised access to client information.

Client Information

Client information refers to documents, test results and/or reports collected during the provision of psychology services, which record personal information that would not otherwise be publicly accessible. Physical client files are held in a secure filing location that is accessible to management and authorised employees only. The information on each file includes personal information such as name, address, contact phone numbers, and other information that is relevant to the psychological service being provided.

Where client information has been recorded digitally (eg. data on a computer hard drive or online at data centre), the information is secured such that it is accessible only to authorised employees. For audit purposes, backup copies are kept of all client records for a period of seven years.

Purpose of Collecting and Holding Information

Information is gathered as part of the assessment, diagnosis and intervention associated with psychology services and is seen only by Veedre employees or contractors, or people authorised by the informed consent of the client. The information is collected in the course of the provision of psychology services by Veedre, and is retained in order to document what happens during such services.

Disclosure and Alternative Use of Client Information

Client information is accessible to the client themselves, during the performance of psychology services when such information was collected, or otherwise by request. Reuse of client information for alternative applications (ie. beyond its original application), and/or disclosure of client information to a third party is only allowable under the following circumstances:

• The client has consented to disclosure of information to third parties, within the usual course of receiving psychology services, or
• The client, whose information it is, has signed an informed consent for alternative uses and disclosure, or
• For research purposes only, any personal or identifiers are deleted from the information, and it is used in aggregate form, or
• Conditions under the National Privacy Principles (1998) section 2 are applicable. For example, disclosure is likely to prevent harm to a person, or the information is about an unlawful activity.

Concerns

If you have a concern about the management of your personal information, please inform a consultant from Veedre. Upon request you can obtain a copy of the National Privacy Principles, which describe your rights and how your information should be handled. Ultimately, if you wish to lodge a formal complaint about the use of, or access to, your personal information, you may do so with the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner on 1300 363 992, or GPO Box 5218, Sydney, NSW 1042.