The safety of your personal information is very important to me.
Personal information refers to information about an identified or identifiable individual, and includes the following types of information:
– personal information (e.g., name, signature, address, phone number, date of birth)
– personal information that is also health information (e.g., health history, ongoing health problems, prior treatments, assessment & treatment summary reports)
– personal information that is also sensitive information (e.g., above health information, criminal record, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or practices)
My private practice (ABN 37 334 570 356) complies with the Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth) and the Health Records Act 2001 (Victoria). My practice also complies with the Australian Psychological Society’s Ethical Guidelines on confidentiality and record keeping.
Depending on client referral pathways, I may offer services independently or as part of a community-based treatment program. If you are receiving services as part of a community-based treatment program, please also familiarise yourself with the community-based treatment program provider’s own privacy policy.
Collection of personal information
I collect personal information for the purposes of:
– screening potential clients
– arranging appointments
– processing payments & Medicare rebates
– communicating with clients or their referrer
– providing safe, appropriate, accurate, & helpful services
– assisting in optimising the quality of my services
– responding to feedback & complaints
– enforcing a client agreement
– managing client files
I collect personal information:
– only from clients (or from a person, health professional, or organisation authorised by them)
– only (a) as necessary for the completion of administrative tasks & the provision of services, (b) per your consent, or (c) per legal or ethical requirements
– before, during, or after services are provided
– with care, taking reasonable steps to ensure that your information remains safe
I collect personal information from clients when they:
– contact me via the Australian Psychology Society’s ‘Find a psychologist’ service
– contact me via email or telephone
– book an appointment
– complete a registration & consent form
– send me supporting documentation (themselves or via an approved third party)
– engage in assessment or treatment services
The kind of personal information I may collect will depend on who you are and the nature of your interaction with me, and may include personal information, personal information that is also health information, and personal information that is also sensitive information. If you do not provide me with all the information I ask for, I may not be able to deliver the requested services.
Disclosure & sharing
To remain registered as a psychologist, I must engage in regular supervision with qualified peers who are bound by the same professional standards that I am bound to. The purpose of supervision is to ensure I align with best practice principles. When clients are discussed in supervision, it is always in a de-identified manner.
If you are attending treatment under a Mental Health Care Plan, it is a requirement that your general practitioner be provided with progress letters at intervals set by Medicare.
Otherwise, I will only disclose personal information to third parties with your consent, or as per legal or ethical requirements (e.g., when there is reasonable suspicion of abuse to a child, dependent, or elder adult; when a client is at risk of harm to others; when a client is at risk of harm to themselves; when disclosure is required pursuant to a legal proceeding).
Data security & quality
I will take reasonable steps to protect the personal information I collect from misuse, loss, and interference, and from unauthorised access and modification, and to make sure it is accurate, complete and up-to-date when I collect, use, or disclose it.
To assist me, please ensure you provide me with correct details, and let me know if you believe the information I have about you is inaccurate, incomplete, out of date, or misleading (and I will take reasonable steps to correct it; see Requests for corrections). I may take steps to destroy or permanently de-identify information when it is no longer needed for any purpose for which it may be used or disclosed. I may retain and use de-identified information.
Technology
This website gathers information on visitor patterns using a web analytics tool. This tool helps me understand how visitors engage with this website, so I can improve it, and reports only group data without identifying specific visitors: e.g., I can see that a specific page has 200 views, but cannot see which visitors viewed that page.
Assessment and treatment services are provided via the Telehealth platform Coviu. The privacy of any form of communication via the internet is potentially vulnerable and limited by the security of the technology used. In an audit of videoconferencing platforms conducted for the Australian Psychological Society, Coviu was considered one of the platforms with the “highest levels of privacy and security”. According to Coviu, “none of the audio, video or data exchanged in a Coviu call is stored by Coviu. Specifically, Coviu does not store any clinical information that is exchanged in a call. All of the video, audio or shared documents in a call are transmitted peer-to-peer only, are fully encrypted and cannot be listened into by anyone except for the call participants. That data does not even reach Coviu storage servers”. Like face-to-face sessions, it is important that Telehealth sessions be conducted in a private and confidential space (unless otherwise agreed upon), where you are the only person present.
I may communicate with clients via email. (a) Email may be intercepted between sender and receiver. Email is neither secure nor confidential. Your use of email confirms that you accept this risk. (b) Email is not a therapeutic space; it is for administrative purposes only. (c) If you would prefer to provide personal information outside of email, please let me know you preferred method of communication.
Requests for access or corrections, & privacy concerns
You can request, and I will provide you with access to, any personal information I hold about you (subject to any applicable legal exceptions). You can also request that any incorrect information be corrected. Please let me know if you have any concerns about the way I am handling your information, so that I may address them. (For more information on making complaints, see here.) Requests and privacy concerns should be submitted to me via email.
Transfer in certain circumstances
In the event of my passing, I have organised for the transferring of personal information to another psychologist, who will be tasked with responsibly handling this information, in accordance with relevant acts and ethical guidelines.
Changes to this privacy policy
This privacy policy forms part of the agreement between you and me. I may at times amend this privacy policy, in whole or part, at my sole discretion. Any changes to this privacy policy will be effective immediately upon the posting of the revised privacy policy on https://nicolaskessous.com/privacy-policy/. By continuing to use this website and/or my services following any changes, you will be deemed to have agreed to such changes. If you do not agree with the terms of this privacy policy, as amended occasionally, in whole or part, you must terminate your use of this website and inform me immediately prior to any further receipt of services by myself.
Consent
By providing me with personal information, or by engaging my services, you consent to me collecting, using, and disclosing your personal information for the purposes specified in this privacy policy.
Contact me
If you have any questions about this privacy policy, or if you wish to request access to your personal information, correct you personal information, or raise any privacy concerns, please contact me via email.
For more information on your privacy rights, visit: https://www.oaic.gov.au/.