Privacy Policy
JSA Counselling
Jasmine Sliger
Registered Psychologist
Counselling & Organisational Psychology
At JSA Counselling, protecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal and health information is an important part of providing safe, ethical and professional psychological services.
We manage personal and health information in accordance with applicable Australian and NSW privacy legislation, including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW) and its Health Privacy Principles (HPPs). Our professional practice is also informed by the ethical and professional standards applying to registered psychologists.
Our Commitment
to Your Privacy
What Information
We Collect
To provide psychological counselling, assessment, consultation and related professional services, we may collect personal and health information including:
Personal information such as your name, date of birth, contact details, emergency contact details, Medicare or private health information where relevant, and referral information.
Clinical and health information may include psychological and medical history, assessment information, treatment plans, session notes, medications, information provided during consultations, and relevant correspondence with other health professionals.
We aim to collect only information that is reasonably necessary to provide our services.
How We Collect Your Information
Information is usually collected directly from you during enquiries, intake, consultations, therapy or counselling sessions, telephone or video consultations, forms and correspondence.
With your consent, or where otherwise permitted or required by law, we may also receive relevant information from another person or organisation, such as a referring GP, psychiatrist, medical specialist or other health professional.
Our website may also collect limited technical information, such as browser information, IP address and website usage information, through cookies and similar technologies.
Why We Collect and Use Your Information
Your information may be collected and used to:
provide psychological, counselling, family therapy, mediation and related professional services;
communicate with you and manage appointments;
maintain appropriate clinical and administrative records;
process accounts, Medicare or private health insurance claims where applicable;
communicate with other health professionals where you have provided consent or where disclosure is otherwise authorised or required by law; and
meet our professional, ethical and legal obligations.
Confidentiality
& Disclosure of Information
Information shared during psychological consultations is treated as confidential.
Information will not ordinarily be disclosed to another person without your consent. There are, however, circumstances in which disclosure may be permitted or required, including where:
you have provided consent for information to be shared with another person or health professional;
disclosure is required or authorised by law, including in response to a valid legal requirement;
there is a serious threat to health or safety, and disclosure is permitted or required in the circumstances; or
professional consultation or supervision is undertaken in accordance with professional and ethical requirements, with appropriate steps taken to protect your privacy.
Where practicable and appropriate, these circumstances will be discussed with you.
Storage and Security
of Information
We take reasonable steps to protect personal and health information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
Clinical and administrative records may be held electronically and, where applicable, in secure physical storage. Appropriate security measures are used for electronic systems and access to records is restricted to authorised persons.
Records are retained for the periods required by applicable professional and legal requirements and are securely disposed of when they are no longer required.
Telehealth and Electronic Communication
JSA Counselling provides some services by Telehealth and communicates with clients electronically.
While reasonable steps are taken to protect privacy and confidentiality, electronic communications and online services may carry privacy and security risks. Clients are encouraged to use a private, secure environment when participating in Telehealth operations.
Overseas Disclosure. Some technology or service providers may store or process information outside Australia. Where this occurs, we take responsible steps to ensure that personal information is handled consistently with applicable Australian privacy requirements.
Our website is hosted by Squarespace. Squarespace may collect technical information about website visits, such as IP addresses, browser details and usage information, through cookies and similar technologies. This information may be stored or processed outside Australia, including in the United States.
Further information is available in Squarespace’s Privacy Policy.
Accessing and Correcting Your Information
You may request access to personal or health information we hold about you and may ask us to correct information that you believe is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date.
Access is subject to applicable legal requirements and exceptions. We will respond to requests within a reasonable period.
NSW privacy law provides individuals with a general right to access health information held by private health service providers.
Website Cookies &
Third-Party Services
Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to support website functionality and understand how visitors use the site.
When you visit our website, basic technical data (such as IP addresses, browser types, and page visit analytics) may be collected via cookies to optimize site performance.
You can generally control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Some website functions may operate differently if cookies are disabled.
We may use reputable third-party providers to assist with functions such as appointment management, electronic records, communications, website hosting, payment processing or other administrative services.
Where personal or health information is handled by third-party providers, we take reasonable steps to ensure that appropriate privacy and security protections apply.
Privacy Breaches
If we become aware of a privacy or data breach involving personal information, we take appropriate steps to contain and assess the incident and, where required, notify affected individuals and relevant authorities in accordance with applicable privacy law.
The OAIC specifically recommends that health practices have a data -breach response plan as part of their privacy arrangements.
Questions & Complaints
If you have a question about this Privacy Policy, wish to request access to or correction of your information, or wish to make a privacy complaint, please contact:
JSA Counselling
Contact Person: Jasmine Sliger
Email: jsliger@jsa-intl.com.au
Phone: 0414 552 467
Postal Address: PO Box 710 Willoughby NSW, 2068
We will endeavour to respond to privacy enquiries and complaints promptly and respectfully.
If you are dissatisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) or, where applicable, the Information and Privacy Commission NSW (IPC NSW).