Privacy, Confidentiality and Consent

Your privacy matters to me. Counselling asks you to share things that are personal, and often difficult to say out loud. You deserve to know exactly what happens to that information.

This page explains what I collect, why I need it, how I keep it safe, who can see it, and the small number of situations where I may have to share it.

In handling your information, I follow:

• the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles
• the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic)
• the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics
• the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) Code of Ethics, where applicable

Please read it in your own time, and ask me anything at all before your first session.

My commitment to you

Protecting your privacy is not an administrative formality. It is part of what makes a safe, trusting therapeutic relationship possible. I commit to:

• treating everything you share with respect and care
• collecting only what I reasonably need in order to support you well
• keeping your records in secure systems
• limiting access to authorised people only
• meeting all of my legal and ethical privacy obligations

What information I collect

Personal details

Your full name and preferred name, date of birth, residential and postal address, telephone numbers, email address, emergency contact details, occupation, school or educational information, and NDIS details where these apply.

Health information

Health information is treated as sensitive information under Australian privacy law and is given extra protection. It may include your medical and mental health history, current concerns, previous diagnoses, current medications, allergies, risk assessments and safety plans, counselling history, and any psychological, psychiatric, specialist or GP correspondence.

Administrative information

Appointment and attendance history, invoices, payments and receipts, referral letters, and records of email, SMS and telephone contact.

How I collect it

Wherever possible, I collect information directly from you — through intake and consent forms, our sessions together, and contact by phone, email or telehealth.

Sometimes information comes from someone else: your parent or guardian where that applies, or another professional such as your GP, a psychologist, a school or an NDIS provider. I only do this where you have given consent, or where the law authorises it.

If you would prefer not to share something

You are never required to give me information you are not comfortable sharing. If you would rather leave something out, please tell me. In most cases we can still work well together.

Occasionally, missing information may limit how safely or effectively I can support you, or may mean a particular service — such as an NDIS or insurance claim — cannot go ahead. If that happens, I will explain it to you clearly at the time.

Why I collect it and how I use it

Your information is used only for purposes directly connected to your counselling and the running of the practice. That includes:

• providing counselling, assessment and therapeutic support
• developing and reviewing your treatment plan, and tracking your progress
• understanding and responding to any risk to your safety
• keeping in touch with you and managing appointments
• issuing invoices and receipts
• preparing referrals and coordinating your care, with your consent
• meeting my legal, ethical and professional obligations

Your information is never sold, and it is never given to anyone for marketing.

Confidentiality

Everything we discuss in counselling is treated as confidential. I will not ordinarily share anything without your written consent.

Confidentiality is not absolute, though, and it matters to me that you know the limits before we begin rather than discovering them later.

Limits to confidentiality

There are a small number of situations where I may be legally or ethically required to share information without your consent.

• Serious and imminent risk — where there is a serious and imminent risk to your safety or to the safety of another person.
• Mandatory reporting — where the law requires me to report a concern, including child abuse or neglect, family violence where reporting obligations apply, or abuse or neglect of a person protected under legislation.
• Legal requirements — where disclosure is required by a subpoena, court order, search warrant, lawful investigation or other statutory authority.
• Professional supervision — I take part in regular supervision to keep my practice safe and ethical. Identifying details are removed wherever reasonably possible, my supervisor is bound by confidentiality, and the focus is always on improving your care.
• Legal advice — where obtaining professional legal advice is necessary to meet my ethical or legal obligations.

Wherever it is safe, lawful and practicable, I will talk with you before any information is released, and explain what I need to do and why.

Except where there is an immediate emergency, a decision to disclose without your consent is made only after consulting my clinical supervisor. Any disclosure is limited to the information actually necessary, given only to the people who need it, and no more.

Sharing information with other professionals

With your written consent, or where the law authorises or requires it, I may share relevant information with your GP, psychiatrist, psychologist or paediatrician, your school or educational setting, NDIS providers and plan managers, hospitals, and other treating health professionals. Only the information reasonably necessary for the purpose is ever shared.

I also rely on trusted service providers to run the practice safely — for example, secure client record software, encrypted email, telehealth platforms and accounting services. These providers are bound by confidentiality and privacy obligations. Some may store or process information on servers outside Australia. If you would like to know which providers I use for your information, and where they are based, please ask me. Wherever information is stored overseas, I take reasonable steps to ensure it stays protected to Australian privacy standards.

How your records are stored

Electronic records

Electronic records are protected by password-protected systems, secure devices, encrypted storage where available, restricted access, antivirus protection and regular software updates. While I take every reasonable measure, no electronic storage or internet transmission can be guaranteed completely secure.

Paper records

Any paper records are kept in locked filing systems, accessible only to authorised people, and securely destroyed once they are no longer required to be kept.

Records that identify you are kept separately from your session notes, so that neither on its own reveals more than it needs to.

How long records are kept

Records are kept for at least seven years from your last appointment. Where a client is under 18, records are kept until they turn 25, or for seven years after their last appointment, whichever is later. After that, records are securely destroyed or permanently de-identified.

If I am ever unable to continue

Sole practitioners have a responsibility to plan for the unexpected. I hold a written arrangement setting out what happens to client records if I were seriously unwell, incapacitated or died — a trusted colleague bound by the same confidentiality obligations would securely hold or dispose of records, and would contact current clients so that you are not left without support or information.

Who may access your information

• me, as your treating counsellor
• authorised administrative support, where this is used
• my professional supervisor, using de-identified information wherever possible
• external professionals for whom you have given written consent
• organisations authorised by law

Telehealth, email, SMS and telephone

For online sessions, I ask that you join from a private place, minimise interruptions, use a secure internet connection where you can, and not record the session without prior written agreement. I use reasonable measures to protect your privacy online, although electronic communication always carries some risk that cannot be entirely removed.

Email, SMS and telephone are used for appointment reminders, scheduling, invoices and general administrative matters. Although I take reasonable precautions, confidentiality cannot be guaranteed over email or SMS, so please avoid sending sensitive details this way.

Please do not use email or SMS for urgent clinical matters or crisis support. If you need help urgently, contact your GP, call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or call 000 in an emergency.

Recording of sessions

I will not audio or video record a session without your prior written consent. If I ever propose recording, I will explain the purpose, obtain your consent in writing, and you may withdraw that consent at any time before the recording is used.

I also ask that you do not record our sessions without talking with me about it first.

This website

This is what happens to information when you use this website.

• The contact form. If you use the form, I receive the name, email address, phone number (optional) and message you enter. I use them only to reply to you. They reach me by email, so please do not include sensitive health details in the form.
• The appointment request form. If you request an appointment, I receive the service you choose, whether you are a new or returning client, in person or online, your preferred times, your name, email address, phone number (optional) and any practical notes, and for a child or teenager, their age. I use them only to arrange your appointment. They reach me by email, so please do not include health details there either.
• Email. The contact form and the practice email address are handled by a commercial web and email hosting provider acting on my behalf. Emails you send me are kept in my practice mailbox.
• Technical logs. Like most websites, this site and its host keep basic technical records, such as your IP address and the time of a request, to keep the site secure and to detect spam. If a message fails to send, a record of the error, which may include the sender's email address, is kept so the problem can be fixed. I do not use these records to track you.
• Cookies. The site uses only the small cookies it needs to work: one that protects the forms from misuse, and one that shows you a confirmation or error message after you submit it. There are no analytics, advertising or tracking cookies, and nothing on this site loads from other companies' servers.
• Links to other sites. Links to Instagram, Facebook and other organisations take you to sites that have their own privacy policies.

If you are a supervisee

If I provide clinical supervision to you, I collect information about you as a practitioner, usually through the supervision agreement:

• your name, preferred name and pronouns, date of birth, address, email address and mobile number
• your professional details: role, employer, professional membership and number, qualifications, experience and the client groups you work with
• your professional indemnity insurance details
• an emergency contact
• my notes of our supervision sessions, which may include information you tell me about your clients. Please remove clients' identifying details wherever you can

I use this information to provide and document supervision, to confirm your registration and insurance, to contact you or your emergency contact if needed, to issue invoices and confirmation of attendance, and to meet professional requirements. Supervision records are stored securely in line with the ACA Code of Ethics, the PACFA Code of Ethics (where applicable) and the Privacy Act, and you can ask to see your records, as set out in the supervision agreement. Group supervision is held online using a secure telehealth platform.

If I use artificial intelligence (AI) tools for administrative tasks in supervision, such as drafting summaries or organising notes, I take reasonable steps to protect confidentiality, and I do not enter identifying or personal information into public AI platforms. AI never replaces professional judgement.

If information is ever lost or exposed

Despite every precaution, data breaches can happen. If your information were ever lost, accessed without authorisation, or disclosed in error, I would act immediately to contain it and assess the risk to you. Where a breach is likely to cause you serious harm, I am required under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme to notify both you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Your rights

You have the right to:

• know what personal information is collected, and why
• ask to see the information I hold about you, subject to some legal limits
• ask me to correct anything that is inaccurate or incomplete
• withdraw your consent to future sharing, where that is legally and clinically appropriate
• ask any question about this statement
• make a complaint if you feel your privacy has not been respected

To ask for access to your records, simply let me know in person or in writing, and I will respond within 30 days. In rare cases access may need to be limited — for example, where releasing information could pose a serious risk to you or another person. If that happens, I will explain why and we will discuss other ways of giving you what you need.

Where it is lawful and practical, you may also deal with me anonymously or under a pseudonym. In counselling this is rarely workable, since I need to be able to identify you in order to keep you safe and to meet my record-keeping obligations, but you are welcome to raise it with me.

Questions and complaints

If you feel your privacy has not been respected, please raise it with me first. I will acknowledge your concern promptly and respond within 30 days, and I will do my best to put things right.

If you are not satisfied with my response, you are welcome to contact:

• Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) — oaic.gov.au, 1300 363 992
• Health Complaints Commissioner, Victoria — hcc.vic.gov.au, 1300 582 113
• Australian Counselling Association (ACA) — theaca.net.au

Health complaints bodies for every state and territory are listed on the Complaints and codes of conduct page.

Raising a concern will never affect the care you receive.

About my imagery

To protect the privacy of the amazing children and families in my program, and to keep sessions completely distraction-free, I choose not to take live photos during groups. Instead, some of the vibrant illustrations and images on this website are creatively generated using AI. They are carefully chosen to reflect the exact joy, teamwork and structure of my real-life brick building sessions.

Last updated 25 October 2026.