We take confidentiality, privacy and information security seriously
Privacy policy
As part of providing a psychological service, The Psychology Spot needs to collect and record personal information that is relevant to your situation; such as your name, contact information, medical history, mental health history and progress in psychological counselling. This collection of personal information is a necessary part of the psychological service.
Personal information is held in a secure filing cabinet at the Office and in the Halaxy client records management system. When your service is finished, your information is uploaded into Halaxy and your on-site file is destroyed. Halaxy information is encrypted (256-bit) and stored in a securely protected, off-site data centre.
Administration staff or contractors of The Psychology Spot will have access to only the relevant information to provide reception, client booking and administrative services. All employees, contracted support staff and psychologist contractors are bound by a Confidentiality Agreement. To ensure continuous improvement of services, all psychologists participate in regular clinical supervision with an experienced psychologist. Information about you may be shared within this professional environment; however, information that could determine your personal identity is purposely not disclosed.
Disclosure of personal information
All personal information gathered by the psychologist during the provision of the psychological service will remain confidential, except when:
1. it is subpoenaed by a court; or
2. failure to disclose the information would in the reasonable belief of the psychologist place you or another person at serious risk to life, health or safety; or
3. your prior approval has been obtained to:
a. provide a written report to another professional or agency. e.g., a GP or a lawyer; or
b. discuss the material with another person, e.g. a family member, employer or health provider; or
c. disclose the information in another way; or
4. you would reasonably expect your personal information to be disclosed to another professional or agency (e.g. your GP) and disclosure of your personal information to that third party is for a purpose which is directly related to the primary purpose for which your personal information was collected; or
5. disclosure is otherwise required or authorised by law.
Information requests for your personal information require 14 days notice and cost $157.30 (incl. GST)
Online payment processing and card security
We process payment for sessions by debit card and credit card through Halaxy, our secure client records management system. Your payment details are protected by bank-grade security and encryption.
When your card details are entered into Halaxy, they are stored and tokenised in Halaxy's payments gateway, meaning that once initially entered and captured, they are not visible to anybody within the practice or at Halaxy. If payment details need to be altered or updated, they must be completely re-entered as a further security measure, as tokenised payment details cannot be edited. Halaxy's payments gateway is powered by Braintree PayPal in Australia, which is one of the world's largest online payment providers, with stringent data and security protocols for storing payment details.
When you book your first appointment, our admin team will ask for your card details. After that, you don't need to manage or worry about payments at all - since everything is handled by Halaxy. You can save time and get on with your day straight after the appointment.
