Privacy policy

 
 

Foresight Clinical and Forensic Psychology Privacy Policy

Matthew Ferriman of Foresight Clinical and Forensic Psychology (“your treating psychologist”) and Changes Psychology (the administration service “provider”) take your privacy seriously. This document describes the management of the information you disclose to your treating psychologist and administration team in relation to yourself or the person under 18 years that you are bringing to therapy. Therapy addresses issues of a highly personal nature and it is important that you understand your rights with regard to your records and personal information collected.

Your treating psychologist and the administration service provider collect and manage personal and medical information provided by you, including sensitive health information.

We collect, use, and where appropriate share this information (which includes health information) in order to facilitate appointments with psychologists; manage payment and claims (e.g., Medicare, insurance); and manage records regarding your appointments. Handling of personal information involves storage and processing of some data overseas via offshore data centres.

Your treating psychologist will store: confidential casenotes and information that is not accessible by the provider’s administation team. Your information will be kept in a file that will be seen only by the treating psychologist and will be retained as a record of what happens during sessions. As required by law, your file will be securely stored for 7 years (or if you are under 18 years old, your file must be kept until you turn 25). After this time it will be destroyed in a confidential manner.

Confidentiality – All personal information gathered by your treating psychologist during the provision of service, including session content, will remain confidential. However there are exceptions under which your treating psychologist will be legally required to breach confidentiality. They inclide:

  • If the information you have provided or we have collected is subpoenaed by a court order.

  • If failure to disclose the information to another party or the authorities, could place you or another person at serious and imminent risk of harm.

  • Your prior approval has been given. This may include provision of a written report to another professional or agency (e.g., GP, insurance company, or lawyer) or discussing material with another person as part of the assessment and therapy progress. It may be helpful for your psychologist to liaise with other people or agencies that are relevant to your therapy goals.

  • If you are are claiming Medicare rebates or having sessions paid for by another organisation, then your psychologist may be required to provide summary reports to external agencies regarding your treatment progress. Under the Medicare scheme these summary progress reports are mandatory if you want to claim a Medicare rebate and will normally be sent to your referring GP, paediatrician or psychiatrist.

Neither your treating psychologist, or administration service  provider, will provide information, reports or documentation for medico-legal or family court related purposes unless we required to by law, under a subpoena or by a court order, unless specifically arranged with your treating psychologist.

Access to your or your child’s information – You may access the material recorded in your file upon request, subject to the exceptions in the Australian Privacy Principles or clause 5 above. You must provide a written request to access your information and your request will be processed within 21 days and an hourly fee is payable to collate and provide this information to you. If the information request is in relation to a person under 18 years, and you are not the person who initiated and paid for their therapy sessions, we would also require confirmation from the parent or guardian that initiated their treatment before releasing the information to ensure we meet the requirements of the National Privacy Policies.

As part of professional practice as a psychologist, your treating psychologist sometimes receives supervision from another clinician, which involves discussing information about current clients and their treatment plans to improve their clinical practice and ensure clients receive quality treatment. In this context, some aspects of your treatment may be discussed. However, this will be done in confidence and your personal identity will not be disclosed.

In the event that unauthorised access, disclosure or loss of a client’s personal information occurs, Foresight Clinical and Forensic Psychology will activate its data breach plan and use all reasonable endeavours to minimise any risk of consequential serious harm.

Can I see my client file?

At any stage you are entitled to access your personal information kept on file, subject to exceptions in the relevant legislation. The psychologist may discuss with you different possible forms of access.


Please direct any questions in relation to your personal information or file to:

Matthew Ferriman

15A Edgar Street

AINSLIE ACT 2602

contact@foresightcfp.com