Privacy – Salamanca Psychology

Ethics, Privacy & Security

Support for every stage of life

Inclusive practice statement & acknowledgements

We acknowledge the Tasmanian Aboriginal people as the traditional custodians of the land on which we live, work, and play. We pay our respect to elders past and present and acknowledge the ongoing contribution of Aboriginal people in enriching our communities.

We are committed to non-discriminatory practice with regard to your age, race, religion, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical ability, socio-economic status, or mental health status.

We strive for accessibility and we are happy to work with you to meet your individual needs.

We strive for culturally sensitive practice, learning about, respecting and meeting your culturally-based requirements.

We are a neurodiversity-affirming practice, grounded in the knowledge that neurodivergence reflects a difference, not a deficit. We acknowledge that the focus on ‘disorders’ traditionally used in the medical model does not align with the neurodiversity-affirming framework. Instead, we recognise that it is the environment and systems that are not designed for neurodivergent people in which they are expected to live that lead to ‘disordered’ behaviour. We are constantly striving to practice in a way that supports our neurodivergent clients further, so please discuss any accommodations or adjustments you require with your clinician.

Collection & use of personal information

To provide you with appropriate Psychology services, we will need to collect and use your personal information.

The information we collect includes, but is not limited to, your: name, date of birth, contact details, emergency contact details, other demographic information, health history, developmental, and family history. Typically, we will collect this information directly from you, but at times we may collect information from third parties with your consent. If you provide inaccurate information or withhold relevant information from us, it may restrict the service we can provide you.

If the client is under the age of 18, please ensure that you have provided us with any legal Orders pertaining to your child. This ensures that we are following all legal requirements. If parents are separated and have joint parental responsibility, then consent will be required from both parents.

Use & disclosure of personal information

To provide you with treatment, we may use or disclose your information where necessary:

For administrative running of the practice including quality assurance and accreditation, audits, risk and claims management, client satisfaction surveys, and staff training
In a de-identifiable manner for clinical supervision
For communicating with you (e.g. sending appointment reminders and invoices by SMS, email, and post)
To liaise with third-party funding sources and referring agencies regarding clinical progress (e.g., referring doctors, psychiatrists, insurers, DVA, etc.)
With your explicit consent, to exchange information with any other relevant third-parties

Additional consent will be requested if information collected from you is to be used in any ways other than that outlined to you, and you can withdraw your consent at any time.

Data quality & security

We take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is accurate, and we expect that you will notify us of any changes in information to ensure this (e.g., contact details or name change).

We take reasonable steps to store your information securely, and protect it from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access; physical files are securely stored, and digital files are securely encrypted and backed up using the clinic’s practice management software and on secure cloud-based storage system.

In accordance with legislative requirements, your records will be retained for a minimum period of seven years from last engagement or in the case of records collected when a client is less than 18-years-old until the client attains the age of 25 years.

The practice uses Zanda Practice Software.

Telehealth & digital security

In some instances, psychology services may be delivered by tele-health. You should be aware of the following points:

The privacy of any form of communication via the internet or a mobile device is potentially vulnerable and limited by the security of the technology. Our telehealth services are provided either by phone or using Coviu or Zoom which uses encryption for all data that is transferred between you and your practitioner. At no stage is your call (including audio, video, and data) recorded by us and we insist that you refrain from this also. You will be responsible for confidentiality of the session at your end, and you will require access to a quiet, private space; the appropriate device; and a reliable broadband internet connection
Email communication is not secure and should contain minimal personal information. We encourage you to consider how you secure your own digital information including files which may be shared or transferred to you. We would recommend you use a personal email and personal device rather than a work or shared device
We require when using tele-health services that you advise us of where you are located when an appointment commences, and to have a working phone number as a contingency should we need to contact you. We also require that you provide two emergency contacts. If we have concerns for safety and experience technical difficulties, or you end the call prematurely, we may contact your listed emergency contacts to organise support and check your wellbeing
You are responsible for any costs incurred in relation to the provision of your own software, hardware and data usage associated with this tele-health service

Additional consent will be requested if information collected from you is to be used in any ways other than that outlined to you, and you can withdraw your consent at any time.

Feedback & complaints

If you have feedback you can make contact directly (either in person, by writing, phone, or email).

Please let us know what you would like to happen as a result of your feedback and whether you would like to be contacted about it (if you provide feedback anonymously, we will not be able to contact you).

If you are not satisfied with our response, and you feel the matter remains unresolved, or you do not wish to raise the matter directly, you can contact the Health Complaints Commissioner Tasmania (health.complaints@ombudsman.tas.gov.au, or GPO Box 960, Hobart, 7001, or 1800 001 170.)