Collection and use of personal and health information
The University of Wollongong Psychology Clinic collects and maintains information related to your health and wellbeing. All staff and students are committed to the secure management and maintenance of this information according to the Information Privacy Act 2000, the Health Records Act 2001 and the University of Wollongong Privacy Policy. Copies of these Acts and the Policy are available upon request.
We collect your personal and health information when you first make contact with the Clinic, and during your contact with the Clinic. We require this information in order to provide a range of services related to your situation. This information enables us to:
- Ensure appropriate appointment arrangements
- Alter appointment arrangements in case of staff unavailability
- Confirm eligibility of access to services through an external service agreement
- Assess issues related to your presenting problem, and
- Maintain or improve your psychological health and wellbeing
It is useful for us to obtain information from therapists or agencies that have treated you in the past. Subject to your prior approval, the clinic may exchange information about you with these individuals or agencies. The Clinic may contact your referring doctor in order to clarify the referral or seek an opinion. The Clinic will attempt to gain your approval before contacting your referring doctor.
If when requested, you choose not to provide information or allow access to information important in the management of your health issues, the University of Wollongong Psychology Clinic reserves the right to withdraw or not provide services.
Confidentiality of information
All information provided to the therapist will be treated in professional confidence and therefore your case will not be discussed outside formal supervision arrangements. As part of our professional communication with your referring doctor, we will send a report to him or her about your assessment and treatment here.
As required by New South Wales (NSW) law and The Australian Psychological Society, your information may also be disclosed to external agencies when it is subpoenaed by a court, or failure to disclose the information would place you or another person at risk. There are some further limited circumstances when the law permits disclosure of personal and health information such as - to assist in the investigation of a crime, at the request of certain government agencies or to prevent a threat to public welfare. If any of these rare events occurred, the therapist would attempt to discuss it with you in advance.
Recordings and observations
In order to provide high quality supervision, it will be routine to make video or audio recordings of your therapy and assessment sessions. The tapes are for supervision and case-review purposes only. They will only be heard or seen by your therapist and their supervisor, and on the rare occasion by the case-review team for maintaining high clinical standards. All recordings will be treated as confidential, and will be deleted following supervision. You will always be informed before any recording of your sessions are made.
Information used for other purposes
Service-wide, statistical, non-identifying material may be generated to allow the planning and provision of services. This material may be utilised by the Clinic or other areas of the University of Wollongong for funding, management, planning, monitoring, and improvement or evaluation of services. Non-identifying aggregated data may also be provided to research bodies investigating wellbeing, health management and health promotion initiatives.
Information used for other purposes
You have a right to access personal information, subject to some exceptions allowed by law. If you would like to access your personal information, please discuss this with the person who is providing the service. You will be required to put your request in writing to the clinic coordinator, who may then refer your request to the University of Wollongong, depending on the type of personal information you would like to access. Such applications are made via the mechanisms established under the Freedom of Information Act 1982. The Freedom of Information Act provides that a fee may be charged for searching for and providing copies of documents.
Accuracy of information
The University of Wollongong Psychology Clinic will take all reasonable precautions to ensure that the personal and health information that is collected, used and disclosed is accurate, complete and up-to date. If your personal and health information is inaccurate, incomplete, misleading or not up-to-date you have the right to require that we amend the information, subject to some exceptions allowed by law. An application for amendment of personal information is to be made under the Freedom of Information Act.
Further information
The University of Wollongong's general privacy statement can be found on http://www.uow.edu.au/about/privacy/
Should you require further information about the Clinic's management of your information or about our policies regarding fees, please discuss this with the person providing the service. Alternatively you can contact the Clinic Coordinator on 4221 4407.
