Privacy policy
COUNSELLING CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT POLICY
As a provider of quality counselling, consulting and/or coaching services it is necessary to lawfully collect and record relevant personal information. This counselling confidentiality agreement policy outlines the confidentiality principles, laws, and codes of practice under which LIGHT TO FLY operates.
LIGHT TO FLY will never use or disclose official, health or personal information without proper authority or for purposes that breach privacy law.
CODES OF PRACTICE
As a registered counsellor with the Australian Counselling Association (ACA), Lydia Gomez Gonzalez, representing LIGHT TO FLY, adheres to this association’ ethical codes and confidentiality principles.
COLLECTION OF INFORMATION
Personal information will only be collected when it is lawful to do so and when directly related to the counsellor role and the activity of managing the service. Information will only be collected from you directly when it is relevant.
DATA QUALITY, SECURITY AND FLOW
All personal information you supply should be accurate and up to date. LIGHT TO FLY will take reasonable steps to securely protect your personal information from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure. Reasonable steps will be taken to destroy personal information no longer needed.
STORAGE OF INFORMATION
Your information will remain confidential, private and securely stored, and will be securely disposed of after five years. It will be protected from unauthorised access, use and disclosure.
USE AND DISCLOSURE
You have a legal right to expect that any personal or health information held about you will not be disclosed inappropriately to others without your informed consent. Your information will be limited to the purpose for which it is collected and LIGHT TO FLY will not use information supplied by you for one purpose for another.
EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUNSTANCES
All personal information gathered by LIGHT TO FLY during the counselling service will remain confidential and secure except:
- When failure to disclose information would place you or another person at risk of serious harm, or
- When your prior approval has been gained, or
- When subpoenaed by court, or
- When required by law (e.g. Mandatory Reporting for child protection, suspected or known child abuse/neglect, suspected or known elder abuse, neglect, exploitation or isolation or unlawful activity).
This is very rare and in any circumstances like this, LIGHT TO FLY will make every reasonable effort to discuss the situation with you first and limit the disclosure to what is necessary.
Additionally, all therapists are required by the ethical standards to discuss their work with a qualified Supervisor. However, your detail as an individual client are not identified in such discussions which are intended to support me in my work.
MUTUAL NON-DISCLOSURE
LIGHT TO FLY and you mutually recognise that we may discuss future plans, business affairs, job information, goals, and other private information. As previously indicated, I will not voluntarily communicate your information to a third party. In order protect my intellectual property, I ask you to agree not to disclose or communicate information about my practice, materials, or methods to any third parties unless previously agreed.
RIGHT TO COMPLAIN
If you have any concerns about how I have handled your personal data, please contact me and I will address them.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, about how I manage your data.
CHANGES TO THIS POLICY
We will regularly review this privacy notice and update it where necessary.
Version updated in July 2021