At Hunter Psychological Services, we are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring that your Personal Information is handled responsibly and in accordance with the law. This Privacy Policy outlines our ongoing obligations to you regarding how we collect, use, disclose, store, and safeguard your Personal Information.

Hunter Psychological Services adheres to the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained within the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act). These principles regulate how we manage your Personal Information and ensure transparency in how it is handled.

A copy of the Australian Privacy Principles is available from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s website: www.oaic.gov.au.

What is Personal Information and Why Do We Collect It?
Personal Information refers to any information that identifies you, or information that can be reasonably used to identify you. We collect this information for the primary purpose of providing you with psychological services, and we may use it for related secondary purposes that you would reasonably expect.
We collect Personal Information through various means, including:
Direct correspondence (via telephone, facsimile, email, or in person)
Online submissions via our website (www.hunterpsych.com.au)
Publicly available sources such as media and publications
Third-party sources with your consent
When collecting Personal Information, we will inform you—where appropriate—of the purpose for collecting the information and how we plan to use it.

Disclosure of Personal Information

In line with APS ethical guidelines, we only disclose your Personal Information in the following situations:
If there is an immediate risk of harm to yourself or others
If you provide explicit consent to disclose your information
When required by law (e.g., in compliance with a court order or subpoena)
We take all reasonable steps to protect your Personal Information from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access. Hunter Psychological Services uses third-party software to securely store Personal Information, and we ensure that this software complies with the relevant Australian legislation, including:
Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (including the Australian Privacy Principles)
Relevant health records legislation (such as the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW))
Marketing legislation, including the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) and the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (Cth)


Security of Personal Information

Your Personal Information is stored securely to protect it from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure.
When your Personal Information is no longer required for the purpose it was collected, we take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify it. However, under the APS Ethical Guidelines, we are required to retain most client records for a minimum of 7 years.


Accessing and Correcting Your Personal Information

You have the right to access the Personal Information we hold about you, subject to certain exceptions under the law. If you wish to access your information, please contact us in writing.
We do not charge a fee for access requests, but we may charge an administrative fee for providing copies of your Personal Information. For security reasons, we may require verification of your identity before releasing the information.
If you believe that any information we hold about you is inaccurate, out-of-date, or incomplete, please notify us as soon as possible, and we will take reasonable steps to correct the information.


Maintaining the Quality of Your Personal Information

We are committed to ensuring that the Personal Information we collect and hold is accurate, up-to-date, and complete. Please contact us if any of your details change, so we can update our records and continue to provide you with quality services.

Policy Updates
This Privacy Policy is subject to change from time to time and will be updated on our website. We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your Personal Information.

Privacy Policy Complaints and Enquiries
If you have any concerns, queries, or complaints regarding our Privacy Policy or the handling of your Personal Information, please contact us at:
Email: info@hunterpsych.com.au
Phone: 02 4086 7232
Address: Suite 1/45 Pearson Street, Charlestown, NSW, 2290


Third-Party Software

Hunter Psychological Services uses Halaxy to securely store Personal Information. For more details on how Halaxy manages data, you can review their privacy policy at: Halaxy Privacy Policy.