Privacy policy.

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Privacy protection and personal information

Luka Therapy is committed to providing quality services and respecting your rights. Your right to privacy and confidentiality is recognised, respected, and protected in all aspects of your contact with us. This Privacy Policy outlines on how we manage your personal information.

Luka Therapy complies with the requirements of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). It also has obligations under other laws, regulations, and industry standards including Employment and Related Services Code of Practice, Employment Services Industry Code of Conduct, The National Disability Insurance Agency, and Australian Counselling Association Registration Board’s Code of Conduct as applicable.

What is Personal Information and why do we collect it

In order for us to supply services and benefits to you, we need to collect certain personal information about you. This personal information may include:

• Name
• Address
• Telephone number
• Email address
• Date of birth
• Other contact details (e.g., emergency contact)
• Bank account
• Credit card details

We may also need to collect sensitive information from you

• Medical history 
• Referring doctor information 
• Allied health reports
• Physical or mental health or disability of an individual
• Insurance-related information
• Reasons for counselling
• Goals for counselling

How does Luka Therapy collect personal information

We collect your Personal Information in many ways including:

• During conversation with you, over the phone and/or face-to-face
• Through the use of our website
• From referring doctor or other stakeholders (e.g., support coordinators, allied health)
• When you complete our forms and paperwork, online forms, emails, or by hand.

Third Parties

Where reasonable and practicable to do so, we will collect your Personal Information only from you. However, in some circumstances we may be provided with information by third parties (such as other health services). In such cases we will take reasonable steps to ensure that you are made aware of the information provided to us by the third party.

Privacy and our website

The security of your personal information is important to us, but no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. We also cannot guarantee that the information you supply will not be intercepted while being transmitted; any information which you transmit to us online or via email is transmitted at your own risk. Should you require personalised offline-based handling of information, do not hesitate to contact us.

Keeping records accurate and secure

Luka Therapy takes all reasonable steps to ensure your information is protected from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We will hold your health information across both electronic and hard copy form and information is destroyed or de-identified when no longer needed and when the legislative period relevant to medical records has expired. We have an internal policy with respect to how confidential information will be treated in-house to protect your privacy from accidental disclosure. They include the following directives that:

• Only employees who have a need to view your file will do so
• Documents containing personal information are not left on desks or workstations where they may be visible to unauthorised persons
• Client lists and medical records are covered when being transported
• Client information is not discussed in public areas where it may be overheard
• Computer screens are all turned away from the public to reduce the chance of casual observation.

Disclosure of Personal Information

Your Personal Information will only be disclosed:

• To prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the life or health of you or another person;
• To outside agencies with your or your representative’s permission;
• With written consent from a person with lawful authority;
• When required by law, or to fulfil legislative obligations such as mandatory reporting and court subpoena
• Security and Destruction of Personal Information

Your Personal and Health Information will be stored in a manner that reasonably protects it from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure.

When your Personal and Health Information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify it.

Access to your Personal Information

You may access the Personal or Health Information we hold about you, including to update or correct it, subject to certain exceptions. If you wish to access your Personal or Health Information, please speak to a staff member.

In order to protect your Personal or Health Information we may require identification from you before releasing the requested information.

You have the right to:

• Request access to personal information we hold about you;
• Have access to the information;
• Make corrections if you consider the information is not accurate, complete or up to date.

However, access may be denied in part or in total where:

• The request is frivolous or vexatious;
• Providing access would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of other individuals;
• Providing access would be likely to prejudice an investigation of possible unlawful activity;
• Providing access would pose a serious and imminent threat to the life or health of any individual; and
• Denying access is required or authorised by or under law.

We aim to address all requests to access or correct information within 14 days. Where we hold information about you that you are entitled to access, we will provide you with suitable means of accessing it. We will not charge you for making the request. In circumstances where you request a copy there may be a minimum fee of $35.00 to cover our administrative costs. 

Maintaining the quality of your personal information

It is an important to us that your information is up to date. We will take all reasonable steps to make sure that your Personal Information is accurate and complete. If you find that the information we have is not up to date or is inaccurate, please advise us as soon as practicable so we can update our records and ensure we can continue to provide quality services to you.

Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites, and these websites are not subject to our privacy policy. We are not responsible for the content of these websites or the privacy practices of these sites. If you navigate to other websites via our website, we advise you to read their privacy policy.

Cookies

To improve your experience on our site, we may use ‘cookies’. A cookie is a small text file that our site may place on your computer as a tool to remember your preferences. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however, please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of our website. Luka Therapy’s website is GDRP compliant and requests that 

you consent to the use of cookies.

The Facebook Pixel and Google Analytics are both cookies which may be used by Luka Therapy, exclusively for the purpose of tracking which pages on the company website you have visited and for how long. These types of cookies are used by us to ensure we deliver content our visitors enjoy and find useful, as well as to create effective marketing campaigns. If you are on social media, such as Facebook or Instagram, they may result in you seeing our ads. Although most browsers are initially set to accept cookies, you may reset your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie or to reject cookies generally. Most browsers offer instructions on how to do so in the ‘Help’ section of the toolbar.

Privacy complaint

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, if you wish to update information we hold about you or if you wish to make a complaint about our collection, use or disclosure of your personal information under this Privacy Policy, please contact eka@lukatherapy.com.