Privacy Policy
Hear and Now Psychotherapy, (“Hear and Now Psychotherapy”, “I”, “me” or “my”), recognises the importance of your privacy and respects your right to understand and control how your personal and health information is collected, used, stored and disclosed.
I am committed to managing personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles, the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic), the Health Privacy Principles and other applicable legal and professional obligations.
Personal and health information
“Personal information” is information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.
“Sensitive information” includes information about matters such as a person’s racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation or practices, criminal record and health.
“Health information” includes personal information about your physical or psychological health, disability, illness, treatment or expressed wishes concerning future health services.
“Clinical records” may include intake information, assessments, clinical notes, treatment plans, safety plans, correspondence, referrals, consent records, session recordings or transcripts where applicable, and other information relevant to providing psychotherapy services.
Information I may collect
The information collected will depend on the level of your interaction with Hear and Now Psychotherapy. It may include:
your name, date of birth and contact details;
appointment and billing information;
emergency-contact details;
information supplied in an enquiry, intake form or referral;
information about your physical and psychological health, personal history, relationships, circumstances and therapeutic goals;
clinical observations, assessments, session notes and treatment-planning information;
correspondence between you and Hear and Now Psychotherapy;
information supplied by another health professional or authorised person; and
technical information generated when you use the website, such as device, browser, cookie and website-usage data.
You may make a general enquiry without providing detailed health information. Certain identifying, contact and health information will ordinarily be required before psychotherapy services can be safely and effectively provided.
Please do not include sensitive personal or clinical information in an initial email or text message. Further information can be collected through the practice’s designated intake and clinical-record systems.
How information is collected
Personal and health information may be collected:
directly from you during enquiries, intake calls, appointments and correspondence;
through online booking, intake and practice-management systems;
during in-person or telehealth psychotherapy sessions;
from a referring practitioner, other health professional or authorised representative, with your consent or where permitted by law;
through payment and billing processes; and
automatically when you interact with the website.
I will generally collect health information directly from you and with your consent unless another method is authorised or required by law.
Purposes of collection, use and disclosure
Personal and health information may be collected, used and disclosed for purposes including:
responding to enquiries;
assessing whether the service is suitable for your needs;
arranging and managing appointments;
providing psychotherapy and counselling services;
maintaining accurate and appropriate clinical records;
developing and reviewing formulations, goals and treatment plans;
monitoring progress, wellbeing and safety;
communicating with you about your care;
processing fees, payments and accounts;
coordinating care with other professionals where you have consented;
obtaining professional supervision or consultation;
meeting legal, ethical, insurance and professional obligations;
managing complaints, incidents or risks; and
administering and improving the practice.
Information will generally be used only for the purpose for which it was collected, or for a directly related purpose that you would reasonably expect. Information may also be used or disclosed with your consent or where permitted or required by law.
Hear and Now Psychotherapy does not sell or trade personal or health information.
Disclosure to other people and service providers
Your information may be disclosed, where reasonably necessary, to:
health professionals or services involved in your care, with your consent;
professional supervisors or consultants, with identifying information limited or removed where reasonably practicable;
practice-management, telehealth, payment, email, website-hosting, secure-storage, transcription or other technology providers used to operate the practice;
professional advisers, insurers or legal representatives;
emergency services or appropriate persons where necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to health or safety; and
courts, tribunals, government agencies or other parties where disclosure is required or authorised by law.
Third-party service providers are given access only to information reasonably required to perform their functions.
Session recording, transcription and AI-assisted tools
A psychotherapy session will only be recorded with your prior and informed consent. The purpose of recording, how the recording will be used, where it will be processed and how long it will be retained will be explained separately before recording begins.
Where consent has been provided, recordings or transcripts may be used to assist with the preparation of clinical notes, clinical reflection, case formulation and intervention planning. AI-assisted tools may support transcription, speaker identification or the preparation of drafts. All AI-generated material is reviewed by the clinician and does not replace professional judgement or independently determine your treatment.
You may decline session recording without losing access to psychotherapy services. You may also withdraw your consent to future recording. Withdrawal will not necessarily require the deletion of information already incorporated into a clinical record where its retention is required by law or professional obligations.
Security and storage
Reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards are used to protect personal and health information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
Information may be held in secure electronic practice-management and clinical-record systems, encrypted devices, protected email or document-storage systems and, where necessary, paper files stored securely.
No method of electronic transmission or storage is completely risk-free. If I become aware of a security concern affecting your information, I will respond in accordance with applicable privacy and data-breach obligations.
Overseas processing or disclosure
Some technology providers used by Hear and Now Psychotherapy may store or process information using infrastructure located outside Australia. Where overseas processing or disclosure occurs, reasonable steps will be taken to assess the provider’s privacy and security practices and to protect information in accordance with applicable Australian privacy obligations.
Retention and deletion
Clinical records are retained for the minimum period required by Victorian law, applicable professional standards and insurance requirements.
Temporary working material, including recordings and transcripts that do not form part of the enduring clinical record, will be securely deleted when no longer reasonably required, subject to legal, clinical and professional obligations.
When personal information is no longer required and there is no obligation to retain it, reasonable steps will be taken to destroy or permanently de-identify it.
Access and correction
You may request access to personal or health information held about you or ask for information to be corrected if you believe it is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date.
Access may be subject to exceptions permitted by law, including circumstances in which providing access could create a serious threat to a person’s health or safety or unreasonably affect another person’s privacy.
Requests should be submitted using the contact details below. I will respond within a reasonable period and explain any decision not to provide access or make a requested correction.
Anonymous and pseudonymous enquiries
You may make a general enquiry anonymously or using a pseudonym where this is lawful and practicable.
To provide ongoing psychotherapy safely and maintain appropriate clinical and financial records, I will ordinarily require sufficient information to identify and contact you. There may therefore be circumstances in which services cannot be provided anonymously.
Data breaches
A data breach occurs when personal information is lost or accessed or disclosed without authorisation.
If a suspected data breach occurs, I will assess and manage it in accordance with applicable privacy laws. If the breach is likely to result in serious harm and meets the requirements of the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme, affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner will be notified as required.
Cookies and website analytics
The Hear and Now Psychotherapy website and its service providers may use cookies and similar technologies to operate the website, understand general visitor activity and improve website performance.
Cookies may collect information such as browser type, device information, pages visited and approximate location derived from an internet address. You can restrict or delete cookies through your browser settings, although doing so may affect some website functions.
Information submitted through an external booking or practice-management service is also governed by that provider’s privacy policy.
Third-party websites and services
The website may contain links to external websites or services, including an online booking platform. The privacy and security practices of those services are governed by their own policies.
Hear and Now Psychotherapy is not responsible for the content or information-handling practices of unrelated third-party websites. However, reasonable care is taken when selecting services used in the delivery and administration of psychotherapy.
Changes to this policy
This Privacy Policy may be amended to reflect changes in legislation, professional requirements, technology or practice operations. The current version will be published on the Hear and Now Psychotherapy website and will show the date it was last updated.
Last updated: 11 September 2026.
Privacy enquiries and complaints
If you have a question, wish to request access or correction, or believe your information has been handled inappropriately, please contact:
Marnie Simpson
Owner and Psychotherapist
Hear and Now Psychotherapy
ABN: [INSERT ABN]
Email: hello@hearandnowpsychotherapy.com.au
Telephone: [INSERT BUSINESS TELEPHONE]
Postal address: [INSERT BUSINESS POSTAL ADDRESS]
Please provide sufficient information for me to understand and respond to your enquiry or complaint. Privacy complaints will be acknowledged and considered within a reasonable period.
If you are not satisfied with the response, you may contact:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Telephone: 1300 363 992
Website: www.oaic.gov.au
For complaints concerning the handling of health information in Victoria, you may also contact:
Health Complaints Commissioner Victoria
Telephone: 1300 582 113
Website: www.hcc.vic.gov.au