Privacy Policy

Contemporary Psychology is committed to protecting the privacy of our clients, website visitors, and anyone who contacts us. This policy explains how we handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), and the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) and its Health Privacy Principles (HPPs).

All psychologists at Contemporary Psychology are registered with the Psychology Board of Australia under the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and are bound by the professional and ethical obligations of their registration.

Last updated: July 2026

Contemporary Psychology is a private psychology practice located in St Kilda, Melbourne. We provide individual therapy, psychological assessments, couples counselling, coaching, and WorkCover and TAC psychology services.

We collect personal information that is necessary to provide our services or respond to your enquiries. This may include:

• Name, date of birth, and contact details (phone, email, address)
• Health information including presenting concerns, medical and psychiatric history, and treatment records
• Psychological assessment results and written reports
• Medicare, DVA, WorkCover, and TAC details
• GP, referrer, and treating team information
• Emergency contact details
• Payment and billing information
• Information you provide via our website contact or appointment request forms

Health information is considered sensitive information under the Privacy Act and the Health Records Act and is handled with a higher level of protection. We will only collect health information with your consent, or where collection is required or authorised by law.

We collect information in the following ways:

• Directly from you when you contact us by phone, email, or through our website
• When you complete intake, consent, or assessment forms
• During the course of providing psychological services
• From referrers such as GPs or psychiatrists, with your knowledge
• From other treating professionals where relevant to your care and with your consent
• From WorkCover insurers or the Transport Accident Commission (TAC), where you are accessing funded services through those schemes

We will only collect information by lawful and fair means and will not collect more than is reasonably necessary for the purposes of providing our services.

We use your personal information to:

• Provide psychological services and assessments
• Manage appointments and communicate with you about your care
• Process payments and submit Medicare, DVA, WorkCover, or TAC claims
• Prepare clinical reports and correspondence as part of your treatment
• Communicate with referring practitioners or treating teams where relevant
• Meet our legal and regulatory obligations as AHPRA-registered practitioners
• Respond to enquiries submitted via our website

We will not use your information for purposes beyond those listed above without your consent.

We do not sell or rent personal information. We may disclose your information to:

• Your GP or referrer, where clinically appropriate and with your awareness
• Other treating professionals, with your consent
• Medicare and health insurers, for billing and rebate purposes
• WorkCover insurers or the TAC, where you are accessing psychology services under a funded claim. Funding bodies may request clinical reports or treatment summaries as a condition of funding. We will advise you when such a request is made.
• Clinical supervisors, where a psychologist at the practice is working under supervision (including provisional psychologists). Case material discussed in supervision is kept de-identified wherever possible and is bound by the same confidentiality obligations.
• Regulatory bodies, including AHPRA and the Psychology Board of Australia, where required by law
• Emergency services or relevant authorities, where there is a serious and imminent risk to the life or safety of any person
• Courts or legal bodies, where we are required to do so by subpoena, court order, or other lawful authority

Disclosures outside these circumstances will only occur with your explicit consent.

Everything discussed in your sessions is treated as confidential. However, confidentiality has legal and ethical limits that your psychologist is required to observe. Information may be disclosed without your consent in the following circumstances:

• Risk to life: If your psychologist believes there is a serious and imminent risk of harm to you or another person, they may be required to take steps to protect safety, which may involve contacting emergency services or other relevant parties.
• Mandatory reporting: Psychologists in Victoria are mandatory reporters under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic). If your psychologist forms a reasonable belief that a child has been or is at risk of being abused or neglected, they are legally required to report this to the relevant authorities.
• Court orders and subpoenas: Clinical records may be required to be produced by court order, subpoena, or other lawful legal process. We will notify you if this occurs, unless prohibited from doing so by law.
• AHPRA obligations: As AHPRA-registered practitioners, psychologists may be required to provide information to the Psychology Board of Australia in the context of a regulatory investigation or fitness-to-practise matter.

Your psychologist will discuss the nature and limits of confidentiality with you at the beginning of your treatment. Please raise any questions you have about confidentiality before or during your sessions.

Contemporary Psychology offers psychology sessions via telehealth (video and phone). If you attend sessions online, the following applies:

• Sessions are conducted via encrypted video platforms. You are responsible for attending from a private location where you cannot be overheard.
• Sessions are not recorded by your psychologist unless you have provided explicit written consent.
• Telehealth sessions carry the same confidentiality protections as in-person sessions.
• Your psychologist's clinical notes from telehealth sessions are stored under the same security arrangements as all other clinical records.

Our website and practice systems use the following third-party services. Each operates under their own privacy policies:

• Supabase - secure cloud database used to store enquiry and appointment request form submissions. Data may be stored on servers located outside Australia; however, Supabase implements industry-standard encryption and access controls.
• Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager - used to understand how visitors use our website. This may involve the use of cookies. No personally identifiable information is shared with Google through these services.
• Google Ads - used to display advertising. Conversion tracking may record when a website action (such as submitting an enquiry form) follows a click on one of our advertisements.

You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking via the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Clinical records are not stored via these third-party services. They are held in our practice management system, which is subject to separate security and access controls.

Clinical records are stored securely in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy Act, the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic), and AHPRA guidelines. We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access.

Website enquiry data submitted via our forms is stored in a secure, encrypted cloud database. Access is restricted to authorised practice staff only.

Clinical records are retained for a minimum of 7 years from the date of last service for adult clients, or until a client who was a minor at the time of treatment turns 25, in accordance with the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) and professional standards.

When information is no longer required to be retained, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify it securely.

Contemporary Psychology is subject to the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme under Part IIIC of the Privacy Act 1988. This means that if we experience a data breach that is likely to result in serious harm to any individual whose information is involved, we are required to:

• Notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) as soon as practicable
• Notify all affected individuals directly

We maintain procedures to detect, assess, and respond to data breaches promptly. If you believe your information may have been compromised, please contact us immediately at reception@contemporarypsychology.com.au.

You have the right to request access to personal information we hold about you. You also have the right to request that we correct information that is inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date.

To make a request, contact us at reception@contemporarypsychology.com.au or call 03 9081 4270. We will respond within a reasonable timeframe and in accordance with the APPs and HPPs.

In some circumstances, access may be limited where it would pose a serious threat to health or safety, where it would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of other individuals, or where required by law.

If you have a concern about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us in the first instance:

We will acknowledge your complaint and respond within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may escalate your complaint to:

• Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) - for complaints under the federal Privacy Act
  Website: www.oaic.gov.au | Phone: 1300 363 992
• Health Complaints Commissioner (Victoria) - for complaints under the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic)
  Website: www.hcc.vic.gov.au | Phone: 1300 582 113
• Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) - for concerns about the professional conduct of a registered practitioner
  Website: www.ahpra.gov.au | Phone: 1300 419 495

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal obligations. The current version will always be available on this page. We encourage you to review it periodically.