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Privacy Policy

Novo Empower Counselling (“us”, “we”, or “our”) recognises the importance of your privacy and respects your right to control how your personal information is collected and used.

We are required by law, as detailed in the Information Privacy Act 2000 (“The Act”), to comply with a strict code of conduct to maintain the privacy of all personal information on record. This Privacy Policy complies with the privacy principles set out in the Act and explains how we apply them in practice.

Personal and sensitive Information

We may collect the following personal and sensitive information and undertakes to hold it in a secure manner.

  • Name and title
  • Date of birth
  • Contact details (eg. address, email address, phone number)
  • Gender
  • Occupation
  • Credit card information (if you pay for a service)
  • Emergency contact details
  • Next of kin details
  • Partners name if applicable, (eg. email address, phone number)
  • Type of appointment and reason for seeking that type of appointment
  • Any other information needed to assess suitability for counselling
    Personal preferences
  • Technical data such as internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access Our Services, and
  • Analytics data which we may collect directly or use third party analytics tools, to help us measure traffic and usage trends for our products and services. These tools collect information sent by your browser or mobile device, including the pages you visit and other information that assists us in improving our products and services. We collect and use this analytics information in aggregate form such that it cannot reasonably be manipulated to identify any particular individual user.
  • We may also collect details of conversations we have with you or any other information that we may consider necessary for us to deliver our services  to you. However, we generally try to limit the amount of personal information that we collect and hold.
  • We may also collect sensitive information such as medical reports, referrals, medication, health history and other health information where you consent, and such information is reasonably necessary to provide our services to you.

How we collect and hold personal information

  • This information can be collected directly from https://novoempowercounselling.com.au/ through an online booking system, over the phone, via email, text or in person.
  • We automatically collect information through our site and our services, that may not personally identifiable, such as the details of website from which you came to our site, your IP address, browser type and other information relating to the device through which you access our site. We may combine this information with the personal information we have collected about you.
  • We collect, use and hold only information relevant to the conduct of the business. This can take the form of paper records, digital records, stored both locally and using secured Cloud Storage including Zoom, Mailchimp, Google Docs, Gmail and is not limited only to these listed.

The purpose for which we collect, use and disclose personal information

We maintain a high quality of data on record and to update that information as appropriate to the function it serves. Additional personal information will only be collected if necessary to maintaining a high standard of service to clients and the individuals involved will be consulted by the means specified in the act. Additional sensitive information as defined in the Act, will only be collected with the consent of individuals involved and in accordance with the Act.

The information will only be used for the purpose for which it was collected and in accordance with the Act. We will not disclose to a third party, any personal or sensitive information without written consent of the individual concerned.  When you consent, your personal information may also be used or disclosed for the following reasons:

  • for our administrative team to help you
  • to send you email notifications or SMS messages relating to the appointments
  • communications or emails relating to our services

We use payment processing services to facilitate your payments. The operators of the payment processing services may collect your personal information when processing your payment. Our payment processors have their own privacy policies. You should read and consider them before you agree to make a payment for our services. We currently use Stripe: https://stripe.com/en-au/privacy-center/legal#welcome-to-the-stripe-privacy-center and Cliniko https://www.cliniko.com/policies/privacy/

Children’s privacy

We may provide our services to individuals who are under the age of 15, however in these circumstances, we seek to obtain the consent of a parent or guardian. We do not knowingly collect personal information from persons under the age of 15 without the express consent of a parent or legal guardian.

If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your children have provided us with personal information, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from children without verification of parental consent, we will take steps to remove that information from our servers.

Access and accuracy

We encourage you to contact us to keep your personal information up to date. You can access and/or correct personal information we hold about you at any time by contacting us. We will respond to your request to access or correct for personal information within a reasonable time.

If required by law or where the personal information may relate to existing or anticipated legal proceedings, we may deny your request for access to your personal information. We will respond to your request, setting out the reasons for our refusal in writing.

Storage and Security

We will take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, loss, unauthorised access and modification or disclosure. We cannot guarantee the security of any personal information transmitted to us via the internet and such transmission is at your risk. This is an inherent risk you assume when you use our services.

If we no longer require the use of your personal information, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify it when we are legally permitted to do so.

Data Breach Notification Scheme

If we have reason to suspect a data breach has occurred, we will undertake an assessment in accordance with the Notifiable Data Breach (NDB) Scheme. If we determine there has been an eligible data breach, we will notify you as soon as reasonably practicable. If you suspect that a data breach has occurred, please contact us immediately so that we may conduct the assessment as required under the NDB Scheme.

Cookies and Analytics

We, or our third-party service providers, may use cookies and similar technologies to track site visitor activity and collect site data. We may combine this data with the personal information we have collected from Customers. Examples of information that we may collect include technical information such as your computer’s IP address and your browser type, and information about your visit such as the products you viewed or searched for, the country you are in, what you clicked on and what links you visited to get to or from our site. If we identify you with this information, any use or disclosure of that information will be in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Marketing Emails

With your consent, we may send you direct marketing emails and information about our services in accordance with the Spam Act 2004 (Cth). You may follow the opt-out instructions in these emails to stop receiving these emails.

Testimonials

All testimonials on this website are true and authentic. Names have been changed to meet full confidentiality agreements. All testimonials have been approved by the people who wrote them for use on this website.

Changes to this Policy

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time and where those changes materially impact, we will seek to give you notice in advance. This Privacy Policy is current as of June 2023.

Questions or complaints

If you have any questions or complaints or wish to contact us regarding your privacy, please contact us:

If you make a complaint to us and you are not satisfied with the way that we have handled your complaint, you are may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner by calling 1300 363 992 or via https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints/lodge-a-privacy-complaint-with-us.