Website Privacy Policy

NextSteps Counselling and Psychology is committed to providing quality services to you and this policy outlines our ongoing obligations to you in respect of how we manage your Personal Information.

We have adopted the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act). The NPPs govern the way in which we collect, use, disclose, store, secure and dispose of your Personal Information.

A copy of the Australian Privacy Principles may be obtained from the website of The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.aoic.gov.au

What is Personal Information and why do we collect it?

Personal Information is information or an opinion that identifies an individual. Examples of Personal Information we collect include: names, addresses, email addresses, phone and facsimile numbers.

This Personal Information is obtained in many ways including interviews, correspondence, by telephone and facsimile, by email, via our website www.nxcap.au, from media and publications, from other publicly available sources, from cookies and from third parties. We don’t guarantee website links or policy of authorised third parties.

We collect your Personal Information for the primary purpose of providing our services to you, providing information to our clients and marketing. We may also use your Personal Information for secondary purposes closely related to the primary purpose, in circumstances where you would reasonably expect such use or disclosure. You may unsubscribe from our mailing/marketing lists at any time by contacting us in writing.

When we collect Personal Information we will, where appropriate and where possible, explain to you why we are collecting the information and how we plan to use it.

Sensitive Information

Sensitive information is defined in the Privacy Act to include information or opinion about such things as an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious or philosophical beliefs, membership of a trade union or other professional body, criminal record or health information.

Sensitive information will be used by us only:

• For the primary purpose for which it was obtained
• For a secondary purpose that is directly related to the primary purpose
• With your consent; or where required or authorised by law.

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. In such a case we will take reasonable steps to ensure that you are made aware of the information provided to us by the third party.

Cookie Policy When Booking An Appointment

NextSteps Counselling and Psychology uses a third-party, Clinko software, to accept bookings via our website.

We indirectly collect Personal Information when a client uses Cliniko.

This information can include names, genders, dates of birth, countries of birth, residential addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, a person’s emergency contacts, health insurance numbers, and patient treatment notes and records. This can include sensitive information such as health records.

• Browser and hardware data, such as IP address, type of device, operating system, browser type, screen resolution, language, device make and model, as well as the versions of the above mentioned services.
• Cookie and tracking technology data, which would include pages visited, time spent on pages, language preferences, and other anonymous traffic data.
• Transaction data, including details about your payment methods, payment dates etc.

Disclosure of Personal Information

Your Personal Information may be disclosed in a number of circumstances including the following:

• Third parties where you consent to the use or disclosure; and
• To create your account on our Platform and let you log in to your account and use the Platform.
• To manage your account, provide you with customer support, and ensure you are receiving quality service.
• To contact you or provide you with information, alerts and suggestions that are related to the service.
• For billing-related purposes.
• To reach out to you, either ourselves or using the appropriate authorities, if either we or a Counsellor have a good reason to believe that you or any other person may be in danger or may be either the cause or the victim of a criminal act.
• To match you with a Counsellor.
• To enable and facilitate the Counsellor Services.
• To supervise, administer and monitor the service.
• To measure and improve the quality, the effectiveness and the delivery of our services.
• Market the Platform and Counsellor Services to you.
• To respond to law enforcement requests and as required by applicable law, court order, or governmental regulations.
• To comply with applicable state and federal laws, including, but not limited to laws related to protecting client and public health and safety.
• To provide, support, personalise, and develop our Platform and Counsellor Services.
• To personalize your Website experience and to deliver content and product and service offerings relevant to your interests, including targeted offers and ads through our Websites, third-party sites, and via email or text message (with your consent, where required by law).

Security of Personal Information

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

When your Personal Information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify your Personal Information. However, most of the Personal Information is or will be stored in client files which will be kept by us for a minimum of 7 years.

Access to your Personal Information

You may access the Personal Information we hold about you and to update and/or correct it, subject to certain exceptions. If you wish to access your Personal Information, please contact us in writing.

NextSteps Counselling and Psychology will not charge any fee for your access request but may charge an administrative fee for providing a copy of your Personal Information.

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

Maintaining the Quality of your Personal Information

It is an important to us that your Personal Information is up to date. We will take reasonable steps to make sure that your Personal Information is accurate, complete and up-to-date. 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.

Policy Updates

This Policy may change from time to time and is available on our website.

Privacy Policy Complaints and Enquiries

If you have any queries or complaints about our Privacy Policy please contact us at: simone@nxcap.au or by phoning + 61 409 086 853.