Privacy and Confidentiality Protocols

The following points summarise our privacy and confidentiality procedures, which are required by the Privacy Amendment Act (2001). Please read this carefully, and if you have any concerns, please discuss this with your counsellor before signing the counselling agreement form.
 
**Confidentiality Arrangements**
All personal information collected by the counsellor will remain confidential and securely stored in encrypted cloud storage or password-protected electronic files. Access to this information will be limited to your therapist at What Matters Therapy. Possible exceptions to confidentiality may occur in certain circumstances that align with legal and professional ethical standards to which What Matters Therapy adheres.

Click here for the Code of Ethics.

These exceptions include;

• If your counsellor learns that a child is being harmed, or is at serious risk of harm or neglect, they will contact the appropriate authorities (as is required by law).

• If your counsellor has reason to believe that you may be in danger of physically hurting yourself or somebody else, then other people (such as family, emergency services or friends) may need to be involved in order to keep you safe or to keep other people safe.

• To comply with professional and ethical requirements, counsellors receive supervision from senior colleagues. In these cases, your personal details are not disclosed, and supervisors maintain the same level of confidentiality as your counsellor.

• A third party, such as other healthcare professionals, may request information to work with you as part of a multidisciplinary team on your behalf. This information is never released without your written consent.

• In the rare event that your clinical notes may about you may be subpoenaed by a court. This would be on a case-by-case basis and follow the legal requirements of Australian law. 

 
If any of these circumstances arise, your counsellor will make every possible and reasonable effort to inform and discuss the need to breach confidentiality.