Privacy Policy
Handling of Personal Information
Elms Psychology Services (including Kids@Heart. Teens in Mind and All in One)
Practitioner: Dr Michelle Rowland, Clinical Psychologist
AHPRA: PSY0001126893
ABN: 19 108 969 372
Elms Psychology Services, including Kids@Heart, Teens in Mind and All in One, is committed to protecting your privacy and keeping your personal information safe. This Privacy Policy describes how we manage your personal information, including how it is collected, used, stored and shared when you access our services or visit our website. The psychological service provided is bound by the legal requirements of the Australian Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic). Dr Michelle Rowland also practises in accordance with the Psychology Board of Australia's Code of Conduct and holds a current Working with Children Check (Victoria) under the Working with Children Act 2005 (Vic).
What personal information we collect
The information collected includes your personal details such as name, address and contact phone numbers. As part of providing a psychological service, such as a psychological assessment or treatment, we will also need to collect and record other personal information that is relevant to your current situation. This includes keeping a record of what happens during sessions, any psychological tests you complete, and any information received from others, such as your referring doctor, other treating health practitioners, educational settings, lawyer or insurance company.
Where Elms Psychology Services provides services to a child, records of the child’s individual sessions are maintained separately from records of family sessions and any separate consultations with a parent. This helps ensure that requests for access to records can be considered appropriately in accordance with Australian privacy and health records legislation
How personal information is collected
There are a number of ways your personal information is collected, including when:
You complete the contact form on our website and/or registration and intake forms through our medical records software.
-
You provide information on our automated phone system.
-
You provide information directly to Dr Michelle Rowland in your session and in writing such as letters, email or text messages.
-
You interact directly with Elms Psychology Services employees such as our administration staff.
-
Other health practitioners, such as your referring doctor, GP, paediatrician, provide personal information to Dr Michelle Rowland or Elms Psychology Services, through referrals, correspondence and medical reports.
-
We receive personal information from other sources, such as educational settings, NDIS, third parties involved in your care, lawyers, employers or insurance companies through correspondence or reports.
If you have concerns that the information recorded is not correct, please discuss your concerns with our administration staff or Dr Michelle Rowland.
Purpose of holding personal information
Your personal information is gathered and used for the purpose of providing a psychological service to you. Your personal information is retained in order to document what happens during sessions and enables Dr Michelle Rowland to provide a relevant and informed psychological service to you. This information and record keeping is a necessary part of the services provided and guides treatment.
How we secure personal information
Elms Psychology Services takes reasonable steps to protect personal and health information from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. While appropriate security measures are used to protect information transmitted electronically, no method of transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
Elms Psychology Services primarily stores client records electronically using the practice management system Halaxy. Additional client records and information may also be stored using other secure electronic systems, with electronic data backed up using Dropbox. These systems use security measures such as encryption, multi-factor authentication and restricted access. Some of the services we use may store or process information outside Australia. By submitting information through our web forms or using our automated call recording system, you consent to this. We take care to protect your information when using these services, including where information is stored outside Australia. Access to client records is limited to Dr Michelle Rowland and authorised staff who require access as part of their role. Where physical records are held, they are stored securely and securely destroyed once they are no longer required to be retained.
Disclosure and storage outside of Australia
Some of the third-party services used by Elms Psychology Services may store or process personal and health information outside Australia. This may include cloud storage and backup services, online forms, assessment platforms, transcription services and other technology used to support the provision of psychological services.
Where possible, we limit the personal and health information provided to these services to what is necessary for the particular purpose. We take care to protect your information when using these services, including where information is stored or processed outside Australia.
By providing your information and using our services, you acknowledge that your personal or health information may be stored or processed outside Australia where these services are used.
Confidentiality and disclosure of information
Personal and health information collected by Elms Psychology Services is treated as confidential. In most circumstances, information will only be shared with another person or organisation with your consent.
Sharing information with your consent
Elms Psychology Services may seek your consent before sharing information, including when:
-
sharing information with a parent, family member, guardian or carer;
-
communicating with another person or professional involved in your care or support, such as your GP, school or another health professional;
-
communicating with an organisation or agency involved in funding or managing your services, where applicable;
-
providing a written report or other information to another professional or organisation, such as a GP, school, other agency, lawyer or insurer; or
-
sharing your information for another purpose that you have agreed to.
Children and young people
When providing services to a child or young person, Elms Psychology Services considers their privacy and confidentiality alongside the rights and responsibilities of their parent(s) or guardian(s). The information that may be shared with a parent or guardian will depend on the circumstances, including the child or young person's age, maturity and capacity to provide consent, the nature of the information, relevant privacy or safety considerations, and any applicable court, parenting or protection orders.
Where parents are separated, Elms Psychology Services will consider each parent's rights and responsibilities in accordance with applicable law and any relevant orders. Requests for information or access to records will be considered individually, taking into account parental responsibility, the child or young person's privacy and capacity, safety considerations and applicable legal requirements. Information provided by one parent during a separate consultation will not automatically be disclosed to the other parent.
Information may be shared with third parties, such as GPs, schools, other health practitioners, NDIS providers or insurers, with appropriate consent or where disclosure is otherwise permitted or required by law.
Professional consultation and supervision
Psychologists may participate in professional consultation, peer consultation or supervision as part of maintaining safe and effective professional practice. Where client information is discussed for these purposes, identifying information is not shared unless it is necessary and permitted by law, and reasonable steps are taken to protect your privacy and confidentiality.
When information may be shared without your consent
There are some circumstances in which Elms Psychology Services may be required or permitted to disclose personal or health information without obtaining your consent. These may include:
-
where disclosure is required or authorised by law, including in response to a valid subpoena, court order or other legal requirement;
-
where Dr Michelle Rowland is required to make a mandatory report or otherwise disclose information in accordance with legal obligations; or
-
where disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious threat to the life, health or safety of you or another person, or to public health or safety.
Where information is disclosed, Elms Psychology Services will take reasonable steps to limit the information shared to what is relevant and necessary for the purpose of the disclosure.
Family arrangements and parental responsibility
When providing services to a child or young person, Elms Psychology Services will consider who holds parental responsibility and any relevant family or care arrangements when obtaining consent, communicating about services, and sharing or providing access to information.
Where parents are separated, or where a child is cared for by a guardian, grandparent, kinship carer or another person, we may ask for information or documentation confirming their authority to make decisions for the child. Any relevant court, parenting or protection orders will also be taken into account.
Anonymity and pseudonymity
Where practical, you may contact Elms Psychology Services anonymously or use a pseudonym when making a general enquiry. If you choose to proceed with psychological services, we will need to collect identifying information to provide the service, maintain appropriate clinical records and meet our legal and professional obligations.
Consequences of not providing personal information
Psychologists are required to keep clear and accurate client records as part of their professional obligations.
If you do not wish for your personal information to be collected, we may not be able to provide the psychological service to you. Please discuss any concerns you have with Dr Michelle Rowland.
Retention and disposal
Elms Psychology Services retains client records for the minimum periods required by law and applicable professional requirements. For adult clients, health records are generally retained for at least seven years from the date of the last entry. For clients who were under 18 years of age at the date of the last entry, records are generally retained until the later of the client's 25th birthday or seven years from the date of the last entry. When personal or health information is no longer required to be retained, we take reasonable steps to securely destroy or de-identify it. Electronic records are securely deleted and physical records, where they exist, are securely destroyed.
Requests for access & correction to client information
At any stage you may request to see and correct the personal information about you kept on file. Dr Michelle Rowland may discuss the contents with you and/or give you a copy, subject to the exceptions in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
Accessing your personal Information
All requests by you for access to personal information held about you should be made to Dr Michelle Rowland or our administration staff in writting to admin@elmspsychologyservices.com.au. Written requests for access to information will be responded to in writing within a reasonable time frame, usually within 30 days and an appointment will be made if necessary for clarification purposes.
Requests relating to children and young people
Requests by a parent or guardian for access to a child or young person's information will be considered individually. We will take into account the child or young person's age, maturity and capacity, parental responsibility, their privacy and confidentiality, the nature and source of the information, any relevant safety considerations, and any applicable court, parenting or protection orders.Where parents are separated, a request from either parent will be considered in accordance with the circumstances and applicable legal requirements. Information provided by one parent during a separate consultation will not automatically be disclosed to the other parent.
Correcting your personal information
You may ask Elms Psychology Services to correct personal or health information held about you or your child that you believe is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. Factual errors, such as incorrect names, dates, contact details or other administrative information, will be corrected where appropriate.Some information forms part of the clinical record and reflects the information available or the psychologist's professional judgement at the time. This may include:
-
clinical observations, opinions, formulations and diagnoses;
-
assessment results and their interpretation; and
-
information provided by a parent, teacher, health practitioner or other third party,where the record accurately reflects what was reported and by whom.
Disagreement with a clinical opinion, assessment finding, diagnosis or information provided by another person does not, on its own, mean that the record is inaccurate or should be changed. Requests to correct this information will be considered individually.Where a correction is appropriate, it may be made by adding a correction or clarification while preserving the original clinical record. If we decline to make a requested correction, we will explain why and you may ask us to attach a statement outlining your view to the relevant record.
Online forms and client registration
Elms Psychology Services uses Halaxy, a practice management system, to manage client registration and online forms. When you complete a form through Halaxy, the personal and health information you provide is collected and stored within the Halaxy system and made available to Elms Psychology Services to provide and manage your psychological services.
Information collected through these forms may include your contact details, personal and demographic information, Medicare information, health and developmental information, consent information, and other information relevant to the services being provided.
Halaxy has its own privacy and security practices governing information processed through its platform. Halaxy Privacy Policy
Payment Information
Elms Psychology Services uses Stripe to process credit and debit card payments. When making a payment, you enter your card details directly into Stripe's secure payment page. Elms Psychology Services does not collect or store your full credit or debit card details.We may retain information relating to the payment or transaction for billing, accounting and record-keeping purposes.
Standardised testing platform
Elms Psychology Services uses secure online platforms provided by assessment publishers to administer and score standardised psychological assessments. The platform used will depend on the assessments required and may include services provided by Pearson, PAR and WPS.
Only information required to administer, score and interpret the relevant assessment is entered into these platforms. Where possible, identifying information is minimised and clients are identified using a client code rather than their full name.
Some assessment platforms are operated or hosted outside Australia. Further information about overseas storage and processing of personal information is provided in the Disclosure of Information Outside Australia section of this Privacy Policy.
Session audio and video recording
Elms Psychology Services may make audio or video recordings of sessions for specific purposes, such as assisting with session transcription, clinical documentation, assessment, or review.
Audio or video recording will only occur with appropriate consent. Recordings are treated as confidential health information and are stored securely with access restricted to authorised persons. Where a recording is used with an approved transcription service or other technology provider, only the information necessary for that purpose is provided and the information is handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Recordings are retained only for as long as required for the purpose for which they were made and are securely deleted when no longer required.
Artificial intelligence (AI)
Elms Psychology Services may use approved artificial intelligence (AI) tools for session transcription and to assist with report drafting. Where AI tools are used, the personal and health information provided is limited to what is necessary for that purpose. AI is not used to make clinical decisions, determine assessment findings, make diagnoses or generate recommendations. These are independently formulated by Dr Michelle Rowland, who reviews all AI-assisted content and remains professionally responsible for the final clinical record or report.
Website tracking and analytics
Elms Psychology Services website is created and hosted using Wix and uses cookies and similar technologies to support the operation of the website and understand how visitors use it.
We use Google Analytics to collect information about website activity, such as pages visited, time spent on the website, approximate location, and browser or device information. This information is used to understand website usage and improve our website and services.
Google and other service providers may use cookies or similar technologies when you visit our website for these purposes. You can manage or disable non-essential cookies through the cookie settings through your browser settings. Disabling some cookies may affect how certain features of the website operate.
Direct marketing
Elms Psychology Services does not use your personal or health information for direct marketing purposes.
Communications relating to your care or use of our services, such as appointment reminders, service updates and administrative information, are not considered direct marketing.
Data breach policy
In the event that any unauthorised access, disclosure or loss of your personal information occurs Elms Psychology will activate its data breach plan and use all reasonable endeavours to minimise any risk of consequential serious harm.
Where a breach meets the requirements of an eligible data breach under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme, Elms Psychology Services will notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) as required by law.
Concerns and complaints
If you have a concern about the management of your personal information, you may inform Dr Michelle Rowland or our administration staff at admin@elmspsycholgyservices.com.au. Upon request you can obtain a copy of the Australian Privacy Principles, which describe your rights and how your personal information should be handled.
Ultimately, if you wish to lodge a formal complaint about the use of, disclosure of, or access to, your personal information, you may do so with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner:
-
By phone on 1300 363 992.
-
Online at https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints/lodge-a-privacy-complaint-with-us
-
By post to: Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, GPO Box 5288, Sydney, NSW 2001.
This privacy policy may be updated from time to time. The latest version will always be available on request.
Last updated: August 2026