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Privacy & Confidentiality  Policy

Pinecrest Farm Equine Assisted Therapy (PFEAT) 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 https://www.oaic.gov.au/.

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What is Personal Information?

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Australian Government Privacy Legislation applies to personal and/or sensitive information collected about an individual that could be used to identify them directly or indirectly.  Examples of Personal Information we collect includes names, addresses, phone numbers, email address, and date of birth.

Sensitive information is a type of personal information which includes details, for example, about a person’s racial or ethnic origins, political or religious beliefs, sexual orientation, health or genetic information, family court orders or criminal record. The breach of sensitive information is likely to leave people open to discrimination or embarrassment.

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How PFEAT collects Personal & Sensitive Information

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This Information is obtained in many ways including:

  • the information you verbally share in person or via phone,

  • written communication received from you via email, SMS or letter

  • intake forms

  • the guardian of those under 18 years of age

  • referral information from your GP or another treating practitioner or service,

  • via our website www.pinecrestfarm.com.au

  • via our booking system https://app.squareup.com/appointments/book/bysllh4u3i2qz2/LZHVY4Z1KY61X/start

  • via our social media platforms,

  • from your website and/or social media platforms,

  • 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.

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Why PFEAT collects personal information?

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PFEAT collects your Personal Information for the primary purpose of providing our services to you, providing information to our clients and marketing. The sharing of personal & sensitive information to PFEAT assists us to assess and support the client in processing their identified concerns. Personal information is retained to enable PFEAT to provide a relevant and informed service. Within our practice and due to our duty of care, a client cannot be anonymous. A client may request to use a pseudonym, but a name as listed on ID’s is required.

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.

Personal & Sensitive information will be used by PFEAT 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.

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Third Parties

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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.

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PFEAT’s storage of Personal Information

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Your Personal Information is stored in a manner that reasonably protects it from misuse and loss and from unauthorized access, modification or disclosure. The method of storage varies between types of information and includes both hard copies and digital versions (either on a secure server or offline). PFEAT does not retain any credit card or banking details. PFEAT also tries not to retain unnecessary information, disposing of it securely depending on the type on information it is and the legal obligations.

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, Confidential written records are maintained to reflect the issues and goals identified in counselling sessions and are kept securely for seven years since the last contact for Adults over the age of 18, and until the client is 25 years of age for young people under 18 years of age.

If PFEAT becomes aware of a security breach we will promptly investigate and, where appropriate, take remedial action and notify the individual affected in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988.

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Disclosure of your personal information

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PFEAT will not disclose personal information about you to third parties without your consent, except for the following exceptions:

  • to report a serious and imminent threat to the life, health or property of yourself or another

  • to report any abuse or neglect experienced by a young person under the age of 18 years under mandatory reporting requirements,

  • to release client records when required by court order, and

  • from time to time, PFEAT discusses their work with a clinical supervisor.  This is standard practice and helps the practitioner to work as well as they can with you.  Clinical supervisors are bound by the same code of ethics and privacy act.

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Accessing your personal information

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You may request, in writing, to access the Personal Information PFEAT hold about you. PFEAT may ask you to specify what information you require and may charge a fee where access is provided. PFEAT deal with all requests for access to personal information as required by the Privacy Act 1988. In some circumstances access may be refused if the Privacy Act allows.  In order to protect your Personal Information we may require identification from you before releasing the requested information.

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Integrity of your personal information

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PFEAT tries to ensure that the personal information collected is accurate 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.

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Complaints

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If you think your personal information has not been handled in line with the Privacy Act, please contact PFEAT in the first instance. Your complaint will be investigated and attempted to be resolved directly with you. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, then you may make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). For information about how to make such a complaint, please refer to the OAIC website http://www.oaic.gov.au/

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Changes to this privacy policy

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We may make changes to this privacy policy from time to time and in such cases, we will notify clients by email or on our website/social media platform.

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If you have any questions relating to privacy matters, please contact us by email at admin@pinecrestfarm.com.au

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