Privacy Policy

Karen Haydon, Clinical Psychologist (“the Practice”) is committed to protecting personal information collected through this website and while providing clinical psychology services. The Practice handles personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic), and applicable professional obligations.

1. Personal and Sensitive Information

Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified person, or a person who is reasonably identifiable. Sensitive information includes health information and information about mental health, which receives additional protection under Australian law.

2. Information Collected

The Practice may collect information needed to respond to enquiries and provide psychological assessment or treatment, including:

• Contact and identifying information – such as name, date of birth, address, phone number, email address, emergency contact details, Medicare or private health insurance details, and referrer information.
• Health and clinical information – such as presenting concerns, health history, assessment results, clinical notes, treatment plans, reports and relevant correspondence.
• Website information – such as IP address, browser and device information, website usage data, and information submitted through the contact form.

Please keep website enquiries brief and avoid including detailed clinical information. Information entered in the message field is transmitted to the Practice by email.

3. How Information Is Collected

Information may be collected directly from you during appointments or through telephone calls, email, text messages, forms and website enquiries. With your consent, or where otherwise permitted by law, information may also be received from third parties such as a GP, paediatrician, psychiatrist, allied health practitioner, school, lawyer or insurer.

Where reasonable and practicable, personal information is collected directly from you.

4. Purpose of Collection

Personal information is collected and used to:

• Respond to enquiries and manage appointments.
• Provide informed psychological assessment and treatment.
• Communicate with you and, with consent, relevant members of your care team.
• Manage billing, rebates and referrals.
• Meet legal, regulatory, professional and record-keeping obligations.
• Operate, secure and improve this website.

Psychologists are required to keep clear and accurate client records. If information reasonably required to provide a service is not supplied, the Practice may be unable to provide that service.

5. Confidentiality and Disclosure

Personal information gathered by the Practice is treated as confidential. In most circumstances, information is disclosed only with your consent, including when communicating with a family member, guardian, carer, referrer, treating practitioner, school, lawyer, insurer or other agency involved in your care.

Psychologists may consult colleagues or obtain professional supervision. Information shared for this purpose is de-identified wherever practicable.

6. Exceptions to Confidentiality

Information may be used or disclosed without consent where required or authorised by law. This may include:

• Responding to a valid subpoena, court order or other legal requirement.
• Making a mandatory report.
• Acting where there is a serious threat to your life, health or safety, or to another person's life, health or safety.

The Practice may also use service providers that support secure hosting, email delivery, website operation, billing or professional administration. Only information reasonably required for that service is disclosed.

7. Storage, Security and Data Breaches

The Practice takes reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Clinical records are retained securely for the periods required by applicable law and professional standards, with access limited to authorised people.

If unauthorised access, disclosure or loss occurs, the Practice will activate its data breach response process, take reasonable steps to reduce the risk of harm, and make any notifications required under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

8. Access and Correction

You may request access to personal information held about you and ask for inaccurate, incomplete or out-of-date information to be corrected. Some legal exceptions may apply. Written requests will be acknowledged and handled within a reasonable period, generally within 30 days.

9. Website Services, Cookies and Overseas Processing

This website may use cookies and privacy-conscious analytics to understand website performance. It may also use third-party services such as Google reCAPTCHA to reduce spam. These services may process technical information outside Australia. Where third-party providers are used, the Practice takes reasonable steps to select services with appropriate privacy and security protections.

You can adjust your browser settings to refuse cookies, although some website features may not work as intended. Links to external websites are provided for convenience, and the Practice is not responsible for the privacy practices of those websites.

10. Privacy Concerns and Complaints

If you have a concern about how personal information has been handled, please contact the Practice using the details below. The concern will be investigated and a response provided within a reasonable period.

If you are not satisfied with the response, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner or call 1300 363 992.

11. Contact

Karen Haydon, Clinical Psychologist
Phone: 0418 992 666
Ground Floor, 1336-1338 Malvern Rd, Malvern VIC 3144

This policy was last updated in August 2026.