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Privacy Policy

Last updated: 29/03/2025

Phrenes is committed to safeguarding your privacy and managing your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), including the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), and the ethical codes of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and other applicable professional standards.

This policy outlines how your personal and sensitive information is collected, used, stored, and disclosed by Phrenes during the course of providing psychological or counselling services, as well as how data is handled through our website: https://phrenes.com.au.

Who We Are

Our website address is: https://phrenes.com.au.
Phrenes provides professional counselling and mental health services, including both in-person and online (telehealth) sessions.

Collection of Personal Information

To provide therapeutic services, we collect personal and sensitive information that is relevant to your treatment, including:

  • Full name, contact details, and date of birth
  • Referral information (e.g. GP, mental health care plan)
  • Medicare or private health information
  • Emergency contact details
  • Case history, session notes, and treatment progress

Information may also be collected from third parties where you have provided consent (e.g. GP, family member, or allied health professional).

Use and Disclosure of Information

Your personal information is used solely for the purpose of delivering therapeutic services, including:

  • Assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning
  • Coordinating care with your referring GP or healthcare team (with consent)
  • Clinical supervision (de-identified)
  • Meeting legal and regulatory requirements

We will not disclose identifiable information without your written consent, unless:

  • Required by law (e.g. subpoena)
  • There is a serious and imminent risk to your safety or the safety of others
  • You give prior written approval to disclose information to a third party (e.g. family member, lawyer, or another health professional)

Confidentiality and Supervision

Phrenes upholds strict confidentiality. In accordance with ethical standards, your counsellor may seek supervision from senior colleagues to ensure high standards of practice. All supervision discussions are de-identified and protect your anonymity.

Telehealth and CorePlus

Phrenes offers telehealth sessions via CorePlus, a secure, encrypted practice management platform compliant with Australian privacy laws.

  • All telehealth sessions are conducted over secure, encrypted video.
  • Client records and notes are stored securely in CorePlus.
  • CorePlus’s privacy policy can be viewed here.

Sessions are not recorded. We request that clients do not record sessions without written consent from their counsellor.

Record Retention

Client records are securely stored and retained for a minimum of seven (7) years after the last session. For clients under 18, records are retained until the individual turns 25.

Access and Correction of Information

You have the right to access your personal information and to request corrections if the information is inaccurate, outdated, or incomplete.

  • Requests must be made in writing to your treating practitioner.
  • We may require identification before processing your request.
  • A response will be provided within 30 days.

Website Data Collection

Comments

If you leave comments on the website, we collect the data shown in the comments form, your IP address, and browser user agent to help detect spam. An anonymised string (hash) may be sent to Gravatar to display your profile image. See Gravatar’s privacy policy here.

Media

Avoid uploading images with embedded location (EXIF GPS) data. Visitors can download and extract such data from images on the site.

Cookies

  • If you leave a comment, you may opt-in to saving your name, email, and website in cookies for convenience (1-year expiry).
  • Temporary cookies are used to determine browser compatibility on login pages.
  • Login and display settings may be stored in cookies if applicable.
  • Cookies do not store personal data beyond what is required for site functionality.

Embedded Content

Content from other sites (e.g., YouTube, articles) behaves as if you visited the external site. These may collect data, use cookies, or track interactions.

Data Security

We take all reasonable steps to protect your information from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, or disclosure. This includes physical, digital, and managerial safeguards such as secure storage, encryption, and restricted access.

Data Breach Notification

In the unlikely event of a data breach that is likely to cause serious harm, Phrenes will follow the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme and notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) in accordance with law.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

  • Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
  • Correct inaccurate or outdated information
  • Request that we delete your personal data (subject to legal retention obligations)
  • Withdraw consent for specific uses of your data