My Speech Pathologist is committed to protecting the privacy of personal information we collect and hold about individuals. My Speech Pathologist complies with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), other privacy laws that govern how private sector health service providers handle personal and health information, and Speech Pathology Australia’s Code of Ethics. This Privacy Policy explains how My Speech Pathologist manages the personal information we collect, use, disclose and store.
My Speech Pathologist is privately run and operated by Sandi Talevski.

My Speech Pathologist’s Legal Obligations
In order to provide you with the health care services that you have requested, My Speech Pathologist will need to collect and use your personal information. If you provide incomplete or inaccurate information to us or withhold personal and health information from us we may not be able to provide you with the services you are seeking. 
 
What information does My Speech Pathologist collect?
We only collect information that is reasonably necessary for the functions and activities we carry out.
This may include:

• Name, date of birth and address

• Contact details (phone number, email address)

• Health, developmental and family history

• Referral information

• Medicare, health fund or Department of Veterans’ Affairs details

• Appointment, billing and invoicing information

This information assists us to assess, diagnose and provide appropriate treatment.
 
How does My Speech Pathologist collect health information?
We usually collect health information directly from you. In some circumstances, we may collect information from third parties such as parents or guardians, referrers, or other health professionals involved in your care.
 

How does My Speech Pathologist use your information? 
We use your personal information for the primary purpose for which it was provided, including:

• Providing speech pathology services

• Managing our relationship with you

• Communicating with you about appointments, treatment and care

• Meeting legal, regulatory and professional obligations

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We may also use your information for purposes permitted or required by law.
We may disclose your information to the following people:
a) Other health professionals involved in your care
Your personal information is generally used by the speech pathologist providing your care. However, your care may involve multiple professionals (e.g. paediatricians, occupational therapists, psychologists). We may disclose relevant information to these professionals to support coordinated care.
(b) Referrers
We may provide reports or discharge summaries to your referrer (e.g. medical practitioner or paediatrician) as required for your care.
If you do not wish for information to be shared with your referrer, you must notify us.
(c) Parents, guardians, close relatives or authorised representatives
We may disclose information to parents, guardians, carers, close family members or a responsible person unless you tell us that you do not wish us to do so.

Other uses and disclosures
We may also use or disclose your information where necessary for:

• Billing, invoicing and account management

• Liaising with Medicare, health funds or government agencies

• Quality assurance, accreditation, audits, training and risk management

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SMS, email and electronic communications
(a) Service-related messages
We may contact you via SMS or email for essential service-related communications, including:

• Appointment confirmations and reminders

• Appointment changes or cancellations

• Follow-up care information

• Administrative or billing notifications

These communications form part of delivering our services.
(b) Marketing and informational messages
With your consent, we may send occasional marketing or informational messages via SMS or email, such as clinic updates, newsletters or resources.
We comply with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth). You may opt out of marketing messages at any time by contacting us.
Opting out of marketing communications will not affect essential service-related messages.
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Access to and correction of your health information 
You have the right to access the personal and health information we hold about you and to request corrections if you believe the information is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date.
If we do not agree to amend your information, you may request that a statement be added to your record.
Requests can be made by contacting our client care team. Reasonable administrative fees may apply.
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Data Quality 
We take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information we collect, use or disclose is accurate, complete and up to date
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Data Security
We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We will destroy or permanently de-identify personal information that is no longer required, unless we are legally required to retain it.
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What to do if you have a complaint about privacy issues 
If: 
(a) you have questions or comments about this Privacy Policy; 
(b) My Speech Pathologist does not agree to provide you with access to your personal information; or 
(c) you have or a complaint about our information handling practices, 
You can lodge a complaint on the details below. We will promptly review your complaint and provide a response to you. 
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How to contact us if you have a complaint about privacy issues
By email: hello@myspeechpathologist.com.au

This section of our Privacy Policy explains how we handle your personal information which is collected from our website: www.myspeechpathologist.com.au. This Privacy Policy applies to your use of our website and the use of any of the facilities on our website. 
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Collection
When you use our website, we do not attempt to identify you as an individual user and we will not collect personal information about you unless you specifically provide this to us. 
Sometimes, we may collect your personal information if you choose to provide this to us via an online form or by email, for example, if you:

• submit a general enquiry via our contacts page;

• send a written complaint or enquiry. 

When you use our website, our Internet Service Provider (ISP) may record and log for statistical purposes the following information about your visit:

• your computer address;

• your top level name (for example, .com.,gov., .org, .au etc.);

• the date and time of your visit;

• the pages and documents you access during your visit; and

• the browser you are using.

Our web-site management agent may use statistical data collected by our ISP to evaluate the effectiveness of our web-site.
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Cookies
A "cookie" is a device that allows our server to identify and interact more effectively with your computer. Cookies do not identify individual users, but they do identify your ISP and your browser type. 
This website uses temporary cookies. This means that upon closing your browser, the temporary cookie assigned to you will be destroyed and no personal information is maintained which will identify you at a later date. 
Personal information such as your email address is not collected unless you provide it to us. We do not disclose domain names or aggregate information to third parties other than agents who assist us with this website and who are under obligations of confidentiality. You may be able to configure your browser to accept or reject all cookies and to notify you when a cookie is used. We suggest that you refer to your browser instructions or help screens to learn more about these functions. However, please note that if you configure your browser so as not to receive any cookies, a certain level of functionality of the My Speech Pathologist website and other websites may be lost. 
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Links to third party websites
We may create links to third party websites. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices employed by websites that are linked from our website. 
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Use and disclosure
We will use any personal information collected via our website in accordance with our privacy policy.