Privacy Policy
Autumn Psychology
Last updated: September 2026
Autumn Psychology is committed to protecting the privacy, confidentiality and security of your personal information.
As a psychology practice, we collect and hold sensitive personal and health information in the course of providing psychological assessment and treatment. We handle this information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) and applicable professional and legal obligations.
This Privacy Policy explains how Autumn Psychology collects, uses, stores and discloses personal information, including health information, when providing psychological services and operating our website.
1. What personal information do we collect?
The information we collect depends on the services you receive and may include:
- your name, date of birth and contact details;
- residential and postal address;
- Medicare details and other health-funding information;
- appointment and billing information;
- referral information;
- information about your physical and psychological health;
- medical and psychiatric history;
- information about your personal, family, social, educational and occupational circumstances;
- information obtained during psychological assessment and treatment;
- psychological assessment responses, scores and reports;
- clinical notes and records of consultations;
- information provided by GPs, psychiatrists and other treating health professionals;
- correspondence relating to your psychological care;
- information contained in documents or attachments you provide to us;
- information provided through questionnaires and psychometric assessments; and
- information provided through email, telephone, our website or other communications with Autumn Psychology.
Information collected in the course of providing a psychological service is generally considered health information and is treated as sensitive information.
2. How do we collect personal information?
Autumn Psychology may collect personal information:
- directly from you during psychological consultations;
- when you contact us by telephone, email or through our website;
- through our website enquiry form;
- through registration, intake and consent forms;
- when you make or manage an appointment;
- through psychological assessments, questionnaires and psychometric measures;
- when completed psychometric questionnaires, assessment forms or other documents are returned to us by email;
- from your GP, psychiatrist or another health professional as part of a referral or ongoing care;
- from other treating professionals where relevant to your psychological care;
- from a parent, guardian or other authorised person where applicable; and
- through third-party technology and service providers used to assist in providing psychological services.
Where reasonable and practicable, health information will be collected directly from you.
3. Information communicated by email
Email may be used to communicate with clients, referring practitioners and other health professionals involved in a client’s care.
This may include sending and receiving:
- referrals;
- appointment and administrative information;
- clinical correspondence;
- psychological reports;
- treatment and progress reports;
- psychometric questionnaires;
- completed psychometric assessments;
- assessment results and reports;
- invoices and other administrative information; and
- other information relevant to the provision of psychological services.
Information sent to or received by Autumn Psychology via email may contain sensitive health information.
For example, where Autumn Psychology sends you a psychometric questionnaire by email and you complete and return it by email, the information contained in the completed questionnaire will be treated as health information and handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Relevant emails and attachments may be retained as part of your clinical or administrative record where they are relevant to the provision of psychological services.
Autumn Psychology takes reasonable steps to protect information transmitted electronically. However, email is not completely risk-free and electronic communications may carry inherent security risks. If you have concerns about communicating sensitive information by email, you may discuss alternative arrangements with your psychologist.
4. Why do we collect and use your information?
Your personal information, including health information, may be collected, used and stored for purposes including:
- providing psychological assessment and treatment;
- understanding your psychological, medical and personal circumstances;
- maintaining accurate and appropriate clinical records;
- administering, scoring and interpreting psychological assessments;
- preparing psychological reports, treatment summaries and other clinical correspondence;
- communicating with you about appointments and your care;
- communicating with your GP, psychiatrist and other treating professionals involved in your care;
- fulfilling requirements associated with Medicare-funded psychological services;
- administering Medicare and other relevant funding arrangements;
- processing payments and managing accounts;
- administering and scoring psychological assessments through third-party services;
- using approved technology to assist with clinical documentation;
- managing the operation and security of the practice;
- responding to enquiries and complaints;
- meeting legal, professional and regulatory obligations; and
- protecting the health, safety and wellbeing of clients and others where permitted or required by law.
We will generally only collect information that is reasonably necessary for these purposes.
5. Consent and confidentiality
Autumn Psychology recognises that psychological information is highly sensitive and treats information provided during psychological services as confidential.
Consent to the collection and use of health information may be provided expressly, including through client registration and consent processes, or may be implied in circumstances where this is appropriate and permitted by law.
Where consent is required for a particular use or disclosure of information, Autumn Psychology will seek your consent.
Your information may nevertheless be collected, used or disclosed without your consent in circumstances permitted or required by law.
6. Communication with GPs and psychiatrists under Medicare-funded pathways
Where you have been referred to Autumn Psychology by a GP or psychiatrist under a Medicare-funded psychological services pathway, including the Better Access initiative, information may be collected from and provided to the referring practitioner in accordance with applicable Medicare requirements, privacy law and professional obligations.
Depending on the circumstances and applicable requirements, this may include:
- referral information;
- information required for Medicare administration;
- confirmation that psychological services have been provided;
- information about assessment and treatment;
- treatment progress;
- treatment outcomes;
- recommendations for ongoing care; and
- treatment, review or other clinical reports.
Where clinically appropriate and permitted or required under the relevant Medicare and privacy requirements, Autumn Psychology may provide the referring GP or psychiatrist with information relevant to the psychological services provided.
Information provided to a referring practitioner will be limited to information reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.
Where your consent is required for a particular disclosure, Autumn Psychology will seek your consent before providing the information.
If you have questions about information that may be communicated to your GP, psychiatrist or other referrer, you are encouraged to discuss this with your psychologist.
7. AI-assisted clinical note-taking
Autumn Psychology may use AI-assisted clinical note-taking and transcription tools, including Heidi Health and NovoNote, to assist psychologists with clinical documentation.
Where these tools are used, information from a consultation may be processed by the relevant technology provider to assist with transcription, summarisation and preparation of clinical notes.
This may involve the processing of sensitive health information discussed during a consultation.
AI-generated content is reviewed, edited and clinically considered by the psychologist. AI does not replace the psychologist’s professional judgement or responsibility for the clinical record.
NovoNote
Autumn Psychology may use NovoNote, an AI-assisted clinical documentation service provided by NovoPsych.
NovoPsych states that NovoNote is designed to convert session audio into clinical summaries. NovoPsych states that session audio is cached transiently and deleted following successful transcription, and that identifiable information in the transcript is redacted.
NovoPsych also states that NovoNote data is not used to train AI models.
Clients can read the current NovoNote privacy and security information through the NovoNote Privacy Policy & Security page.
Heidi Health
Autumn Psychology may also use Heidi Health’s AI-assisted clinical documentation service.
Heidi’s privacy policy describes how personal information is collected, used, stored, disclosed and protected when using its platform. Heidi also provides additional information about its compliance with Australian privacy requirements.
Clients can review Heidi’s current privacy information through Heidi Health’s Privacy Policy.
Consent and choice
Where AI-assisted note-taking is used during a consultation, clients will be informed that the technology is being used.
If you do not wish AI-assisted note-taking to be used during your consultation, please tell your psychologist. Where reasonably practicable, an alternative method of clinical documentation will be used.
Autumn Psychology does not use publicly available generative AI tools to process identifiable client information for clinical note-taking.
8. Psychological assessments and third-party assessment services
Autumn Psychology may use third-party services to administer, collect, score or assist with the interpretation of psychological and psychometric assessments.
Psychometric assessments may be provided to clients electronically, including by email or through technology associated with NovoNote/NovoPsych, where applicable.
Completed assessment questionnaires, responses, scores and related information may be returned to Autumn Psychology by email and may be retained as part of your clinical record.
Where a third-party assessment service is used, information necessary to administer, score or report on the assessment may be provided to that service.
This may include:
- identifying information;
- assessment responses;
- questionnaire results;
- assessment scores;
- relevant demographic information; and
- other information reasonably necessary to administer or interpret the assessment.
Third-party assessment providers may have their own privacy policies and terms governing the information they process.
Where appropriate, clients will be directed to the relevant provider’s privacy information.
9. Practice management and electronic clinical records
Autumn Psychology uses Zanda Health as its practice management system.
Zanda may be used to manage:
- appointments;
- client contact information;
- billing and payments;
- communications;
- clinical administration;
- clinical records; and
- other aspects of practice management.
Information received by email, including relevant referral correspondence, psychometric assessments, reports and other clinical correspondence, may be incorporated into or retained alongside the client’s electronic clinical record where appropriate.
Zanda states that data for Australian accounts is stored on infrastructure located in Australia and that customer data is encrypted in transit and at rest.
Clients may review Zanda’s current privacy policy for further information about how Zanda handles personal information.
10. Other third-party service providers
Autumn Psychology may use third-party service providers to assist with providing psychological services and operating the practice.
These may include providers of:
- practice management and clinical record systems;
- psychological assessment services;
- AI-assisted clinical documentation;
- email and electronic communications;
- information technology and cloud services;
- payment processing;
- accounting and administrative services; and
- website hosting, analytics and related services.
Where personal information is provided to a third-party service provider, Autumn Psychology takes reasonable steps to ensure that the provider handles the information appropriately and consistently with applicable privacy obligations.
Autumn Psychology does not sell or rent personal information.
11. When information may be disclosed
Autumn Psychology may use or disclose personal information where this is permitted or required under applicable law.
This may include circumstances where:
- you have provided consent;
- the information is used or disclosed for the primary purpose for which it was collected;
- the disclosure is for a directly related purpose that you would reasonably expect;
- disclosure is necessary for the provision or coordination of health care;
- disclosure is required or authorised by law;
- information is required in response to a valid court order, subpoena or other legal process;
- disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious threat to a person’s life, health or safety, where the applicable legal requirements are satisfied;
- disclosure is necessary to meet mandatory reporting or other statutory obligations; or
- another exception under applicable privacy legislation applies.
Where disclosure is not otherwise authorised or required by law, Autumn Psychology will generally seek your consent.
12. Storage and security of personal information
Autumn Psychology takes reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
Information may be stored in secure electronic practice management, clinical documentation, assessment and other information systems.
Access to client information is restricted to authorised persons who require access for legitimate clinical, administrative or legal purposes.
We regularly review the security and privacy practices of the technology providers used by the practice.
However, no method of electronic storage or transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
13. Overseas disclosure and processing
Some third-party technology and service providers used by Autumn Psychology may process personal information outside Australia.
Where personal information is disclosed overseas, Autumn Psychology will take reasonable steps to comply with its obligations under the Australian Privacy Principles and applicable Victorian privacy requirements.
The location of data storage and processing may differ between providers and may change over time. Clients are encouraged to review the privacy policies of relevant providers for current information.
14. Data breaches
Autumn Psychology takes reasonable steps to prevent unauthorised access to personal information and to identify, manage and respond to suspected data breaches.
If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in serious harm and notification is required under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme, Autumn Psychology will take the required steps to assess the breach and notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner where required.
15. Website, cookies and online enquiries
Our website may collect technical information about visitors, including information such as IP address, browser type, device information and website usage information.
Cookies and similar technologies may be used to:
- operate website functionality;
- understand website traffic;
- improve the website and user experience; and
- support website security and performance.
Our website may use third-party services for website hosting, analytics, communications or other functionality. These providers may collect information in accordance with their own privacy policies.
If you submit an enquiry through the Autumn Psychology website, the information you provide will be used to respond to your enquiry and, where appropriate, arrange psychological services.
The website and enquiry form should not be used to communicate urgent or emergency mental health information. If you are experiencing an emergency, please contact emergency services or an appropriate crisis service.
16. Accuracy and correction of personal information
Autumn Psychology takes reasonable steps to ensure that personal information it holds is accurate, complete, relevant and up to date.
Please let us know if your personal information changes or if you believe information we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date.
You may request correction of your personal information and health information by contacting us using the details below.
Where information is corrected, Autumn Psychology will take reasonable steps to ensure that relevant records are updated appropriately.
17. Access to your information
You may request access to personal information and health information that Autumn Psychology holds about you, subject to applicable legal exceptions.
Requests should be made in writing to:
Autumn Psychology
Email: contact@autumnpsychology.com.au
We will respond to requests within a reasonable period and in accordance with applicable privacy and health-records legislation.
In some circumstances, access to particular information may be refused or limited where permitted or required by law. If this occurs, we will explain the reason where appropriate.
Where you are transferring to another health service provider, you may also request that relevant health information be made available to that provider in accordance with applicable Victorian health-records legislation.
18. Retention of clinical records
Autumn Psychology retains clinical and other health information for the period required by applicable legislation, professional obligations and other legal requirements.
Under the Victorian Health Records Act 2001, health service providers generally must not delete health information until more than seven years after the last occasion on which a health service was provided. Where health information was collected while an individual was a child, the applicable retention period extends until the individual reaches 25 years of age, subject to the requirements of the legislation.
Accordingly, clinical records cannot ordinarily be deleted simply because a client requests their deletion.
When information is legally able to be destroyed, Autumn Psychology will take reasonable steps to securely destroy or permanently de-identify it, as appropriate.
19. Privacy concerns and complaints
If you have a concern about the way Autumn Psychology has collected, used, stored or disclosed your personal information, please contact us in the first instance.
Autumn Psychology
Email: contact@autumnpsychology.com.au
We will take reasonable steps to investigate your complaint and provide a response.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the relevant privacy regulator.
For matters concerning the Australian Privacy Principles and the Privacy Act, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
For matters concerning health information under Victorian health privacy legislation, you may also contact the Health Complaints Commissioner (Victoria).
20. Third-party privacy policies
Autumn Psychology uses a number of third-party technology providers to assist with the delivery and administration of psychological services.
Clients can review the current privacy policies of these providers directly:
- Heidi Health – Privacy Policy
- NovoNote / NovoPsych – NovoNote Privacy Policy & Security
- Zanda Health – Privacy Policy
These third-party policies may be updated from time to time. The policies published by the relevant providers are the most current source of information about their own privacy and data-handling practices.
21. Changes to this Privacy Policy
Autumn Psychology may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, technology, privacy practices or legal requirements.
The most recent version will be published on our website and will include the date on which it was last updated.
22. Contact us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how Autumn Psychology manages your personal information, please contact:
Autumn Psychology
Email: contact@autumnpsychology.com.au
Website: www.autumnpsychology.com.au
Last updated: September 2026
