Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This document sets out the privacy policy of BRIDIE ANN STEWART trading as “Bridie Stewart Psychology” ABN 91 402 764 202 (referred to in this privacy policy as ‘the Service Provider’, ‘we’, ‘us’, or ‘our’).

The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) requires entities bound by the Australian Privacy Principles to have a privacy policy. We take our privacy obligations seriously, and we’ve created this privacy policy to explain how we store, maintain, use and disclose personal information.

By providing personal information (including sensitive information) to us, you consent to our storage, maintenance, use and disclosing of personal information in accordance with this privacy policy.

Current clients will be provided with an updated copy of this privacy policy if any changes are made, and an updated copy will also be available on our website.

2. Types of Personal Information We Collect

The personal information we collect may include the following:

(a) name;

(b) mailing or street address;

(c) email address;

(d) sensitive information (including health information) as set out below;

(e) telephone number and other contact details;

(f) age;

(g) date of birth;

(h) credit card or other payment information;

(i) information about your personal circumstances;

(j) information in connection with client surveys and questionnaires;

(k) your device identity and type, IP address, geo-location information, page view statistics, advertising data and standard web log information;

(l) information about third parties; and

(m) any other information provided by you to us via our website or our online presence, or otherwise required by us or provided by you.

3. How Personal Information is Collected

We will collect your personal information in a lawful and fair way. We will only collect your personal information where you have consented to it, or otherwise in accordance with the law.

How we collect information from you

We may collect personal information where you:

(a) contact us through our website;

(b) receive services from us;

(c) submit any of our online inquiry forms;

(d) communicate with us via email, telephone, SMS, or otherwise;

(e) interact with our website, services, content and advertising

How we collect information from third parties

Where possible, we collect your personal information directly from you (e.g. in the form of session notes). However, there may be occasions when we collect personal information (including sensitive information) about you from someone else. For example, where we receive a referral for our services from another health care provider or where we require input from other persons involved in your care and support in order to provide services.

How you provide information for someone else

If you are providing personal and/or sensitive information on behalf of someone else, you must have the consent of that person to provide their personal and/or sensitive information to us to be collected, used, and disclosed in accordance with this privacy policy.

How we collect information from cookies

We may also collect personal information from you when you use or access our website or our social media pages. This may be done through use of web analytics tools, ‘cookies’ or other similar tracking technologies that allow us to track and analyse your website usage. Cookies are small files that store information on your computer, mobile phone or other device and enable and allow the creator of the cookie to identify when you visit different websites. If you do not wish information to be stored as a cookie, you can disable cookies in your web browser.

We may use Squarespace Analytics to collect and process data, including when you use third party websites or apps. To find out more, please see The cookies Squarespace uses.

4. Use of Your Personal Information

We collect and use personal information for the following primary purposes:

(a) to provide services or information to you;

(b) for record keeping and administrative purposes;

(c) to provide information about you to our contractors, employees, consultants, agents or other third parties for the purpose of providing services to you;

(d) to improve and optimise our service offering and customer experience;

(e) to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes or enforce our agreements with third parties; and

(f) to send you administrative messages, reminders, notices, updates, security alerts, and other information requested by you.

We may also use your personal information for:

(g) secondary purposes closely related to the primary purpose, in circumstances where you would reasonably expect such use;

(h) such purposes where we reasonably believe that use of your personal information is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to the life, health or safety of any individual, or to public health or safety, and it is unreasonable or impracticable to obtain your consent;

(i) any other purpose for which we receive consent from you; or

(j) any other purpose which is permitted or required under applicable privacy laws.

5. How We Disclose Your Personal Information

We respect your privacy, and we will take reasonable steps to keep your personal information confidential and protected. We may disclose your personal information to:

(a) other health care providers we refer you to or from who we receive a referral for you;

(b) our professional advisors such as an external supervisor, lawyers, accountants and auditors;

(c) any third parties you have consented personal information to be disclosed to.

We may also disclose personal information to third party contractors as required for us to provide our services to you, such as cloud-service providers, IT professionals, and marketing agencies.

We take care to work with such third parties who we believe maintain an acceptable standard of data security and require them not to use your personal information for any purpose except for those activities we have asked them to perform on our behalf.

We will not otherwise disclose your personal information unless:

(d) you have consented to us disclosing your personal information for particular circumstances;

(e) as needed in an emergency or in investigation suspected criminal activity;

(f) we are required to disclose under a subpoena, court order or other mandatory reporting requirements;

(g) we reasonably believe that disclosure of your information is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to the life, health or safety of any individual, or to public health or safety, and it is unreasonable or impracticable to obtain your consent;

(h) it is reasonably necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal claim; or

(i) it is otherwise authorised or required by law.

6. Storage of Your Personal Information

We hold your personal information related to our services provided to you via our third party practice management platforms, Halaxy and NovoPsych. Both Halaxy and NovoPsych are compliant with HIPAA requirements, as well as Australian Privacy Principles. Halaxy and NovoPsych servers are located in Australia, in keeping with Australian Privacy Principles. However, these providers may operate overseas disaster recovery sites or have personnel overseas who may access the personal information we hold to assist us in managing our servers.

We also may use Squarespace Analytics to track web traffic information which is operated by Squarespace which may store information across multiple countries.

7. Sensitive Information

Collection of sensitive information

We may collect sensitive information about you during the course of providing you our services. We will only collect this sensitive information where you consent to such collection and either directly provide us with this information or it is provided by a referring health care provider.

Types of sensitive information we collect

The sensitive information we collect may include the following:

(a) health information, history and reports, including mental health records;

(b) referring health care provider and associated referral letters;

(c) private health fund and private health insurance cover details;

(d) Medicare number, healthcare identifiers or concession card or other entitlement details; and

(e) any other sensitive information provided by you or a third party to us via our website or platforms, or otherwise provided by you or a third party to us.

How we use your sensitive information

Your sensitive information will only be used for the purpose of:

(f) providing you with our services;

(g) complying with our legal obligations, resolving disputes or enforcing our agreements with you;

(h) sending you messages, reminders, notices, updates, security alerts, and other information requested by you; or

(i) any other purpose which is permitted or required under applicable privacy laws.

How we disclose your sensitive information

Your sensitive information will only be disclosed to third parties for the purpose of:

(j) providing you with services (and other related purposes, for example liaising with other health care providers)

(k) providing a referral to another health care provider;

(l) teachers and other persons involved in the Client’s care and support;

(m) update letters to a referring General Practitioner (GP) (and another GP with your consent if you change GPs) for sessions completed under a Mental Health Care Plan (MHCP);

(n) keeping you and others safe if you are at serious risk of harm to yourself or others; or

(o) any other purpose which is permitted or required under applicable privacy laws.

How you can withdraw consent

If you wish to withdraw your consent to our collection, use or disclosure of your sensitive information, please contact us using the contact details set out below. We will deal with all such requests within a reasonable timeframe.

8. Consequences of Not Providing Personal Information

If you do not wish to provide your personal information or do not consent to your person information being collected, handled, stored, or disclosed as set out in this Privacy Policy, we may not be able to provide our services to you.

9. Security

We take reasonable steps to ensure your personal information is secure and protected from misuse or unauthorised access. Our information technology systems are password protected, and we use a range of administrative and technical measures to protect these systems. However, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information.

10. Links

Our website may contain links to other websites. Those links are provided for convenience and may not remain current or be maintained. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those linked websites and we suggest you review the privacy policies of those websites before using them.

11. Requesting Access or Correcting Your Personal Information

If you wish to request access to the personal information we hold about you, please contact us using the contact details set out below, including your name and contact details. We may need to verify your identity before providing you with your personal information. In some cases, we may be unable to provide you with access to all your personal information and where this occurs, we will explain why. We will deal with all requests for access to personal information within a reasonable timeframe.

If you think that any personal information we hold about you is inaccurate, please contact us using the contact details set out below and we will take reasonable steps to ensure that it is corrected.

12. Complaints

If you wish to complain about how we handle your personal information held by us, please contact us using the details set out below including your name and contact details. We will investigate your complaint promptly and respond to you within a reasonable timeframe.

13. Contact Us

For further information about our privacy policy or practices, or to access or correct your personal information, or make a complaint, please contact us using the details set out below:

Name: Bridie Stewart

Email: contact@bstewartpsychology.com

This privacy policy was last updated on 23 April 2025.