Legal

Privacy policy

Last updated [DATE]

Simple Roots Therapy is committed to protecting your privacy. As a private health service provider we are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles, and by the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW) and its Health Privacy Principles.

What we collect

• Names and contact details for the client and, where the client is a child, their parents or carers
• Health information relevant to care, including relevant diagnoses, medications, developmental history and daily function
• Funding and billing details — NDIS participant number and plan management details, private health fund details, or DVA details
• Correspondence with people involved in the client’s care, including educators where you have consented to that contact

How we collect it

Directly from you, and from people you have authorised — such as a referring practitioner, a family member, a support coordinator, or a teacher where a school observation forms part of the assessment.

Why we collect it

To assess needs, plan and deliver occupational therapy, communicate with people involved in care, invoice correctly, and meet our legal and professional obligations. If you choose not to provide some information, we may not be able to deliver a safe or effective service.

Who we disclose it to

With your consent, we share relevant information with a referring practitioner, other practitioners involved in care, educators where a school or preschool visit is part of the work, and your plan manager or funding body for invoicing. We disclose information without consent only where the law requires or permits it — for example where there is a serious and imminent risk to someone’s life, health or safety, where a child is at risk of significant harm, or where we are compelled by a court.

Children and young people

Where the client is a child, a parent or guardian generally exercises these rights on their behalf. Where a young person is assessed as having sufficient maturity to make their own decisions, their own consent and privacy are respected, and this is discussed openly with the family.

Storage and security

Clinical records are held securely on encrypted storage within Australia, with access restricted to the treating therapist. We do not store health information in marketing systems, spreadsheets or unsecured email.

This website

This site uses no cookies, no analytics, no tracking pixels, no advertising technology and no third-party fonts or scripts. Nothing is loaded from another company’s servers, and no record of your visit is created by us. There is no contact form — enquiries arrive as ordinary email and are handled as correspondence.

Email is not secure

Please do not send detailed health information by email. A sentence about what you would like help with is enough to start a conversation; clinical detail is gathered securely at your first appointment.

Retention

Health records are retained for the minimum periods required under NSW law — including the longer period that applies where a person was under 18 at their last appointment — and then securely destroyed.

Access and correction

You may request access to your health information, or ask us to correct it, at any time. We will respond within 45 calendar days.

Complaints

If you are concerned about how we have handled your information, please tell us first at contact@simplerootstherapy.com.au. You may also contact:

• NSW Information and Privacy Commission — 1800 472 679, ipc.nsw.gov.au
• Office of the Australian Information Commissioner — 1300 363 992, oaic.gov.au