Lotus Health and Psychology – Privacy Policy

1. Commitment to Privacy

Lotus Health and Psychology is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal and health information responsibly. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and disclose your personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

2. Collection of Personal Information

We collect personal information that is necessary to provide psychological and related health services. This may include:

• Your name, date of birth, address, and contact details

• Emergency contact information

• Medicare or private health insurance details

• Referral information from your GP or other health professionals

• Relevant medical, psychological, and social history

• Session notes and treatment records

• Appointment and billing information

Personal information may be collected through intake forms, referrals, correspondence, and during consultations.

3. Use of Personal Information

Your personal information is used for purposes including:

• Providing psychological and related health services

• Assessing and supporting your treatment and care

• Managing appointments and communications

• Processing billing, Medicare claims, and other administrative requirements

• Maintaining clinical records as required by professional and legal obligations

4. Storage and Security of Information

Your personal information may be stored electronically in secure practice management systems and/or in secure physical files.

Lotus Health and Psychology take reasonable steps to protect your information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure. This includes secure digital systems, restricted access to records, and appropriate administrative safeguards.

5. Use of Automated Note-Taking Tools

To support better focus on your care during sessions, clinicians at Lotus Health and Psychology may use an automated tool that assists with clinical notetaking.

Our clinicians may use either the NovoNote or Heidi platform. These platforms are designed to support compliance with AHPRA and HIPAA privacy standards and follow industry-standard encryption and security protocols. The tools operate on secure servers located in Australia, and information processed through these tools is not used to train artificial intelligence models.

With your consent, these platforms may temporarily process session audio for the purpose of generating clinical notes. The audio is processed securely and is not used to train artificial intelligence systems. Any notes generated are reviewed and edited by the clinician before being saved to your clinical record.

You may choose not to have automated notetaking used during your session.

6. Disclosure of Personal Information

Your personal information will generally remain confidential. However, information may be disclosed where necessary or required, including:

• With your consent

• To other healthcare providers involved in your care (e.g., referring GP or specialists)

• For administrative purposes such as Medicare or health insurance claims

• Where required or authorised by law

• Where there is a serious and imminent risk to your health or safety, or the safety of another person

• Where required by a court or other legal authority

7. Retention of Health Records

Health records are retained for the minimum period required by law. In most cases this means:

• At least seven years from the date of your last appointment

• For children, records are generally retained until the individual reaches 25 years of age

After this period, records may be securely destroyed in accordance with legal and professional guidelines.

8. Access and Correction of Personal Information

You may request access to your personal information or request corrections if you believe the information is inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date.

Requests for access or correction should be made directly to Lotus Health and Psychology. We will respond to requests within a reasonable timeframe and may charge a reasonable administrative fee where permitted by law.

9. Privacy Concerns and Complaints

If you have concerns about how your personal information has been handled, please contact Lotus Health and Psychology at admin@lotushp.com.au or 07 3132 8584 so we can attempt to resolve the matter promptly and confidentially.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

Website: https://www.oaic.gov.au

You may also have the right to make a complaint to The Office of the health Ombudsman (OHO) if your concern relates to health service provision  OHO online

10. Updates to this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time to reflect changes in legal requirements or clinic practices. The most current version will be m

ade available through our clinic or website.