Confidentiality, Privacy, Principles, and Terms and Conditions

Professional Membership

I am a member of various professional organisations such as the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) and the Australian Psychological Society (APS), all of which regulate the conduct and practice of counselling by means of explicit codes of conduct, ethical guidelines and principles. These include specific requirements regarding education and clinical experience. I invite you to visit their web-sites.

• APS – www.psychology.org.au
• ACA – www.theaca.net.au

Privacy

I, adhere to Australia’s National Privacy Principles as set out in the Privacy Act 1988, amended by the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000.

The Privacy Act protects the way personal information is handled by private sector organisations and government agencies. The Act covers the collection, use, disclosure, quality, and security of personal information.

This document states our policy to accord with the legislation. The implementation of this policy will be in accordance with the National Privacy Principles and State/Territory Government privacy requirements.

I value the privacy of those with whom I deal.

I will:

• Only collect and keep personal information necessary for our own purposes;
• Only use personal information for the purposes for which the consent of the individual has been sought;
• Take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information held is accurate, complete and up-to-date;
• Provide access on request by individuals to the personal information held on them and correct anything that is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date
• As a matter of principle, I do not provide personal information (e.g. names and addresses) to third parties for the use of commercial gain.

Exclusions to privacy and confidentiality will apply if:

• It is deemed that you may be of harm to yourself, or others
• Confidentiality may be breached if required by law and records can be subpoenaed
• There is suspicion of child abuse as stipulated by the Children’s Protection Act, 1983
• To ensure best practice I undergo regular supervision. During this time cases are discussed however, names and personal details are not disclosed.

Terms and Conditions

Before you commence counselling you will need to read and agree to a few basic principles outlined in the Terms of Service for online counselling. I may revise these conditions and the content of this website at any time, without reference to you.

• You agree that you are 18 years of age or older.
• You agree to provide accurate profile information on the Welcome Questionnaire included as part of the Getting Started process. You true name and contact details are important especially if I need to refund some monies to you.
• You agree that during initial communications, both counsellor and client will need to evaluate whether they believe they can work together effectively, and you agree that either of us may discontinue our counselling relationship at any time.
• You agree and are willing to work within the parameters of the information provided on the page on “What to expect”, “How it works” and “What it will cost”.
• You agree that the counselling services provided by Fadeela Kirsten will take place in Australia and are governed by and interpreted according to the federal laws of Australia and the state laws of Western Australia.
• You agree that Fadeela Kirsten is not a physician and therefore will not provide medical advice, and that no counselling or therapy services be construed as the practice of medicine.
• You understand and agree that Fadeela Kirsten will not provide a 24-hour emergency service. You agree to identify appropriate services in your local area, which will be able to provide emergency assistance, should it be required.
• You agree that Fadeela Kirsten cannot guarantee 100% that a third-party interception will not happen. You agree to accept all responsibility for the maintenance of your own computer and internet services. This includes correctly configuring any spam filters to permit the delivery of email from Fadeela Kirsten as well as to permit payments to Fadeela Kirsten. You agree that Fadeela Kirsten will not provide any computer support or internet service support.