Privacy Policy

Summertown Occupational Therapy

Last updated: October 2025

At Summertown Occupational Therapy, we respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal and health information. This policy explains how we collect, use, store, and share your information in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

1. What Information We Collect

We may collect:

• Personal details (name, date of birth, contact information)

• Health information (medical history, assessments, therapy notes, reports)

• Funding details (e.g., NDIS plan information)

• Emergency contact details and relevant legal arrangements (e.g., guardianship or court orders)

2. How We Collect Information

• Directly from you or your parent/guardian (intake forms, phone calls, sessions)

• From other providers or services, but only with your consent (e.g., schools, GPs, support coordinators)

• From publicly available sources if necessary for service delivery and with your knowledge

3. Why We Collect Information

We collect information to:

• Provide safe and effective occupational therapy services

• Communicate with you, your family, and other providers involved in your care

• Manage billing, administration, and compliance with NDIS and other funders

• Meet our legal obligations as a health service provider

4. How We Store and Protect Information

• Records are stored securely in Splose, a password‑protected, encrypted practice management system

• Access is restricted to authorised staff only

• Paper records (if any) are stored securely and destroyed when no longer required

5. Use of AI Tools

At Summertown Occupational Therapy, we sometimes use secure artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support our work, including:

• Report writing assistance (to help draft clear, professional reports)

• Clinical note‑taking support (using Heidi AI to capture and organise session notes)

When we use these tools:

• Only the information necessary for the task is entered.

• Data is handled in line with our confidentiality obligations and the Australian Privacy Principles.

• We do not use AI tools to make clinical decisions — all professional reasoning and recommendations remain the responsibility of your treating occupational therapist.

• We take care to ensure that any third‑party tools we use have appropriate privacy and security protections in place.

If you have any questions or prefer that we do not use AI tools in your care, please let us know — we will always respect your choice.

6. Sharing Your Information

We will not share your information without your consent, except when:

• Required by law (e.g., child protection, court order)

• Necessary to prevent a serious threat to life, health, or safety

• Required for funding or compliance purposes (e.g., NDIS reporting)

7. Access and Correction

You have the right to:

• Request access to your personal and health information

• Ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete

Requests can be made in writing to the contact details below.

8. Complaints

If you have concerns about how your information is handled, please contact us first so we can work with you to resolve the issue.

If you are not satisfied, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au.

9. Contact Us

Summertown Occupational Therapy

M: 0455 333 360

E: eliza@summertownoccupaitonaltherapy.com.au