At Derwent Speech Pathology, we are committed to protecting your privacy and keeping your personal information confidential. This guide explains how we handle your information, using the Australian Privacy Principles.
Why we collect your information
To provide you with the best possible speech pathology services, we need to collect information about your health and family history. This helps us accurately diagnose and treat your condition.
It is important we keep this information up to date. Please let us know if any of your personal or health information changes so that we can continue to provide you with the best care possible.
What information we collect
- Personal and Health Information: Your name, contact details, and health history.
- Sensitive Information: This can include your ethnic background or religious beliefs, which are given extra protection under the law.
How we collect and store it
- From you: Most information comes directly from you during consultations, on consent forms, or therapy records.
- From others: Sometimes we get information from your doctor, relatives, or My Health Record, but only if you agree or if it is an emergency.
- Secure Storage: Your records are stored securely on our practice server (Splose), in our billing system (Xero), or within Microsoft Teams.
How we use and share your info
We only use your information for your care unless you give us permission to do otherwise. We may share it with:
- Your healthcare team: Such as your GP, neurologist, or other therapists (like OTs or Physiotherapists) to coordinate your treatment.
- Third parties: Like your family, or close friends, but only with your written consent.
- Administrative purposes: For billing (Medicare/Health Funds), quality audits, or staff training.
Please list the people you would like us to communicate with on the privacy consent form. You can also list anyone who should not receive information about your care.
Where possible we use the secure portal, HealthLink to share information. When this is not possible, with your consent we may communicate with your support team using email. When you complete the privacy consent form, please let us know if you do not want us to use email to communicate with your care team.
Your Rights
As of 2025, you have specific rights regarding your data:
- Access and Correction: You can ask to see your records or fix any mistakes at any time.
- Right to Erasure: You can request that we delete your personal data if it is no longer needed, though we must follow legal rules about how long we keep medical records.
- Right to Object: You can object to your data being used for things not directly related to your care, such as research or analytics.
- Automated Decisions: If we use a computer system or AI to help make decisions about your care, you have the right to ask for a human explanation of that decision.
If you have concerns
If you have questions, want to update your info, or feel your privacy has been breached, please contact our Privacy Officer:
Tracey Graney
Practice Owner & Privacy Officer
Phone: 0404 329 439
Email: tracey@derwentspeechpathology.au
If you aren’t happy with our response, you can escalate your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
Our full privacy policy is available for download, or from our clinic on request.