1. Who this covers

Trust Hypnotherapy is a sole practice run by Ruth O’Sullivan. Ruth is the only person who sees client information. There is no reception desk, no clinic staff, and no shared client database.

This policy covers anyone who contacts Ruth through this website, calls her, or books a session — in person on the Gold Coast, at a visiting session in Maryborough or on the Fraser Coast, or online.

2. Why the Privacy Act applies

Most small Australian businesses are exempt from the Privacy Act 1988 if they turn over less than $3 million a year. Health service providers are not, no matter how small they are. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner lists complementary therapists among the providers this covers.

So Ruth is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles in full, and information about your health is treated as sensitive information — the most protected category the Act has.

3. What Ruth collects

When you get in touch

The enquiry form on the contact page asks for your name and a message. Email and phone are optional, because some people want a call back and would rather not give an email address. If you phone instead, Ruth takes down whatever you tell her that she needs in order to help.

When you become a client

Before and during sessions Ruth collects information about your health, because she cannot do the work safely without it. That usually includes:

• what you want to change, and what you have already tried
• relevant medical and mental health history, including anything you are being treated for
• medications, where they are relevant to the work
• notes taken during and after each session
• your GP’s name, if you tell her and it is relevant

You do not have to answer everything. If you would rather not share something, say so — Ruth will tell you honestly whether it changes what she can safely do.

Automatically, when you use this website

Your browser sends technical information to the site, such as the pages you view and roughly where in the world you are. This is covered in section 8.

4. Session recordings

A recording is health information and is treated exactly like the rest of your file: stored securely, never published, and deleted once Ruth has written her notes from it. The one place a recording may be reviewed outside the session is clinical supervision, explained in section 6.

5. How it is used

Ruth uses your information to reply to you, to plan and deliver your sessions, to provide the follow-up support included with your booking, and to keep the records a health practitioner is expected to keep.

She does not add you to a mailing list. She does not send marketing. She does not sell, rent or trade client information, and she never will. As the contact page puts it: she hates spam too.

6. Who else sees it

Almost nobody. Ruth does not discuss clients with family members or employers, and your information is never sold, rented or traded.

Clinical supervision

Ruth reviews her work with a clinical supervisor — an experienced practitioner who is bound by the same duty of confidence she is. Session material, and occasionally a recording, may be discussed there.

This is standard practice among therapists and it exists for your benefit. It is how the work stays safe and effective, and how a practitioner catches what she cannot see herself. Only what is necessary is discussed, and it is held to the same standard as the rest of your file. If you would rather your material was not taken to supervision, say so and Ruth will talk it through with you.

Where the law requires or permits it

There are four narrow situations, and it is honest to name them rather than promise something that cannot be kept:

1. You ask her to. If you want a letter or a summary sent to your GP, specialist or insurer, Ruth will send only what you agree to.
2. Serious threat to life, health or safety. If Ruth reasonably believes someone is at serious risk, she may tell the people who can reduce that risk.
3. Child safety. Queensland law requires any adult who forms a reasonable belief that a child is being sexually abused to report it to police.
4. A court order or subpoena. If a court formally requires the records, Ruth must produce them. Where she can, she will object first, and she will tell you it has happened.

Wherever it is possible and safe to do so, Ruth will tell you before she discloses anything.

7. Where it is stored

Session notes are kept in Ruth’s own records, accessible only to her. Enquiries sent through this website arrive by email and a copy may also be held in the website’s database.

Like almost every small Australian business, Ruth relies on third parties for website hosting, email and website analytics. Some of those providers store data on servers outside Australia. Where that happens, she takes reasonable steps to use providers that are bound by comparable privacy protections, as Australian Privacy Principle 8 requires.

8. Cookies and this website

This site uses Google Analytics 4 to count visits and see which pages people find useful. It records things like the pages viewed, the approximate region you are in, the type of device, and how you arrived. It does not tell Ruth who you are, and analytics data is never connected to your client file.

Analytics uses cookies — small files stored by your browser. You can block or delete them in your browser settings, and most browsers also have a built-in tracking protection setting that stops analytics collecting anything. Nothing on this site stops working if you turn them off.

This site does not run advertising pixels and does not track you across other websites.

9. How long records are kept

No single Queensland law sets a minimum for hypnotherapy records, so Ruth follows the standard that applies to registered health practitioners, which is the accepted benchmark:

• Adults — seven years from your last session.
• Under 18s — until the person turns 25.

Enquiries that never become bookings are kept only as long as there is a reason to, and are then deleted. Recordings are deleted as soon as notes have been written from them.

After the retention period, records are securely destroyed.

10. Keeping it secure

Paper records are kept locked. Digital records are kept on password-protected, encrypted devices and services. This website is served over HTTPS, so anything you type into the form is encrypted in transit.

No system is perfect, and it would be dishonest to claim otherwise. What Ruth commits to is taking reasonable steps to protect your information from misuse, loss and unauthorised access — and telling you promptly if something goes wrong.

11. Seeing or correcting your records

You can ask to see the information Ruth holds about you, and you can ask her to correct anything that is wrong, out of date or incomplete. Just ask — you do not need to give a reason.

Ruth will respond within 30 days. There is no charge for making a request. If retrieving a large amount of material takes real time, she may ask you to cover a reasonable cost, and she will tell you what that is before doing the work.

In rare cases the law allows a provider to refuse access — for example where giving it would put someone else’s safety at risk. If that ever applies, Ruth will explain why in writing and look for another way to give you what you need.

12. If something goes wrong

If client information is lost or accessed by someone who should not have it, and it is likely to cause you serious harm, Ruth must notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme. She will tell you what happened, what information was involved, and what to do about it.

13. Making a complaint

If you think your privacy has been mishandled, tell Ruth first. Most things are a misunderstanding and get sorted out quickly.

Ruth will acknowledge your complaint within 7 days and give you an answer within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with her response, you can take it to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner:

• Online at oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints
• Phone 1300 363 992, Monday to Thursday, 10am to 4pm
• Post to GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001

14. Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the new version goes up on this page and the date at the top changes with it. If a change materially affects how your information is handled, Ruth will tell current clients directly rather than relying on you to check.