Privacy policy

About this policy

Safe Oasis is a private mental health social work practice operated by Zeynep Korkmaz, an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker recognised by the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).

Because I provide a health service, I am bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles regardless of the size of the practice, and by the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW) and its Health Privacy Principles. I also work within the AASW Code of Ethics.

This policy explains what information I collect, why, where it is stored, who else may see it, and what you can do about it. If anything here is unclear, please ask me — I'd rather explain it than have you sign something you don't understand.

What information I collect

Most of what I hold about you is sensitive information under the Privacy Act, which means it has stronger legal protection than ordinary personal information.

I may collect:

• Your name, date of birth, address, phone number and email
• Emergency contact details
• Medicare number, concession card details, or private health fund details
• Claim numbers, insurer details and case manager contacts (for workers compensation, CTP, Victims Services or NDIS matters)
• Referral letters, GP Mental Health Treatment Plans, and correspondence from other practitioners
• Clinical notes made during and after our sessions
• Assessment results and reports I prepare
• Information about your health, family circumstances, culture, language, faith, and any other matters you choose to discuss
• Appointment history, billing and payment records

I only collect what I reasonably need to provide your care or to meet a legal obligation. You can decline to answer any question, though in some cases that may limit what support or funding I can arrange.

How I collect it

Usually directly from you — through the enquiry form on this website, over the phone, or in sessions.

I may also receive information about you from other people, including:

• Your GP or referring doctor
• An insurer, case manager or rehabilitation provider
• Your solicitor
• NSW Victims Services
• An NDIS support coordinator or plan manager
• A family member or carer, where you have agreed to this

If I receive information about you from someone else and you didn't know about it, I will tell you, unless there is a legal reason not to.

Can I stay anonymous?

You can make a general enquiry without giving me your full name, and you can ask me a question about whether this service suits you without committing to anything.

However, I cannot provide ongoing therapy anonymously. Medicare rebates, insurer-funded sessions, Victims Services counselling and NDIS-related work all require your identity to be verified, and accurate records are a legal requirement for clinical care.

Why I collect it and how I use it

• To provide therapeutic support and assessment
• To write reports you or a referrer have asked for
• To communicate with you about appointments
• To bill Medicare, an insurer, or you directly
• To meet my professional record-keeping and legal obligations

I do not use your information for marketing, and I do not sell or trade it.

Who else may see your information

This section matters. Please read it before your first session.

What happens to your information depends on how your sessions are funded. Different pathways involve different people seeing different things, and this often surprises people afterwards, so I want you to know upfront.

Medicare (Mental Health Treatment Plan)

Services Australia receives your name, date of birth, Medicare number and the item numbers billed — not the content of our sessions. Under the Medicare arrangement, I write to your referring GP after a course of sessions with a summary of your progress and recommendations. You are welcome to see that letter before it is sent.

Workers compensation (SIRA / NSW workers comp)

This is the pathway with the least privacy. Your insurer must approve treatment, and to get that approval I have to provide clinical information about your condition, your treatment goals, and your progress. The insurer may share that material with your employer's representatives, an independent medical examiner, or a legal representative if your claim is disputed. Reports I write become part of your claim file.

I will tell you what I am sending before I send it. I cannot keep the content of our sessions from your insurer and also keep your treatment funded — that is the trade-off in this scheme, and you are entitled to weigh it up.

CTP (motor accident claims)

Similar to workers compensation. The CTP insurer receives treatment requests, progress reports and any assessments, and this material forms part of your claim file.

NSW Victims Services

Victims Services receives applications for approved counselling hours and reports on your progress in order to approve further sessions. Information may also form part of a victims support application.

NDIS

Supporting evidence, functional capacity assessments and psychosocial reports are provided to the NDIA and may be read by planners, delegates, support coordinators and, if you have one, your plan manager.

Work and Development Orders

Revenue NSW receives confirmation of your participation and hours completed.

Private, self-funded sessions

No third party receives your information unless you ask me to share it, or one of the legal exceptions below applies.

Other practitioners

I may write to or speak with your GP, psychiatrist, other treating practitioners, or a support worker — with your consent, which you can give or withhold for each one, and withdraw at any time.

When I may have to share without your consent

Confidentiality has limits. I will always try to discuss it with you first where it is safe and practical, but I may disclose information without your consent if:

• A child or young person is at risk of significant harm. I am a mandatory reporter under the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW).
• There is a serious and imminent threat to your life, health or safety, or to someone else's.
• I am required by law — including a subpoena, search warrant, court order, or a statutory demand from a regulator or coroner.
• A complaint or investigation requires it, including an AASW ethics complaint or a Health Care Complaints Commission matter.

Court subpoenas are worth understanding: if your records are subpoenaed, the court decides what is released, not me. I will notify you if this happens.

Where your information is stored

Clinical records are kept in coreplus, an Australian practice management platform used by allied health professionals across Australia. Coreplus stores, processes and backs up data in Australian data centres on Amazon Web Services infrastructure, with encryption in transit and at rest, multi-factor login and audit logging. The underlying infrastructure holds ISO 27001, ISO 27018 and SOC 2 Type II certifications.

Overseas processing: while your clinical records are held in Australia, some of the communication services built into coreplus — email delivery and SMS or automated phone messages — are provided by international companies and may be processed outside Australia. This affects appointment reminders and system notifications, not the content of your clinical file.

Paper documents, where they exist, are kept in locked storage and scanned into coreplus.

Telehealth by phone

Sessions are conducted by telephone over the standard mobile and landline network. This is a well-established and Medicare-rebatable way to deliver mental health care, but it is worth knowing that ordinary phone calls are not encrypted in the way a purpose-built video platform is.

To protect your privacy during phone sessions:

• Please take the call somewhere you can speak freely and won't be overheard
• Consider using headphones
• Let me know at the start if someone else is in the room or able to hear
• I do not record sessions

I take your calls from a private space and do not use speakerphone.

How long I keep your records

Under NSW law, health records must be kept for at least seven years from the date of your last session. If you were under 18 at the time of your last session, your records must be kept until you turn 25.

After that, records are securely destroyed or de-identified. Some billing records are kept longer where tax law requires it.

Accessing and correcting your records

You have the right to ask for a copy of the information I hold about you. To request access, email info@safeoasis.com.au or ask me directly. I will respond within 30 days.

A few practical notes:

• I may charge a reasonable fee for the time and cost of copying a large file. I will tell you the amount before proceeding.
• For clinical notes, I will often suggest we go through them together, or that I provide a written summary. Raw session notes are written for clinical purposes and can read as clipped or clinical out of context. This is an offer, not a condition — you can still request the full file.
• Access can only be refused in limited circumstances set out in the legislation, such as where release would pose a serious threat to someone's life, health or safety, or would unreasonably affect another person's privacy. If I refuse, I will explain why in writing and tell you how to challenge it.

If you believe something in your record is wrong, incomplete or misleading, tell me and I will correct it. Where a correction relates to a clinical opinion, I will add your statement to the record rather than delete what was written at the time.

Data breaches

If your information is lost or accessed without authorisation and this is likely to cause you serious harm, I will notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, as required by the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

This website

This website is hosted on Cloudflare Pages.

Enquiry form: Please only include what you're comfortable putting in writing at first contact — a name, a contact number and a sentence about what you're looking for is enough. We can discuss details securely once we speak.

Automated decision-making

I do not use artificial intelligence, algorithmic scoring, or any automated system to make or substantially assist decisions about your care, your eligibility, or your treatment. All clinical decisions are made by me personally.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with how I have handled your information, please raise it with me first — email info@safeoasis.com.au or call 0406 119 010. I will acknowledge your complaint within 7 days and respond within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with my response, you can contact:

• Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) — 1300 363 992 · oaic.gov.au
• NSW Information and Privacy Commission — 1800 472 679 · ipc.nsw.gov.au
• Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) — for concerns about my professional conduct — 1800 630 124 · aasw.asn.au
• Health Care Complaints Commission (NSW) — 1800 043 159 · hccc.nsw.gov.au

Changes to this policy

I review this policy annually and will update it if my systems or legal obligations change. The current version is always available at safeoasis.com.au/privacy, and the date at the top shows when it was last revised.