How we handle your information & the limits of confidentiality
SWS Counselling collects personal and health information about you so we can plan and deliver counselling, communicate with you and people you authorise (such as a GP, psychiatrist, EAP provider, Medicare, insurer or family), and meet our legal, ethical and funding obligations.
What we do with your information
- Information we collect from you is stored securely in Australia and accessed only by your counsellor and authorised staff.
- We use a third-party AI writing assistant strictly to help draft notes and reports. Identifying details are minimised and never used to train external models.
- We may share information with your GP, EAP provider, Medicare or insurer where that is part of the funding arrangement you chose.
- You can ask to access, correct or have your records destroyed at any time, subject to our record-keeping obligations (typically 7 years for adults, or until age 25 for clients seen as minors).
Limits of confidentiality
What you share in counselling is private. There are a small number of situations where the counsellor is legally or ethically required to disclose information without your consent:
- If there is a serious and imminent risk to your life or safety, or to someone else's.
- If a child or young person under 18 is at risk of significant harm (mandatory reporting under NSW law).
- If records are subpoenaed by a court or lawfully required by a regulator.
- In routine, de-identified form only, when the counsellor discusses cases with a clinical supervisor for quality and safety (a normal part of ethical practice).
Wherever possible the counsellor will talk with you first before making any disclosure.
Full details — including how to make a complaint to the NSW Privacy Commissioner or to PACFA / ACA — are in our Privacy Policy and Client Agreement.
