Magnolia House Psychology and Therapies Centre
Charter of Rights
Client Consent and Information Form
About Our Practice
Magnolia House Psychology and Therapies Centre is a private practice with a multidisciplinary team of Psychologists, Occupational Therapists, Social Workers, Accredited Mental Health Social Workers, Counsellors and Art Therapists who offer high-quality, evidence-based interventions. Clinicians operate under their respective membership or registration with their professional body, including the AHPRA Code of Conduct for Registered Health Practitioners, the Psychology Board of Australia Code of Conduct for Psychologists, the Australian Psychological Society (APS) Code of Ethics, the Occupational Therapy Australia (OTA) Code of Ethics, the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) Code of Ethics, the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) Code of Ethics, and the Australian, New Zealand and Asian Creative Arts Therapies Association (ANZACATA) Code of Ethics, as applicable.
Your Treating Clinician
Your treating clinician may be a registered Psychologist, a registered Occupational Therapist, a Social Worker, an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker, a registered Counsellor or an Art Therapist. Each clinician practises within the scope of their professional qualifications, registration and relevant code of ethics. Your clinician will explain their role, the nature of the service they provide, and how their particular professional framework applies to your care.
Informed Consent
Informed consent means you have been given sufficient information to make a voluntary decision about whether to engage in services. Before or at the commencement of your service, your clinician will discuss with you:
1. Their role and qualifications, and the nature of the therapeutic relationship with you
2. The type of service being offered, including the therapeutic approach or modality
3. The expected benefits, potential risks and likely outcomes of the proposed service, if applicable
4. Alternative service options or referral pathways, if applicable
5. The limits to confidentiality (outlined below)
6. Your right to ask questions, seek a second opinion, withdraw consent or discontinue services at any time
7. How your personal information will be collected, recorded, stored, used and disclosed
8. Any involvement of associated parties (e.g., family members, carers, other professionals) in your care
You may withdraw your consent at any time. If you choose to do so, your clinician will discuss any potential implications with you. Where a client has limited or impaired capacity to consent, consent will be sought from an authorised representative in accordance with relevant legislation.
Cancellation Policy
At Magnolia House, we have a clear cancellation and did-not-attend (DNA) policy. As you would appreciate, this enables us to provide appointments for other clients who are waiting for support. This policy is consistent with the Office of Fair Trading guidelines and standard practice across most professional service organisations.
Consultation time is the basis of our practice. Late cancellations mean that another client may miss out on an opportunity to receive support, a clinician may have spent unnecessary preparation time, have their schedule disrupted. Unlike brief medical appointments, a 50-minute appointment is a significant amount of time in a day and difficult to refill at short notice.
The Office of Fair Trading states that a business is within its rights to charge a cancellation or ‘no show’ fee for appointments. To assist you, you are informed of the Cancellation/DNA policy:
• When you make the initial booking
• In your booking confirmation email
• In your reminder SMS sent 2 days before your scheduled appointment time
• On our website
• As displayed in the clinic
We are always happy to provide you with a list of your scheduled appointments – just ask one of our friendly admin team. While we help you be aware of your appointment times, you should not rely on this as your appointment times are your responsibility.
Late cancellations, late rescheduling, or failure to attend an appointment is a loss to three people – you in delaying your therapy, another client who is waiting to see a clinician, and the clinician themselves.
Please note Medicare, private health insurance, and third-party providers do not give rebates for cancellation fees.
We understand that, on occasion, unforeseen circumstances can prevent you from attending your scheduled appointment; however, as a professional practice, we must adhere to a cancellation policy to maintain our services. Please do not ask our reception staff to be responsible for your unforeseen circumstances. The cancellation fee is payable at the time of the cancellation, and we appreciate your understanding, courtesy, politeness, and respect as we do our job following these guidelines. Failure to pay a late cancellation or DNA fee may result in your upcoming appointment being cancelled. As always, though, talk to us about your circumstances.
We cannot guarantee that another appointment can be made for you at short notice so rather than cancelling the appointment, where appropriate, please consider keeping the scheduled appointment via online or phone consultation if you cannot attend the clinic in person.
If you make a cancellation within 48 hours before the scheduled appointment time, then a cancellation fee of up to the full fee of the appointment will be applied at the rate assigned to the clinician you see. Cancel more than 48 hours before the scheduled appointment and no cancellation fee will be incurred.
The cancellation fee is payable at the time of the cancellation, and we appreciate your understanding, courtesy, politeness, and respect as we do our job following these guidelines. If we are unable to contact you within 24 hours of an appointment you have failed to attend, we will charge the card stored on file. As always, though, talk to us about your circumstances.
You can cancel an appointment by emailing reception@magnoliahousepsych.com.au or responding to the SMS or by phoning the clinic on 07 4639 3367.
Payment and Fees
Payment is required in full on the day, at completion of each consultation, by debit or credit card. Please note we do not accept cash payments Once full payment has been received, your Medicare rebate will be automatically processed, where applicable. In most cases, the rebate will be credited to your nominated bank account within 24 hours.
For telehealth and out-of-clinic appointments, your stored credit card will be charged. In the event payment fails, we will contact you and payment will need to be organised within 48 hours of attending your appointment.
Confidentiality
All personal information gathered by your treating clinician during the provision of services will remain confidential and secure except where:
1. It is subpoenaed by a court or disclosure is otherwise required or authorised by law (including mandatory reporting obligations under child protection or other legislation);
2. Failure to disclose the information would place you or another person at serious and imminent risk of harm;
3. Your prior approval has been obtained to:
a) Provide a written report to another professional or agency (e.g., a GP or lawyer); or
b) Discuss the material with another person (e.g., a parent, carer, employer or other treating professional); or
4. Disclosure is required to facilitate emergency service provision.
At the beginning of your service and thereafter as necessary, your clinician will inform you about the limits of confidentiality and the likely uses of information generated during the provision of services.
When providing services to couples, families or groups, your clinician will clarify confidentiality arrangements with all parties involved and seek commitment from all participants to respect one another’s privacy.
Policy for Client Personal Information
Your clinician is bound by the legal requirements of the Australian Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). For more information, visit http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-resources/privacy-fact-sheets.
Your personal information is stored in secure electronic and paper files at Magnolia House offices. Other authorised staff on site, in addition to your treating clinician, may have access to these records for the purposes of providing the service. The information on file includes personal information such as name, address, contact phone numbers and emails, medical history, and other personal information collected for the purposes of providing the service.
In the event of a data breach that is likely to result in serious harm to you, we are required under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme (Part IIIC of the Privacy Act 1988) to notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as soon as practicable. We take all reasonable steps to protect your information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
Collection of Personal Information
Your personal information is collected in a number of ways during the consultation, including directly with the clinician, in hardcopy forms, correspondence via email, directly with practice staff such as the receptionist, and when other professionals provide personal information to the clinician via referrals, correspondence and medical reports.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools
As part of our practice, we may use secure Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to assist with documentation, administration, and enhancing the quality of services provided. These tools are used responsibly, with your privacy and confidentiality protected at all times in accordance with applicable privacy legislation and professional codes of ethics.
Use of Information for Professional Supervision, Education, Training or Research
From time to time, de-identified information from clinical work may be used for the purposes of professional supervision, peer consultation, education, training or research. In all cases, identifying details will be removed or disguised to protect your privacy. If your clinician wishes to use identifiable information for any of these purposes, your written and informed consent will be sought beforehand.
Withholding Personal Information
If you do not wish to provide your personal information, it may not be possible for the treating clinician to agree to consult you for a service. This would need to be discussed with the treating clinician at the time of initial booking.
For clients accessing services through an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or any other third party funding arrangement where it is necessary to de identify you from the organisation responsible for payment, we will ensure your personal information is not disclosed to that third party. Only de identified information required for administrative purposes (e.g., confirmation of attendance or invoicing without identifying details) will be provided, and no personal, clinical or identifying information will be shared without your explicit consent.
Request to Access Client Information
Written consent from a client is required to release personal records to another clinician, practice or third party. Any requests to access your personal file information, or any concerns about your personal information, are to be directed to your treating clinician or the practice manager in writing. A response will be given within 5 working days and an appointment will be made if necessary for clarification purposes. A fee may apply for the review and preparation of the request.
You have a right to access information contained in your records, subject to some exceptions under relevant legislation. Your clinician will assist you in accessing this information when you are entitled to do so. You also have the right to request correction of any personal information that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, in accordance with Australian Privacy Principle 13.
Storage of Personal Information
Your personal information is stored for a minimum of 7 years after ceasing engagement with your treating clinician, and until the age of 25 years for a person who was under the age of 18 at the time of the last entry. These records may be kept longer if required by law or organisational requirements. In the event your treating clinician leaves the practice, your records will be retained at Magnolia House.
Cultural Safety and Respect
Our practice is committed to providing culturally safe and respectful services for all clients. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as the First Peoples of Australia and are committed to delivering services that are free from bias, racism and discrimination. We respect the diverse cultures, beliefs, gender identities, sexualities and experiences of all people and will work collaboratively with you to ensure your individual, cultural and communication needs are met.
To support this commitment, we offer access to interpreter and translator services where needed, and we are happy to record your preferred name and pronouns on file. If there are other cultural, spiritual or communication needs that are important to you, please let your clinician or our admin team know so we can do our best to accommodate them.
Continuity of Service
If your clinician becomes unavailable (e.g., due to leave, relocation, illness or other unforeseen circumstances), reasonable arrangements will be made for alternative or ongoing care. Where it is necessary to end the therapeutic relationship, your clinician will discuss this with you and, where appropriate, assist you with referral to another suitable practitioner.
Complaints and Feedback
You have the right to raise concerns or complaints about your care at any time. We encourage you to speak with your treating clinician or the practice manager in the first instance so we can work with you to resolve any issues.
If you wish to make a formal complaint, the following bodies may be contacted:
1. For Psychologists: Psychology Board of Australia / AHPRA – www.ahpra.gov.au
2. For Occupational Therapists: Occupational Therapy Board of Australia / AHPRA – www.ahpra.gov.au; or Occupational Therapy Australia (OTA) – www.otaus.com.au
3. For Social Workers: Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) – www.aasw.asn.au
4. For Counsellors: Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) – www.pacfa.org.au
5. For Art Therapists: Australian, New Zealand and Asian Creative Arts Therapies Association (ANZACATA) – www.anzacata.org; or PACFA – www.pacfa.org.au
6. Office of the Health Ombudsman (Queensland) – www.oho.qld.gov.au