Privacy Policy

1. Definitions and interpretations

1.1 Definitions 

In this Privacy Policy, unless, the context otherwise requires:

(1) We/Us/Our means Kate Rigden Charlton ABN 44 899 093 743 trading as Charlton Counselling;

(2) Personal Information has the meaning given to it in the Privacy Act;

(3) Privacy Act means Privacy Act 1988 (Cth);

(4) Sensitive Information has the meaning given to it in the Privacy Act; and

(5) You means a natural person.

1.2 Interpretation 

(1) A reference to:

(a) one gender includes the other genders;

(b) the singular includes the plural and the plural includes the singular;

(c) a person includes a natural person, partnership, body corporate, joint venture, association, government, authority, agency or other entity; 

(d) a party includes that party's executors, administrators, successors and permitted assigns;

(e) a document is to that document as amended, novated or replaced from time to time;

(f) “including" and similar expressions are not words of limitation;

(g) a statute, regulation or provision of a statute or regulation ("Statutory Provision") includes:

(i) that Statutory Provision as amended or re-enacted from time to time; and

(ii) a statute, regulation or provision enacted in replacement of that Statutory Provision, or if relevant, the predecessor to that statute, regulation or provision; 

(2) where a word or expression is given a particular meaning, other parts of speech and grammatical forms of that word or expression have a corresponding meaning;

(3) if a party consists of more than one person, this Privacy Policy applies to them jointly and each of them severally;

(4) headings are for convenience only and do not affect the interpretation or form part of this Privacy policy;

(5) words defined in the Privacy Act have the same meaning in this Privacy Policy.

2. What kinds of personal information do we collect?

(1) We may collect different types of Personal Information about you. In addition to the types of information we may collect from you listed below, we may collect and hold additional Personal Information about you which is reasonably necessary for one or more of our functions or activities. 

(2) The kinds of Personal Information we collect and hold about you could include (but is not limited to):

(a) identification information such as your:

(i) name;

(ii) address;

(iii) email address;

(iv) telephone numbers;

(v) date of birth;

(vi) occupation; 

(vii) employer;

(b) your personal circumstances;

(c) your property details;

(d) your plans;

(e) entities you are involved in or associated with;

(f) other information that we consider necessary for the provision and promotion of our products and services and the operation of our business;

(g) financial information;

(h) photographs, film and/or recordings or any other digital representation;

(i) health information; 

(j) relationship information; 

(k) family information; 

(l) device information, such as which browser you use, your operating system language and how you use your device; and

(m) your location or activity including IP address and geolocation data based on the GPS on your mobile device (when accessing our services), and whether you have accessed third party sites.

3. How do we collect and hold your personal information?

(1) You consent to the collection of Personal Information and Sensitive Information that you provide to us (either directly or indirectly) for use and disclosure by us in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

(2) How we collect personal information? We collect Personal Information in a number of ways. For example, we generally collect Personal Information directly from you such as through the completion of a form, in a document, verbally, in a meeting or interview, by email, by a digital device and other electronic means. When you use our website we may collect information about your IP address, location or activity.

(3) How we hold personal information? We hold your Personal Information in our notes, records, documents, our safe custody facility, emails, electronic communications, digital devices, software, document management system, servers, databases, premises and storage facilities.

(4) Personal Information collected from third parties: In some circumstances we may collect Personal Information about you from a third party. For example, we may collect information about you from:

(a) a public register:

(b) a relative; 

(c) an associate; 

(d) another advisor, including: 

(i) an accountant; 

(ii) a financial planner; 

(iii) an insurer; 

(iv) a broker; 

(v) a lawyer; 

(e) a health professional, including, a doctor, psychologist, psychiatrist and counsellor; 

(f) another expert; 

(g) your current, prospective or former employer;

(h) a person you authorise us to liaise with. 

(5) We may combine Personal Information we collect from you with Personal Information we collect from third parties.

4. Purposes

We collect, hold, use and may disclose Personal Information so we can:

(1) act for you or an entity you are involved or associated with;

(2) provide information;

(3) provide a service or product;

(4) conduct market research;

(5) identify you;

(6) run our business and perform administrative and operational tasks;

(7) conduct marketing and business development;

(8) comply with our obligations under applicable laws, regulations and codes.

5. Access and correction of personal information

(1) You can request access to any Personal Information which we hold about you and request us to correct any inaccuracies in Personal Information we hold about you by making a request in writing to our privacy officer (see details below). 

(2) We will require you to verify your identity and specify what Personal Information you require. We cannot give you information about anyone else.

(3) Making a request is free, however, we may charge a reasonable fee to cover the cost of verifying your identity requesting and locating, retrieving, reviewing and copying any material requested. The fee will not be excessive, and we will endeavour to advise the likely cost in advance.

(4) We will endeavour to allow access or make the changes requested by you to your Personal Information, unless, we consider the Privacy Act or another relevant law requires us to withhold the information, or not make the changes. If we cannot provide you with access to that information, we will endeavour to provide you with written notice explaining the reasons for refusal. If we refuse you access or to correct your Personal Information, you can make a complaint about this, by following the complaint procedures in this Privacy Policy (see details below). 

(5) The Privacy Act permits an organisation to deny access to Personal Information in certain circumstances, including where giving access would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of other individuals. 

(6) Please contact us if your contact details change or if you believe we hold incorrect information about you.

6. Enquiries and complaints

(1) If you would like further information about the way we manage the Personal Information we hold, or if you have a concern that you believe we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles please contact:

Kate Charlton

kate@charltoncounselling.com.au

(2) We will endeavour to investigate any complaint, and respond to you as promptly as is reasonably practicable after receiving your complaint. 

(3) You may complain to:

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) 

GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001

1300 363 992

enquiries@oaic.gov.au

7. Disclosure to overseas recipient

Not applicable at the date this document was created.

8. Using other websites

Our website may contain links or references to other websites to which this Privacy Policy may not apply. You should review the Privacy Policy of each of those websites and assess whether those policies are acceptable to you before using those websites.

9. Changes to this Privacy Policy

(1) We may, from time to time, review and update this Privacy Policy to take account of new laws and technology, changes to our operations and practices and to make sure it remains appropriate.

(2) Any changes to our Privacy Policy will be published on our website. 

(3) This Privacy Policy was last updated on 24 March 2026.