Queer Love Lounge is the couples-therapy practice of Lauren Lynch, an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker (AASW), operating as part of Body Belonging Clinic. This policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect your personal and health information, in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).
We take your privacy seriously. Couples therapy involves sensitive and health information, and we treat it with the care and confidentiality it deserves.
The information we collect
Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:
- Contact and enquiry details — your name, email address, phone number, and anything you choose to tell us when you email or make an enquiry.
- Booking and account details — information you provide when you book an appointment through our practice-management system (Halaxy), including the details needed to schedule and invoice sessions.
- Health and sensitive information — information shared during the therapy process that is relevant to your care. This may include information about your relationship, health, wellbeing, and history. We only collect what is reasonably necessary for your care.
- Website information — limited, non-identifying analytics about how our website is used (see “Website analytics” below).
How we collect it
We collect information directly from you — through the website enquiry link, by email, when you book via Halaxy, and during sessions. Where it is reasonable and practical, we collect personal information directly from you rather than from third parties.
Why we collect and use it
- To respond to your enquiries and questions.
- To arrange, provide and manage therapy appointments and your care.
- To issue invoices and manage payment.
- To meet our professional, ethical and legal obligations as a mental health practitioner.
Health information and confidentiality
What you share in sessions is confidential. We will not disclose your health information without your consent, except where we are permitted or required to by law — for example, where there is a serious and imminent risk to your safety or the safety of others, where required by a court or subpoena, or where mandatory reporting obligations apply. These limits to confidentiality are discussed with you at the start of therapy.
Who we share it with
We do not sell your information, and we do not disclose it for marketing. We use trusted third-party services to run the practice, and only share what is necessary for them to provide their service:
- Halaxy — our practice-management and booking platform, used to schedule appointments and manage billing.
- Our email provider — used to correspond with you.
- Our website host — this website is hosted by Netlify.
These providers are bound by their own privacy and security obligations. Some may store data on servers located outside Australia; where that is the case, we take reasonable steps to ensure your information is handled consistently with the APPs.
Website analytics
We use Plausible Analytics to understand, in aggregate, how our website is used. Plausible is privacy-focused: it does not use cookies, does not track you across websites, and does not collect personal or identifying information. This helps us improve the site without building a profile of you.
How we store and protect your information
We take reasonable steps to protect your information from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access, including secure, access-controlled systems and confidential record-keeping. Clinical records are retained for as long as required by our professional and legal obligations, and are then securely destroyed or de-identified.
Accessing and correcting your information
You have the right to ask for access to the personal information we hold about you, and to ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate, out of date or incomplete. To make a request, contact us using the details below. We will respond within a reasonable time, and there are some limited circumstances in which access may not be granted, in which case we will explain why.
Making a complaint
If you have a concern about how we have handled your information, please contact us first — we will take it seriously and work to resolve it. If you are not satisfied, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au or 1300 363 992.
Contact us
Queer Love Lounge (Body Belonging Clinic)
Email: lovelounge@bodybelongingclinic.com.au
Phone: 0493 117 185