Privacy Policy

This policy has been prepared to align with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the NDIS Practice Standards.

1. Who we are

Circles of Support Plus ("we", "us", "our") is an NDIS Registered Specialist Behaviour Support Provider (Provider ID 4053372503) delivering Specialist Behaviour Support and therapeutic services, based in Canberra and available Australia-wide by telehealth/online. You can contact us at admin@circlesofsupportplus.com.au or on (02) 6257 7222.

2. What this policy covers

This policy explains how we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information, including sensitive information such as health information, through this website and in the course of delivering our services. It applies to participants, their families and carers, referrers, training attendees, job applicants and website visitors.

3. The information we collect

Through our website forms we may collect: your name, organisation, role, email address and phone number; the name, age and NDIS details of the person you are referring; information about the reason for referral, including health, disability, behaviour, justice and education information; and, for job applicants, your résumé and application details.

In the course of providing services we collect assessment information, observations, reports from other providers, plan and funding details, and records of the support we provide.

Automatically we collect limited technical information such as pages visited and approximate location through Google Analytics, if you consent to analytics cookies. We do not use analytics to identify you personally.

4. Sensitive information

Much of the information we handle is sensitive information under the Privacy Act, including health information. We collect sensitive information only with your consent, or the consent of a person authorised to act for the participant, and only where it is reasonably necessary for our services. Each referral form on this website includes a consent statement that you must accept before submitting.

5. How we collect information

We collect information directly from you through our website forms, by phone, email and in person, and from other people and organisations involved in a participant's support, such as support coordinators, schools, corrections agencies, health professionals and the NDIA, where you have consented or the law permits.

6. Why we collect and how we use information

We use personal information to: assess and respond to referrals and enquiries; deliver behaviour support, mentoring, therapy and training services; prepare behaviour support plans and reports, including lodgement with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission where required by law; communicate with you and your support team; invoice and claim payment through the NDIS or other funders; recruit staff; meet our legal, regulatory and quality obligations; and improve our services and website.

7. Who we share information with

We may disclose personal information to: the participant's nominated support team, with consent; the NDIA and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission where required; funders such as schools, government agencies and employers who have commissioned services, limited to what is necessary; our service providers who help us operate, such as email delivery, secure cloud hosting, our content management system and, where enabled, a spreadsheet or customer relationship management system used to track enquiries; and law enforcement, child protection or health authorities where the law requires or permits disclosure to prevent serious harm.

We do not sell personal information. We do not disclose personal information to overseas recipients for marketing. Some of our service providers store data on servers located outside Australia; where this occurs we take reasonable steps to ensure the recipient handles information in a manner consistent with the APPs.

8. Website forms and security

Information submitted through our website is transmitted over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection and delivered to our administration email. Submissions are not stored in the website itself. Résumés uploaded for job applications are forwarded to us by email and are not retained on the web server. We use firewalls, access controls, secure cloud providers and staff training to protect the information we hold, and we destroy or de-identify information when it is no longer needed and we are not required by law to keep it.

9. Cookies and analytics

Our website uses a small number of cookies. Essential cookies are required for the site to function. Analytics cookies (Google Analytics 4) are set only if you accept them through the cookie notice, and are used to understand which pages and services people are interested in. You can withdraw consent at any time by clearing your browser cookies. If we enable a live chat service, that provider may set its own cookies when you open a chat.

10. Access and correction

You may ask us for access to the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it, by contacting admin@circlesofsupportplus.com.au. We will respond within 30 days. In some circumstances the law allows us to refuse access, and we will tell you why.

11. Complaints

If you believe we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles, please contact us first so we can try to resolve it. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (www.oaic.gov.au, 1300 363 992) or, for NDIS matters, the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (www.ndiscommission.gov.au, 1800 035 544).

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version will always be published on this page with the date it was last updated.