Clayfield Counselling Services

Telephone Counselling Information

Rights and Responsibilities

It is important to remember that in a client/counsellor relationship, both clients and counsellors have certain Rights and Responsibilities that they agree to once telephone counselling commences.

Clients have particular rights that include:

• The right to privacy and confidentiality
• The right to be treated with respect and dignity
• The right to withdraw from the service at any time
• The right to complain

Clients have certain responsibilities, which include:

• Ensuring that all information provided on the telephone counselling Intake Form is true and correct
• Complying with the Terms and Conditions of the telephone counselling service
• A commitment to ensuring that their password is kept secure and not passed on to another party

Counsellors whilst also having the right to withdraw their telephone counselling services, have responsibilities which include:

• A strict adherence to the PACFA Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics and other laws as they apply to telephone counselling, such as the Privacy Act, Freedom of Information Act, Anti-Discrimination Act, to name a few.
• Ensuring that a client’s consent is given for any personal information to be used for any purpose other than telephone counselling service delivery (for example, research purposes)

Terms & Conditions

• The person registering for the service acknowledges that he/she is willing and able to commence telephone counselling. What this means is that the person can:
  • Use a telephone system sufficiently well enough to be able to communicate with a counsellor, and
  • Can speak and understand English concepts well, and
  • Is aged eighteen (18) years or over
• The person seeking help agrees that if he/she is in a crisis situation and requires emergency assistance that they will NOT rely solely on the telephone counselling service and will seek appropriate emergency assistance. For example, by ringing:
  • ‘000’ Emergency
  • Lifeline 24 hour crisis counselling line on 13 11 14
  • Gambling Help Line on 1800 222 050
  • Local doctor/hospital
• The person seeking help agrees that all material provided by telephone counsellors is for the purpose of counselling the client and that all communication material remains the property of the telephone counselling service.
• The telephone counselling service is only available to Australian residents and is governed by the laws of Queensland , Australia .
• The administration of the telephone counselling service has established policies and procedures that ensure that all hardcopy material relating to the person seeking help is stored in a secure place.
• The person seeking help understands and accepts that the telephone counselling service is not responsible in any way for the security of their own electronic or hardcopies of telephone counselling communications that he/she may have kept. Further, the person seeking help understands that the telephone counselling service is not responsible for fraudulent interception of telephone communications, and that email communication may be subject to access by others online because the telephone counselling email system is not encrypted.
• The person seeking help understands and accepts that he/she is responsible for keeping passwords safe and secure and will not reveal them to another person.
• The person seeking help understands and accepts that the booking officer will respond to a registration within 24 hours if the booking is requested by email.
• The person seeking help may terminate telephone counselling at any time by informing the counsellor of their wishes. The person seeking help understands and accepts that the counsellor may also withdraw services at any time and that if this should occur a reason(s) will be provided.
• The person seeking help understands and accepts that telephone counselling fees are to be paid by credit card prior to the commencement of telephone counselling and that fees are not generally refunded.
• The person seeking help agrees to pay the amount stipulated at the time of registration for each session and to provide credit card details on each occasion.
• The administration of the telephone counselling service acknowledges that credit card details are not stored and that information relating to credit cards will not be divulged to anyone.
• The person seeking help acknowledges that all information provided to the booking officer by telephone or email is true and correct.
• The person seeking help understands that staff of the telephone counselling service will protect private and confidential information by the use of passwords and only in the case of possible harm to myself and/or to others, would any information be reported to appropriate authorities.
• The person seeking help understands that telephone counsellors at the service all undertake confidential, professional clinical supervision (in accordance with ‘best practice’ in counselling) and that within the supervision context cases may be discussed without divulging identifying details.

Disclaimer – telephone counselling counsellors are not able to provide any warranty or guarantee of resolution of problems (either expressed or implied). In no event shall they be liable to any person(s) for any loss or damage of any kind that may occur as a result their service(s). Any information, strategies, skills and interventions referred to through the counselling process are to be used at your own discretion.

Privacy Policy

Clayfield Counselling Services willingly adheres to the Privacy Act and The Privacy Amendment Act (2001) and will protect the hard copy of your details – private and confidential.

Counsellors consider research and education to be important to clients and workers interested in their services. If a person agrees on the Intake Form to participate in research then telephone counselling staff will seek their written consent and use non-identifying information for research and education purposes.

What do I do if I have a complaint?

If a person has a complaint about the telephone counselling service it is expected that they will:

1. Raise the complaint directly with their counsellor so that the counsellor has an opportunity to resolve the problem. The counsellor will refer the matter to the relevant person if the problem relates to matters outside the counselling process.
2. If the person complaining is not satisfied with the outcome after talking to their counsellor they could contact the telephone counselling Privacy Officer directly at tc@clayfieldcounselling.com.au. The Privacy Officer will investigate the complaint quickly and thoroughly and will notify the complainant of the result.