Privacy Statement

The Association of Massage Therapists Ltd is subject to the provisions of the Privacy Act 1988. Any personal information you supply to us on membership application forms or any changes to your details is used strictly in accordance with the Act and kept in the strictest confidence. You have the right to access and correct any personal information that the Association holds about you.

None of the details given by you will be divulged to third parties without your permission and knowledge. Your personal information may be used only by this Association to improve our services and to provide you with the latest information about any new related services and promotions such as workshops, conferences and membership reminders.

Privacy Laws

In November 2001, federal privacy legislation was introduced in the private sector. As health service providers, massage therapists have a legal obligation to protect the privacy of their clients' personal information.

There is now new privacy legislation in NSW, which came into effect on 1st September 2004. The Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (HRIP Act) protects the privacy of health information in NSW.

The HRIP Act contains 15 health privacy principles (HPPs) outlining how health information must be collected, stored, used and disclosed. The health privacy principles can be grouped into seven main headings - collection, storage, access and accuracy, use, disclosure, identifiers amd anonymity, and transferrals and linkage. These are legal obligations that must be followed by massage therapists.

Members are strongly urged to read the new guidelines and Health Privacy Principles in detail. The full text of the Act is available from The Office of the NSW Privacy Commissioner.

Privacy NSW has identified seven basic steps on how you can get ready for the HRIP Act. Download How to prepare for the NSW Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (PDF). This document outlines the seven recommended steps.

Federal Privacy Act

AMT members are also strongly urged to review the full guidelines and National Privacy Principles (NPPs) which were introduced in November 2001. This information can be downloaded from The Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner - HTML (217Kb), PDF (362Kb), Word (687Kb), RTF (1.54Mb), Zipped (688Kb) .

In general terms, to fulfil the obligations of the State and Federal Privacy Act provisions ,you should:

Recognise that the client's information is private and belongs to the client
Tell your client the specific purpose for which personal information is being collected
Allow your client to access their personal information to check for inaccurate, incomplete or out of date information and to amend the records if necessary
Take reasonable steps to ensure personal information is kept confidential, secure and protected from unauthorised access or use
Never discuss client information with anyone other than the client without their permission. Ask your client's permission before passing information on to third parties
Download AMT's "Privacy Statement" (PDF) and display it in your clinic.