Privacy & Confidentiality Policy

1. Our services

This policy covers the following services:

• One-on-one career counselling sessions (online and in-person)
• The Year Ahead Indicator quiz and personalised reports
• Workshops, group sessions, and presentations
• Resources, tools, and content available on our website
• Email, social media, and other direct communications with us

2. Confidentiality in career counselling sessions

What you share in a career counselling session is confidential. This is a core principle of our practice and one we take very seriously. This means:

• The content of your sessions (what you say, what we discuss, what you’re working through) will not be shared with anyone without your explicit written consent
• Session notes are kept securely and are accessible only to Naomi
• We will not confirm or deny to any third party (including employers, family members, educational institutions, or other professionals) that you are or have been a client, unless you ask us to
• If you were referred by a school, employer, or other organisation, we will not provide them with details of what you discussed in your sessions unless you give us written consent to do so

Limits to confidentiality

There are a small number of situations where we may be required or permitted to break confidentiality. These are:

• If we believe there is a serious and imminent risk to your life or safety, or to the life or safety of another person
• If we are required to by Australian law or a court order
• If we reasonably believe a child or young person is at risk of harm (mandatory reporting obligations under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic))
• If we are required to report under any other mandatory reporting legislation

If any of these situations arise, we will make every effort to discuss it with you first and involve you in any decisions about what information is shared and with whom. We will only disclose the minimum information necessary. Outside of these situations, your confidentiality is absolute.

Session notes and records

We keep brief clinical notes for each session. These notes are for our own professional reference and are used to maintain continuity of service (so we remember what we discussed and what you’re working toward). Session notes typically include:

• The date and duration of the session
• Key topics discussed
• Any goals, plans, or actions agreed on
• Any resources or referrals provided

Session notes do not include a transcript or detailed record of everything said. They are a professional summary, not a word-for-word account. You have the right to request access to your session notes at any time. If you believe anything in your notes is inaccurate, you can ask us to correct it.

Sharing information with other professionals

If you’d like us to communicate with another professional on your behalf (for example, a psychologist, a GP, a school counsellor, or an employer), we will ask you to provide written consent before doing so. This consent will specify who we’re communicating with, what information we’re sharing, and for what purpose. You can withdraw this consent at any time.

3. What personal information we collect

When you book or attend a career counselling session

• Your name and contact details (email, phone number)
• Any information you provide during the booking process (such as what you’d like to discuss)
• Information you share during sessions (covered by the confidentiality provisions above)
• Session notes as described above
• Payment information (processed by our payment provider, not stored by us directly)

When you take The Year Ahead Indicator quiz

• Your first name and email address
• Your phone number (if you choose to provide it)
• How you found the quiz (e.g. Instagram, a friend, your school)
• Your quiz responses (the answers you select for each question)
• Your quiz results (your journey type, fuel source category, and domain scores)
• Your chapter title (the free-text response you write for the final question)
• Whether you consented to receive marketing emails
• The date and time you completed the quiz

When you attend a workshop or group session

• Your name and contact details (as provided during registration)
• Any feedback or evaluation responses you provide
• We do not keep individual notes on participants in group settings

When you use our website

Our website may collect basic analytics data such as which pages you visit, how long you stay, and what device or browser you’re using. This data is aggregated and anonymised. We don’t use it to identify you personally.

When you contact us

If you email us, message us on social media, or fill in a contact form, we keep a record of that conversation so we can follow up properly.

4. How we use your information

We use your personal information for the following purposes:

• To provide career counselling services and maintain continuity between sessions
• To generate and deliver your personalised Year Ahead Indicator report
• To manage session bookings and client records
• To process payments for services
• To follow up with you about your quiz results if you’ve expressed interest in a session
• To send you marketing emails about career resources, workshops, and new tools (only if you opted in)
• To administer and improve workshops and group programs
• To improve the quiz and our services (using aggregated, de-identified data)
• To respond to your enquiries
• To meet our professional and legal obligations

We will never sell your personal information. We will never use your session content for marketing purposes. We will never share identifiable client stories, case studies, or testimonials without your explicit written consent.

5. Who we share your information with

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to anyone.

We may share limited information with the following types of service providers, who are bound by their own privacy obligations:

• Our website hosting platform (for quiz submissions and website functionality)
• Our email service provider (for sending marketing emails to people who opted in)
• Our payment processor (for session and report payments)
• Our booking system provider (for managing session bookings)
• Other professionals, but only with your written consent (see Section 2)

These providers only receive the information they need to perform their specific function. They do not have permission to use your data for any other purpose.

We may also disclose your information if required by Australian law, a court order, or a government authority, or in the limited circumstances described under “Limits to confidentiality” in Section 2.

6. Marketing emails

We only send marketing emails to people who have actively opted in by ticking the marketing consent checkbox. This checkbox is never pre-ticked.

Every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link. If you unsubscribe, we will stop sending marketing emails within 5 business days. Unsubscribing from marketing emails does not delete your quiz data, affect your counselling records, or impact any other services.

We comply with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth). We will never send you commercial electronic messages without your consent.

7. How we store and protect your information

Your personal information is stored electronically on secure, password-protected systems:

• Quiz data is stored on our website platform
• Session notes and client records are stored in our practice management system
• Payment details are processed and stored by our payment provider, not by us
• Emails and communications are stored in our email system

We take reasonable steps to protect your information from unauthorised access, modification, disclosure, or destruction. These steps include password protection, limited access (only Naomi and necessary service providers can access your data), and choosing reputable service providers with their own security practices.

No system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If we become aware of a data breach that is likely to result in serious harm to you, we will notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as required by the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

8. How long we keep your information

• Client session records: retained for 7 years from your last session, in line with professional practice standards
• Quiz submissions: retained for up to 3 years from the date of completion, unless you ask us to delete them sooner
• Workshop registration and feedback: retained for 2 years
• Marketing contact lists: maintained until you unsubscribe, at which point your email is removed from the active list within 5 business days
• Incomplete quiz submissions (started but not finished): retained for 12 months and then deleted
• Financial records: retained for 7 years as required by Australian tax law

When your data is no longer needed, we delete or de-identify it.

9. Your rights

You have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you, including your session notes
• Ask us to correct any information that is inaccurate or out of date
• Ask us to delete your personal information (subject to any legal or professional obligations we have to retain it)
• Withdraw your marketing consent at any time
• Request that we stop sharing your information with a specific third party (if you previously consented to sharing)
• Make a complaint about how we’ve handled your personal information

To exercise any of these rights, email us at naomi@thelonghaulcareers.com.au. We will respond within 30 days.

If you’re not satisfied with how we’ve handled a complaint, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au.

10. Children and young people

Some of our services, including The Year Ahead Indicator quiz, are designed for people of all ages, including secondary school students (Year 9 and above).

Career counselling with young people

If you are under 18 and attending a career counselling session, the same confidentiality provisions apply to you as to any other client. What you share in a session stays in your session. We will not share the content of your sessions with your parents, guardians, school, or anyone else without your consent, unless one of the limits to confidentiality applies (see Section 2).

If a parent or guardian is paying for your sessions, they are entitled to know that the sessions are taking place and the general nature of the service (career counselling), but they are not entitled to the content of what you discuss. We will explain this to both you and your parent or guardian at the start of the process.

The Year Ahead Indicator quiz

If you are under 18, we encourage you to review this policy with a parent or guardian before taking the quiz. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. For quiz takers aged 13 to 17, we collect only the information described in Section 3 and use it only for the purposes described in Section 4. We do not send marketing emails to anyone under 18 unless a parent or guardian has provided consent on their behalf.

11. Professional standards

Naomi is a CICA-registered Career Development Practitioner, and a member of the Australian Centre for Career Education (ACCE), NAGCAS and IAEVG. Our practice is guided by:

• The CICA Code of Ethics
• The professional standards of the Australian Centre for Career Education (ACCE)
• The Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)
• The Spam Act 2003 (Cth)

These frameworks inform how we handle your information, maintain confidentiality, manage conflicts of interest, and deliver services with integrity. If you have concerns about our adherence to these standards, you can raise them directly with us or with the relevant professional body.

12. Cookies and tracking

Our website may use cookies (small text files stored on your device) to improve your experience and collect anonymous analytics data. You can control cookie settings through your browser. Disabling cookies may affect the functionality of the quiz.

We do not use cookies to track you across other websites or to build advertising profiles.

13. Third-party links

Our website and quiz reports may contain links to external websites (government resources, training providers, career tools). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those websites. We encourage you to read their privacy policies before providing them with your information.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make significant changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page.

If we make changes that materially affect how we use your personal information or handle your confidentiality, we will notify active clients directly and post a notice on our website.

15. How to contact us

If you have any questions about this policy, want to access or correct your information, want to discuss confidentiality, or want to make a complaint, please contact us:

Naomi
The Long Haul Careers
Email: naomi@thelonghaulcareers.com.au
Website: thelonghaulcareers.com.au
ABN: 70 382 175 894