Privacy Policy | Swallow Science

Swallow Science Melbourne
Privacy Policy

This document describes the privacy policy of Lillian Krikheli (ABN 41 766 868 708) trading as Swallow Science Melbourne (“Swallow Science Melbourne”, “we”, “us”) for protecting the privacy of personal information we collect about you, including through our website, located at www.swallowscience.com.au as well as through the provision of speech pathology products and/or services or directly from you.

As a health service provider, we are bound by the legal requirements of the Australian Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

If you do not wish for your personal information to be collected in a way anticipated by this Privacy Policy, we may not be in a position to provide our services to you. In some circumstances, you may request to be anonymous or to use a pseudonym, unless it is impracticable for us to deal with you, or if we are required or authorised by law to deal with identified individuals.

Personal Information We Collect

The types of personal information we collect include and from whom are set out below:

Collected from: All visitors to our website
Type of personal information: IP address, browser type, and usage patterns (via cookies/analytics, if enabled)

Collected from: Visitors to our website who complete a contact or enquiry form
Type of personal information:

First name, last name
Email address
Phone number
Personal information volunteered in free-text message field

Collected from: Health professionals referring patients to us
Type of personal information:

Name
Profession
Contact information, such as postal address, email address, phone number and fax number
Signature

Collected from: Clients and patients completing intake and case history forms
Type of personal information:

Personal details including: name, preferred name, date of birth, gender, occupation
Contact details including: home address, email address, phone numbers, emergency contacts/next of kin
Signature

We also collect sensitive information. The types of sensitive information and the circumstances in which we collect it and from whom are set out below:

Collected from or about: Potential clients who have been referred to us
Type of sensitive information:

The name of the individual being referred
The reason for the referral
The patient’s past medical history
Any other relevant health information (such as gender, age)
Other health information contained in referral letters, medical imaging slips, or other supporting documents provided by the practitioner

Collected from or about: Clients and patients completing intake and case history forms
Type of sensitive information:

Social and medical history: allergies, past medical and surgical history, chronic illnesses, relevant family history
Current medications, supplements, and herbs
Swallowing history: description of problem, onset, severity, changes, location of symptoms, distress rating, choking episodes, pain with swallowing, prior assessments
Screening assessment responses
Dentition status (own teeth, dentures, none)
Medicare card details (card number, IRN, expiry)
Other health information contained in supporting documents, such as referral letters, medical imaging results, pathology results, Chronic Disease Management Plan
Assessment data via radiology
Details of other health service providers involved in your care (e.g. referring doctor's name, phone and address, treatment history)

How We Collect Personal Information

We are committed to using lawful and fair means to collect personal information and collecting it from others only when it is unreasonable or impracticable to obtain certain information from our clients directly.

We collect personal information in a number of ways:

When someone visits our website;
When someone makes an enquiry with us (for example, by telephone or email);
When someone purchases a product or service from us;
When someone signs up to a marketing subscription, such as a newsletter sign-up form;
When someone contacts us via phone, email, post or our website;
When someone books an appointment with us online;
When someone makes a referral to us;
When someone completes a client intake questionnaire or consent form; and
When someone participates in one of services.

We collect sensitive information in more limited circumstances, such as:

When someone makes an enquiry with us and the sensitive information is disclosed to us to facilitate referral to an appropriate service provider;
When someone is referred to us by another service provider through a referral; and
When someone participates in our services and the sensitive information is disclosed to us to facilitate the delivery of the service (for example, in an intake or consent form, or by providing us with copies of case notes, test results or images).

We limit the circumstances in which we collect personal and sensitive information indirectly. This may be where a person has authorized us to collect information from other health service providers they have disclosed information to (for example, information provided via referral or medical reports).

How We Hold and Protect Personal Information

We store all personal information we collect physically secured, including on or within locked storage with access limited to authorised staff on a “need to know” basis.

We store all personal information we collect electronically securely, including on or within dedicated information storage software.

All personal information we transmit electronically is transmitted and stored through secure platforms (e.g. Halaxy Telehealth), with information shared only where necessary and with consent.

Security

We are committed to ensuring that the personal information we hold is secure and protected from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We undertake the following precautions to protect personal information we hold:

our website contains pages encrypted with SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) to ensure the safety of any data that is submitted through use of this website;
we limit access to personal information to a “need-to-know” basis;
the backend of our website and social media accounts is password protected;
we protect devices we use to collect, hold, use and disclose personal information with industry-standard anti-virus software;
our devices are protected by passwords and are stored in secure premises;
two-factor authentication (2FA) and biometric logins are enabled wherever available;
data is securely stored in locked storage, on cloud servers, within secure platforms or within secure systems with encryption and restricted access;
all conversations involving the discussion of personal information take place in private, where conversations are unable to be overheard by unauthorised personnel; and
if we no longer need personal information, we take reasonable steps to delete or de-identify the information.

We take extra precautions to protect sensitive information, including through secure storage, encryption, password policies and restricted access.

we protect devices we use to collect, hold, use and disclose sensitive information with industry-standard anti-virus software;
our devices are protected by passwords and are stored in secure premises;
data is securely stored on cloud servers;
all hard copies of sensitive information are kept in secure storage with access by authorised personnel only; and
all conversations involving the discussion of sensitive information take place in private, where conversations are unable to be overheard by unauthorised personnel.

If a data breach occurs involving personal information and the breach is likely to cause harm, we will notify the individual as soon as possible after the occurrence in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy Act and related legislation.

Why We Collect, Hold, Use and Disclose Personal Information

We collect, hold, use and disclose personal information as is reasonably necessary for us to operate our business and provide our services, including for the following purposes:

to contact and communicate with clients and potential clients;
for the purpose of delivering our services and products;
to manage bookings, reminders, billing, payments, and Medicare/private health claims;
to verify transactions to ensure that we are not subject to any potential risk or fraudulent activity;
to efficiently administer practice management systems and website functions, including analytics and security;
to maintain accurate records to meet professional, legal, and regulatory obligations;
for statistical purposes; and
as required by law (for example, for mandatory reporting purposes).

We only collect, hold, use and disclose sensitive information to:

deliver clinical services, including swallowing and upper airway assessments, therapy, and follow-up;
to ensure we are the right fit for clients;
to ensure the accurate and safe provision of services including through infection control;
to communicate with clients, carers and other healthcare providers (including medical imaging providers) involved in a person’s care about appointments, care plans, and progress;
to undertake research, including to share your deidentified information with your consent, with our research partners;
to conduct activities relating to quality assurance and improvement processes, accreditation, audits, risk and claims management, client satisfaction surveys and staff education and training;

We do not disclose personal and sensitive information to overseas third-party organisations.

We never sell or rent personal or sensitive information we collect.

Health Research and Education

From time to time, we may use or share your deidentified personal and sensitive information (e.g. assessment images) with peers for the purposes of professional education and supervision. We will never share your information without your consent or in a manner that can identify you. We may invite you to consent to the use of your de-identified information for education or research. This is entirely optional and will not affect your care.

As you probably know, a cookie is a small text file that’s placed on your computer to help us remember your preferences, like your login information or location. Cookies are used for a variety of reasons. We use cookies to make it easier and faster for you to use our Website.

We also use cookies for security purposes to protect you online. We and our third-party vendors may also use cookies to display advertisements to you elsewhere on the internet.

You can block the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. You can opt out of third-party vendor cookies by visiting your Google Ad settings or http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp.

Please note that the Website may not work as well for you if you disable cookies.

Links

To help you find more information, we sometimes include links to other helpful websites from our Website. Please note that this privacy policy only applies to information that we collect on our Website (not any other site).

As we aren’t responsible for data collection on those other sites, our privacy policy won’t apply. We can’t guarantee any of the privacy practices of other websites, so please be safe and make sure you read their privacy policy before giving them your personal

Access, Concerns, Correction and Deletion

Access:
You can request details of personal information that we hold about you in certain circumstances set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Act). We may refuse to provide you with information that we hold in certain circumstances set out in the Act. Otherwise, we will provide access to the information if it is reasonable and practicable to do so. In most cases we will do this free of charge, but if your request requires significant effort or expense on our part, we might ask for compensation for that.

Correction:
If you believe that any information we hold about you is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, please contact us at admin@swallowscience.com.au.
We will endeavour to promptly correct any information found to be inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date and to notify of the correction, unless it is impracticable or unlawful to do so.

Deletion:
If you want us to delete personal information we hold about you or to not collect information from you for a specific purpose, please contact us at admin@swallowscience.com.au.
Please note that if we agree to delete information, because of backups and records of deletions, it may be impossible to completely delete the information without retaining some residual information.
We will respond to any request to access, correct or delete information within a reasonable time.

Unsubscribe
We like to keep our clients and website visitors up to date, so from time to time we will send you newsletters, invitations and updates. Not to worry: you can opt out at any time. To unsubscribe from our email database, or opt out of communications, contact us using the details set out below.

Concerns
If you have a concern about management of your personal information, please contact Lillian Krikheli at admin@swallowscience.com.au. We can also provide you with a copy of the Australian Privacy Principles, which describe your rights and how your personal information should be handled, on request.
If unsatisfied with our response, you may lodge a formal complaint about the use of, disclosure of, or access to, your personal information, with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner by phone on 1300 363 992, online at http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/making-a-privacy-complaint or by post to: Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, GPO Box 5218, Sydney, NSW 2001.

Changes to this policy

If we decide to change our Privacy Policy, we will let you know by posting such changes on our website.

Contacting us

For any questions or notice, please contact us by emailing admin@swallowscience.com.au

This privacy policy was last updated: 24 October 2025

Swallow Science Melbourne Privacy Policy

Swallow Science Melbourne
Privacy Policy