Privacy Policy

About this policy

This policy explains how Walking Lab Podiatry (Hughesdale Foot Clinic) collects, holds, uses and discloses personal information in connection with this website, and how you can access or correct your information or make a complaint. As a health service provider, we are bound by the Australian Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) regardless of our size — the small business exemption that applies to some other businesses does not apply to us.

Information we collect

The contact form creates a draft in your own email app; this website does not transmit or store its field values. If you then send that email, we receive your name, email address, phone number (if provided) and message. If your message describes a condition or symptoms, that is health information — a category the Privacy Act treats as sensitive information.

We do not directly collect any information through simple browsing of this website beyond what is described under Cookies and advertising below.

How we collect your information

We collect personal information directly from you: by email, by phone, or in person at the clinic. We do not buy or otherwise collect personal information about you from third parties.

Why we collect, use and disclose your information

We use the information you email us solely to respond to your enquiry or booking request. We do not use it to make automated decisions about you, and we do not sell it to anyone. Clinical records created once you become a patient are governed separately, by our in-clinic health records practices rather than this website.

Cookies and advertising

This site uses analytics and advertising tools, including Google Tag Manager, Google Ads and the Meta Pixel, to measure how visitors use the site and how effective our advertising is. These tools set cookies in your browser and share data with Google and Meta in accordance with their own privacy policies. None of them load unless you accept them on the cookie notice shown on your first visit. If you decline, no analytics or advertising cookies are set at all. You can change your choice at any time using the “Cookie settings” link in the footer, or disable cookies through your browser settings.

Disclosure to third parties

When you book an appointment, you are taken to our booking system, Cliniko, which has its own privacy policy governing the information you provide there. If you accept cookies, information about your visit is also shared with Google and Meta as described above. We do not disclose your personal information to anyone else, except where required by law.

Overseas disclosure

Cliniko, Google and Meta may store or process information on servers located outside Australia. We do not have direct control over the countries in which these providers hold data; each publishes its own privacy policy describing its data handling and security practices.

Data quality and security

We take reasonable steps to keep the personal information we hold accurate, complete and secure, and to protect it from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access. We only retain contact form submissions for as long as needed to respond to your enquiry, unless you go on to become a patient, at which point our clinical record retention obligations apply instead.

Access, correction and complaints

You may ask us to access or correct the personal information we hold about you at any time, using the details below. If you believe we have mishandled your personal information and you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes to this website or our legal obligations. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last revised.

Contact us

For questions about this policy or to request access to your information, contact us at info@hughesdalefootclinic.com.au or 03 9568 0636.