Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 2026

Recovery First (“we”, “us”, “our”) is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal and health information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and applicable Victorian health-records legislation. This policy explains how we handle your information across our Carrum Downs and South Melbourne clinics and through this website.

1. Information we collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:

• Personal details — such as your name, date of birth, address, phone number and email.
• Health information — your medical history, symptoms, injuries, assessments, treatment records and related clinical notes. Health information is “sensitive information” under the Privacy Act and receives a higher level of protection.
• Booking & payment details — appointment times, clinic location and, where relevant, payment or health-fund information processed by our booking providers.
• Website & technical data — information collected automatically when you use our website, such as IP address, browser type, pages viewed and cookies.

2. How we collect information

We collect information directly from you — when you book an appointment, complete our enquiry or intake forms, attend a consultation, call or email us, or interact with our website and social media. With your consent, we may also collect information from third parties such as your referring GP or specialist.

3. Why we collect and how we use it

We use your information to:

• Provide physiotherapy, rehabilitation and related treatment.
• Manage appointments, bookings and clinic administration.
• Communicate with you about your care, appointments and follow-up.
• Process payments and health-fund or insurance claims where applicable.
• Improve our services and website.
• Meet our legal and professional obligations.

We only use your health information for the purpose for which it was collected, a directly related purpose you would reasonably expect, or where you have consented.

4. Disclosure of your information

We may disclose your information to:

• Treating practitioners within Recovery First involved in your care.
• Other health professionals (such as your GP or specialist) where relevant to your treatment and with your consent.
• Our booking and practice-management providers (for example, Timely and Cliniko) and our website and form providers (for example, Creative Dot), who host and process data on our behalf.
• Third parties where required or authorised by law.

We do not sell your personal information.

5. Online bookings & third-party services

Appointments booked online are processed through our booking providers (Timely for Carrum Downs and Cliniko for South Melbourne). Enquiries submitted through our website form are processed by our form provider. These providers maintain their own privacy policies governing how they handle your data.

6. Cookies & website analytics

Our website may use cookies and analytics tools to understand how visitors use the site and to improve your experience. You can disable cookies in your browser settings, although some features may not work as intended.

7. Storage & security

We take reasonable steps to protect your information from misuse, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure — including secure electronic records, access controls and confidentiality obligations for our team. Health records are retained for the period required by law.

8. Overseas disclosure

Some of our service providers may store or process data on servers located outside Australia. Where this occurs, we take reasonable steps to ensure your information is handled consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles.

9. Accessing & correcting your information

You may request access to the personal and health information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate, out of date or incomplete. To make a request, contact us using the details below. We may need to verify your identity before providing access.

10. Complaints

If you have a concern about how we have handled your information, please contact us first so we can address it. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The current version will always be available on this page, with the “last updated” date shown above.

12. Contact us

For any privacy questions or requests, please contact:

Recovery First
Email: info@recoveryfirst.com.au
Carrum Downs — Unit 4/580 Frankston – Dandenong Rd, Carrum Downs VIC 3201 · 0497 778 839
South Melbourne — 290/292 Clarendon St, South Melbourne VIC 3205 · 0403 474 915