Privacy Policy

The Hypnotherapy Council of Australia Vic Inc. (A0056527E, ARBN 154 841 086) (“HCA”, “we”, “us”) operates the HCA National Register of Hypnotherapists at www.hcaregister.org.au (the “Register”). This policy explains what personal information we collect through the Register, how we use and share it, and the choices you have. We handle personal information in line with the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

Last updated: 20 October 2026

Information we collect

From practitioners who register (listees):

• Account details – your name, email address, password (stored securely in hashed form) and the authorisation code supplied by your HCA member association.
• Listing details you provide – such as your name, business or practice name, phone number, email address, website, practice location, telehealth link, qualifications, specialties, a description of your practice, session types offered, association memberships, clinical supervisor details and an optional profile photo.
• Verification details – your member association may record information used to confirm your eligibility, such as the date your membership was last paid. This is never shown on your public listing.

From visitors:

• Contact form – your name, email address, subject and message.
• Technical information – like most websites, our server records information such as your IP address, browser type and the pages you visit, to keep the Register secure and working properly.

How we use your information

• To create, display and maintain practitioner listings on the Register.
• To verify that listed practitioners are current members of an HCA member association and meet HCA standards.
• To manage your account, including signing in and resetting your password.
• To respond to enquiries sent through our contact form.
• To keep the Register secure, prevent spam and misuse, and improve how it works.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for unrelated marketing.

What is made public

The Register exists to help the public find accredited hypnotherapists. Once your listing is approved, the details in your listing are published on the Register and can be seen and searched by anyone. Your password, authorisation code and verification details are never published. Please only include contact details you are happy to make public. Practice locations are shown on the map at an approximate position, not at your exact address.

Who we share information with

• HCA member associations – curators from the HCA member associations, and the HCA Secretary, can view and manage listings so they can verify membership, approve, suspend or archive listings, and contact you about your listing.
• Our website administrator and hosting provider, who maintain the Register on our behalf.
• Service providers that power parts of the Register (see below).
• Others where required or authorised by law.

Third-party services and overseas disclosure

The Register uses the following services provided by Google:

• Google Maps – to show listings on a map and to help practitioners enter their practice location.
• Google reCAPTCHA – to protect our forms from spam and abuse. reCAPTCHA collects hardware and software information and is subject to Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
• Google Fonts – to display the Register’s typefaces.

These services may process information such as your IP address on servers outside Australia, including in the United States. Google’s handling of that information is governed by the Google Privacy Policy.

Cookies

The Register uses cookies (small files stored by your browser) to keep you signed in, remember your preferences, and record how you arrived at the site (for example, from a search engine or another website). We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, but you will not be able to sign in to your account without them.

How we protect and keep your information

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, loss and unauthorised access, including encrypted (HTTPS) connections, securely hashed passwords and restricted administrator access. We keep listing information for as long as your listing remains on the Register. If your listing is removed, we may keep a record of it for a limited time for verification and administrative purposes before deleting it. Contact form messages are kept only as long as needed to respond.

Accessing and correcting your information

Listed practitioners can view and update their listing at any time by signing in to their account. You can also ask us for access to the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to remove your listing and close your account by contacting us. We aim to respond within 30 days.

Complaints

If you have a concern about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us first and we will try to resolve it. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version will always be published on this page, with the date it was last updated.

Contact us

Hypnotherapy Council of Australia Vic Inc. – please contact the HCA National Secretary through our Contact page.