Did you know that, as a massage therapist collecting personal and health information, you’re required by law to have a clear, up-to-date privacy policy? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), any business covered by the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) needs a privacy policy that meets the requirements of APP 1.4<\/a>. According to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s (OAIC) guide to developing an APP privacy policy<\/a>, that policy has to cover specific ground: what personal information you collect, how you collect it, how you store and secure it, why you use and disclose it, how people can access or correct their information, how they can complain, and whether any of their information goes overseas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The OAIC is also clear that a good privacy policy shouldn’t just recycle the wording of the Privacy Act. Their guidance advises entities to make the privacy policy specific to their own business rather than simply repeating the wording of the APPs, and to write it in plain language a reader can understand rather than treating it as a dense legal document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that’s the philosophy behind the template that AMT has created to help members meet their obligations under the Privacy Act to manage personal information in an open and transparent way. It is written in first person, plain English, and structured around the real activities of a massage therapy practice rather than abstract legal categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have formulated a template that is based on the OAIC\u2019s guidance and checklist<\/a>. The template walks through:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The AMT template also directly addresses AI transcription tools used during consultations. If you use an AI scribe to record or summarise sessions, that’s a form of sensitive information collection and overseas disclosure that needs to be transparently disclosed, along with any other third-party software. The template includes prompts to name the provider, explain how long recordings are kept, and note where the data is stored and processed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because massage therapists collect health information, a category of sensitive information under the Australian Privacy Principles, the OAIC’s guidance on reasonable security steps expects more than a business just collecting basic details like names and emails. The AMT template reflects this by including multi-factor authentication and access limitation as baseline security measures, not optional extras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The template is a starting point, not a finished document. Every bracketed placeholder needs to be filled in with what actually happens in your practice. The OAIC’s guidance is worth reading alongside the template: it recommends testing your finished policy on someone outside your business to make sure it reads clearly. The OAIC also recommends reviewing your privacy policy regularly so it keeps matching your real practices as they change (a new booking platform, a new AI tool, an updated retention period).<\/p>\n\n\n\n A privacy policy is also not just a compliance box to tick. If it is done well, it’s one of the ways you build trust with clients who are handing over sensitive health information: not a shield against legal risk but a document that helps people feel confident in how you are looking after their information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019ll find the privacy policy template in the \u201cResources\u201d section of your AMT membership portal<\/a>. It is also available for purchase by non-members. Please contact AMT Head Office<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Is your privacy policy up to snuff? AMT has a template for that …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[32,2,911,174],"tags":[1108,1105,598,1107,1106,1103],"class_list":["post-4300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amt","category-professional-practice","category-record-keeping","category-resources","tag-amt-member-resource","tag-apps","tag-association-of-massage-therapists","tag-oaic","tag-office-of-the-australian-information-commissioner","tag-privacy-policy-template"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Padlock.jpg?fit=1078%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1756,"url":"https:\/\/blog.amt.org.au\/index.php\/2019\/06\/05\/do-you-feel-secure\/","url_meta":{"origin":4300,"position":0},"title":"Do You Feel Secure?","author":"admin","date":"05\/06\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"How did a politician get his hands on your mobile phone number? Can he also get his hands on your clients' information? Can anyone else? It's time to think about minimising the risk of a data breach. Sam McCracken is here to help. Oh, and we tell you what to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Professional Practice"","block_context":{"text":"Professional Practice","link":"https:\/\/blog.amt.org.au\/index.php\/category\/professional-practice\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/security-2168234_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C760&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/security-2168234_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C760&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/security-2168234_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C760&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/security-2168234_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C760&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/security-2168234_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C760&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3780,"url":"https:\/\/blog.amt.org.au\/index.php\/2023\/09\/07\/becoming-socially-acceptable\/","url_meta":{"origin":4300,"position":1},"title":"Becoming socially acceptable.","author":"admin","date":"07\/09\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"AMT is excited to announce the release of our ground breaking Social Media Standard that has been designed to empower massage therapists across Australia in maintaining professional and ethical standards while engaging on social media platforms. 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AMT’s New Position Statement on use of Artificial Intelligence","author":"admin","date":"12\/05\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"When the robot uprising finally happens, we want to make sure it doesn't start with your client notes accidentally being uploaded to SkyNet. In a future where deep tissue work triggers the awakening of a quantum neural network that thinks it's a qualified remedial massage therapist, AMT's new position statement\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AMT"","block_context":{"text":"AMT","link":"https:\/\/blog.amt.org.au\/index.php\/category\/amt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"1907 image of a slightly forlorn looking chimpanzee sitting at a typewriter with their right index finger hovering above a key. 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\n
AI scribes<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Health information requires stronger security<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
How to use the AMT template<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n