Privacy Policy

Last updated: 13 November 2026

1. About us and this policy

Rainbow Medicine respects the privacy of everyone who contacts us, books with us or uses rainbowmedicine.com.au. This policy explains how we handle personal information under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

This website is operated by Rainbow Medicine, the clinic of Dr Christine Shen, Acupuncturist, with consulting rooms in Lane Cove and Freshwater. The operating business is Health Therapies Clinics Pty Ltd (ABN 68 665 027 092). We provide acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, holistic psychotherapy and women's health care, together with an online shop for herbal and wellness products.

2. The personal information we collect

We only ask for what we need. This may include:

• your name, date of birth, phone number, email and postal address
• your health history, current medications, pregnancy or fertility details where relevant, and the notes our practitioners make at each consultation
• order and delivery details when you buy from the online shop
• payment details needed to process a payment
• messages you send through our forms, by email or by chat

If you would rather not identify yourself when making a simple enquiry, tell us; we will help where we can. Bookings and orders do require your real name.

3. How we collect it

Information reaches Rainbow Medicine through our website forms, phone calls, emails, messages and meetings. Website tools also record some browsing information automatically, as explained under cookies below.

4. Why we collect, hold and use it

At Rainbow Medicine we use it to:

• assess you and plan safe treatment
• manage appointments, reminders and follow-up care
• dispatch and support online shop orders
• process private health fund claims when you ask us to
• answer your questions and improve our services

We do not sell personal information. If we send you news or offers, we do so only with your consent or where the law allows, and every message tells you how to unsubscribe.

5. Health information

Under the Privacy Act, information about your health is "sensitive information" and receives extra protection. We collect it with your consent, which you give when you complete our forms and agree to treatment. For example, when you come in for fertility or menstrual care we may record your cycle history, previous IVF treatment and the herbal formula prescribed to you.

The Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW) applies to the health records we hold. Records are retained for at least seven years after your most recent appointment, or to age 25 for clients first seen as minors.

6. Who we share it with

Personal information may be shared with these recipients:

• another health practitioner, such as your GP or fertility specialist, when you ask us to or agree to it
• your private health fund, only to process a claim you request
• delivery services for shop orders (name, address and phone only)
• professional advisers, such as our accountant or lawyer, where needed
• government agencies, courts or regulators when the law requires or authorises it

We choose providers who keep information secure, and we limit what they can see.

7. Information sent outside Australia

Some website, messaging and software providers we use operate internationally, so personal information may be held outside Australia. We take reasonable steps to ensure it is handled in line with Australian privacy law.

If rainbowmedicine.com.au offers a chat assistant, the messages you type are processed by an artificial intelligence service that may operate outside Australia. Please do not type detailed health or financial information into a chat.

8. Cookies and website analytics

rainbowmedicine.com.au uses cookies, which are small files stored by your browser, to make the site work and to remember choices such as language. With analytics tools (for example Google Analytics) we also see how visitors use the site, such as pages viewed and approximate location, so that we can improve it. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings; parts of rainbowmedicine.com.au may then not work properly.

9. Keeping information secure

Security matters to us. Records are stored in protected systems, staff access is limited to what each role needs, and the website uses encrypted connections. No method of sending information over the internet is completely secure, so please consider this before emailing sensitive details to Rainbow Medicine.

10. How long we keep it

Outside clinical records (see section 5), Rainbow Medicine keeps enquiries, booking and payment records only as long as we need them for the purposes in this policy or as tax law requires, and then delete or de-identify them.

11. Notifiable data breaches

If we suspect a data breach we act quickly to contain it and assess the risk. Where serious harm is likely, we notify those affected and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, as the Privacy Act requires.

12. Accessing and correcting your information

Ask us at any time for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, or for a correction. There is no fee to ask. We respond within a reasonable period, normally 30 days, and explain any refusal.

13. Complaints

Please tell us if you believe we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles. We take every complaint seriously and will reply within 30 days. If the matter is not resolved, you may take it to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner: www.oaic.gov.au, phone 1300 363 992. For a complaint about health records held by Rainbow Medicine, you may also contact the NSW Information and Privacy Commission (www.ipc.nsw.gov.au, 1800 472 679).

14. Contact us

You can contact Rainbow Medicine about privacy here:

Rainbow Medicine
Phone: 0416 656 388 (bookings: 0410 699 065)
Email: christine@rainbowmedicine.com.au
Post: Suite 1, Level 1, 141 Longueville Road, Lane Cove NSW 2066
Post: Suite 3B/1 Rowe Street, Freshwater NSW 2096
You can also use the contact form on this website.

15. Changes to this policy

This policy may change as our services or the law change. The latest version will always be available on rainbowmedicine.com.au.