Safe Chat, Privacy and Respect – Easy Read Private Chat Policy

This Easy Read policy explains the privacy rules and Code of Engagement for Steady Guide Private Chat. It tells you how we protect your personal messages, how we keep our chat community respectful, and how your privacy rights are protected.

Get Guidance From Others In A Participant’s Support Network

Private Chat allows you to communicate directly with a participant’s therapist, behavioural therapist, or anyone else on a participant’s team to ask questions, discuss NDIS plan goals, and receive advice on how best to handle a situation.

Safe Support from Mainstream & Peer Support

It provides a safe space for providers to engage with each other to collaborate to assist their mutual client to achieve their goals. It is also an easy way for participants to engage with mainstream and peer supports they nominate to interact in the group.

Contact and Account Details

Your email address is the only thing that identifies you in the chat. Only necessary information is posted.

Chat Messages and Support Notes

A support worker might have a question for one of the therapists; or a therapist might have a question for one of the workers. Or a participant might have a question. These discussions exist to collaborate for the benefit of the participant. Any sensitive details shared are treated with strict confidentiality and according to your wishes.

1. Treat Everyone with Kindness and Respect

Be polite and supportive. Bullying, harassment, hate speech, or offensive language will result in immediate removal from the chat.

2. Respect Other Members’ Privacy

What is shared in the chat stays in the chat. Unless a participant says that it is okay to share information with someone else, never copy, screenshot, or share another member’s story or details outside the group.

3. No Unsolicited Sales or Spam

Members and staff cannot use Private Chat to sell products, push commercial businesses, or send unsolicited advertising.

Encrypted Storage

Chat records are hosted securely in Microsoft 365 enterprise Teams databases protected by enterprise level encryption in Australian data centres.

Written Consent Before Sharing

We will never share your chat messages or details with third parties, therapists, or service providers without your explicit written agreement using our Third-Party Data Sharing Consent Request Form.

Zero-Input Mandate

We never put information from the private chat into public or paid AI tools or Large Language Models (LLMs).

Australian Data Sovereignty

All chats are conducted in Microsoft Teams and are hosted on servers located in Australian data centres under Australian Privacy Principles, shielding your records from foreign access.

No Automated Decisions

AI bots are never used to answer your support queries or make decisions about your services. All support guidance in Private Chat comes from qualified human professionals on your support team.

Right to Access and Correction (APPs 12 & 13)

You will have access to your team’s chat at all times. If any information is incorrect, you can ask us to fix it for free within 30 days.

Right to Leave Private Chat Anytime

You can close your chat account or leave the private chat group whenever you wish without penalty or impact on your support coordination.

7-Year NDIS Record Retention

Under NDIS Commission rules, the information in the chat is kept securely for 7 years before being permanently destroyed.