Disclaimer

The information and materials on the Beacon web site unless otherwise stated, are copyrighted by the National Institute for Mental Health Research (NIMHR) at the Australian National University, and may be downloaded by registered users solely for their own personal use. Any other activity or reproduction of information and materials requires prior permission from the NIMHR. In addition, the graphics, design and format of the Beacon website are the property of the NIMHR and may not be reproduced or distributed without permission.

Beacon contains links to Internet web sites operated by third parties. These linked sites are not controlled by the NIMHR and the NIMHR is not responsible for the contents of any of these sites. We provide these links to you as a convenience only, and the inclusion of any link does not imply any endorsement of the linked website by the NIMHR. NIMHR and its staff are not responsible for the clinical diagnosis or treatment procedures of any provider of services identified in the links. NIMHR has not made any independent investigations of any provider linked to the Beacon website and has not verified the credentials of any provider. Each user should independently and carefully investigate and verify the credentials of any provider before relying on the information provided or before seeking consultation or treatment. You visit any sub website at your own risk.

In addition Beacon contains references to information materials developed by third parties. These information materials were not developed by the NIMHR and the NIMHR is not responsible for the contents of the materials. We provide references for these information materials as a convenience to you only.

The information provided throughout Beacon is intended for information purposes only. This site is not designed to treat health or mental health disorders. The diagnosis and treatment of health and mental health disorders requires a medical practitioner or qualified mental health professional. People seeking a diagnosis or treatment should consult a medical practitioner or mental health professional. None of the information on this web site is a substitute for a diagnosis and treatment by an appropriate health professional.

The National Institute for Mental Health Research and its staff shall have no liability for claims by, or damages of any kind whatsoever to, a user of this website or any other person for a decision or action taken in reliance on the information contained on this website. Such damages include, without limitation, direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages. YOUR USE OF THIS WEB SITE CONSTITUTES YOUR AGREEMENT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE DISCLAIMER.

Feedback and comments about Beacon should be directed to beacon@anu.edu.au

Privacy

This statement sets out the National Institute for Mental Health Research policy relating to the collection and use of your personal information in the Beacon Project. This Notice is in addition to the Terms of Use. Your registration as a Beacon user constitutes your agreement to terms of the Privacy Notice and the Terms of Use.

Please note that this Privacy Notice applies only to the Beacon site and not to any other sites that are linked to the Beacon site or mentioned on the site.

Your personal information is important to us

The NIMHR recognises that your privacy is very important to you and that we are under a legal obligation to protect the integrity of your personal information. When you register with Beacon you will be asked to enter your username. We suggest that you use a pseudonym or a made-up username.

Why the program collects personal information from you

When you enter the Beacon website you will be asked to complete a number of questions and enter some information, which you may consider to be sensitive, about yourself.The information is stored in the Beacon database along with information about how you navigate the site. This is intended to help the Beacon designers understand how visitors use the website. There is no need for you to identify your name or address on the site. The Beacon website and any data we collect is kept on a server dedicated to Beacon and owned by the National Institute for Mental Health Research. If you e-mail us, we will not pass your e-mail address to people outside the Beacon team. However, please do not send us confidential information by e-mail. This is because all e-mail is passed through e-mail servers that are administered by other people. Also, we regret that we cannot provide a counselling or personal advisory service.

Follow up email

In order to evaluate our service, we plan to send you a single email two weeks after you first visit the site. You are not obliged to respond to the email. However, if you do respond the information you provide will be treated with respect and follow our privacy policy.

Our use of cookies

The Beacon site uses transient or session cookies. Cookies are pieces of information that a website transfers to your computer's hard disk when you open the Beacon web pages. Cookies by themselves do not identify you or any user but they do identify your browser. Because Beacon uses 'transient' cookies, your computer does not retain the information delivered in the cookie once you leave the Beacon site. When you close your browser the transient cookie set up by Beacon is destroyed, and no personal information is retained which could identify you or your browser next time you log on to Beacon.

Most web browsers are set up to accept cookies, and while you can set your browser to not accept cookies you will not be able to use Beacon if you do this.

Storage and security of your personal information

The National Institute for Mental Health Research will endeavour to take all reasonable steps to keep all information about you secure. Your information is held on a secure server that is in controlled facilities. In addition, all the staff on the Beacon team as well as all ANU employees and contractors that provide services related to our information systems, are obliged by law to respect the confidentiality of any personal information and/or research information held by the National Institute for Mental Health Research.

You can also play an important role in keeping your personal information secure by using a made up username and by keeping your password secure.

If you have any further queries relating to our Privacy Notice, or you have a problem or a complaint, please contact us at beacon@anu.edu.au

If you agree to these terms and wish to register as a Beacon user please click

or simply close the window to exit the program.