Australian Access Clinics Privacy Policy

Introduction

Our practice is committed to best practice in relation to the management of information we collect. This practice has developed a policy to protect patient privacy in compliance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (‘the Privacy Act’).  Our policy is to inform you of:

  • the kinds of information that we collect and hold, which, as a medical practice, is likely to be ‘health information’ for the purposes of the Privacy Act;
  • how we collect and hold personal information;
  • the purposes for which we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information;
  • how you may access your personal information and seek the correction of that information;
  • how you may complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles and how we will deal with such a complaint;
  • whether we are likely to disclose personal information to overseas recipients;

What kinds of personal information do we collect?

The type of information we may collect and hold includes:

  • Your name, address, date of birth, sex, phone number, email and contact details
  • Medicare number , DVA number and other government identifiers
  • Other health information about you, including:
    • notes of your symptoms or diagnosis and the treatment given to you
    • your specialist reports and test results
    • your appointment and billing details
    • your prescriptions and other pharmaceutical purchases
    • your healthcare identifier
  • De-identified information via cookies on our website such as browser type, operating systems and other websites visited. This does not include any of your personal information and is not used to link back to you individually.

How do we collect and hold personal information?

We will generally collect personal information:

  • from you directly when you provide your details to us. This might be via a face to face discussion, telephone conversation, registration form or online form
  • from a person responsible for you
  • from third parties where the Privacy Act or other law allows it – this may include, but is not limited to:  other members of your treating team, diagnostic centres, specialists, hospitals, the My Health Record system, electronic prescription services, Medicare, your health insurer, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme

Why do we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information?

In general, we collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information for the following purposes:

  • to provide health services to you
  • to communicate with you in relation to the health service being provided to you
  • to comply with our legal obligations, including, but not limited to, mandatory notification of communicable diseases or mandatory reporting under applicable child protection legislation.
  • to help us manage our accounts and administrative services, including billing, arrangements with health funds, pursuing unpaid accounts, management of our ITC systems
  • for consultations with other doctors and allied health professional involved in your healthcare;
  • to obtain, analyse and discuss test results from diagnostic and pathology laboratories
  • for identification and insurance claiming
  • If you have a My Health Record[1], to upload your personal information to, and download your personal information from, the My Health Record system.
  • Information can also be disclosed through an electronic transfer of prescriptions service.
  • To liaise with your health fund, government and regulatory bodies such as Medicare, the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) (if you make a privacy complaint to the OAIC), as necessary.

When, why and with whom do we share your personal information?

We sometimes share your personal information:

  • with third parties who work with our practice for business purposes, such as accreditation agencies or information technology providers – these third parties are required to comply with APPs and this policy
  • with other healthcare providers
  • when it is required or authorised by law (eg court subpoenas)
  • when it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to a patient’s life, health or safety or public health or safety, or it is impractical to obtain the patient’s consent
  • to assist in locating a missing person
  • to establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim
  • for the purpose of confidential dispute resolution process
  • when there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information (eg some diseases require mandatory notification)
  • during the course of providing medical services, through eTP, My Health Record (eg via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary).

Only people who need to access your information will be able to do so. Other than in the course of providing medical services or as otherwise described in this policy, our practice will not share personal information with any third party without your consent. We will not share your personal information with anyone outside Australia (unless under exceptional circumstances that are permitted by law) without your consent. Our practice may use your personal information to improve the quality of the services we offer to our patients through research and analysis of our patient data. We may provide de-identified data to other organisations to improve population health outcomes. The information is secure, patients cannot be identified and the information is stored within Australia. You can let our reception staff know if you do not want your information included.

How can you access and correct your personal information?

You have a right to seek access to, and correction of the personal information which we hold about you. For details on how to access and correct your health record, please contact our practice as noted below under ‘Contact Details’. We will normally respond to your request within 30 days.

How do we hold your personal information?

Our staff are trained and required to respect and protect your privacy. We take reasonable steps to protect information held from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Privacy related questions and complaints

If you have any questions about privacy-related issues or wish to complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles or the handling of your personal information by us, you may lodge your complaint in writing to (see below for details).  We will normally respond to your request within 30 days. If you are dissatisfied with our response, you may refer the matter to the OAIC.

Updates to this Policy

This Policy will be reviewed from time to time to take account of new laws and technology, changes to our operations and other necessary developments. Updates will be publicised on the practice’s website.

Contact details for privacy related issues

If you have any queries or complaints about our Privacy Policy please contact us at:

Australian Access Clinics
Level 1/457 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills NSW 2010
[email protected]
02-9098-9128

[1] See: https://myhealthrecord.gov.au/internet/mhr/publishing.nsf/content/home