Privacy Policy

Protecting the privacy of your personal information

Specialised Health is committed to protecting your privacy and to maintaining the confidentiality, accuracy and security of your personal information. We are guided in this by:

Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles
Privacy and health records law of each State within which we operate
Australian Health Practitioner Regulations and Professional Codes of Conduct

What is personal information?

Personal information is any information (including an opinion, photograph or image) that identifies you and is about you. This can include information that may or may not be true and may or may not be recorded. Some examples of personal information are your name, date of birth, address and phone number, employment history and medical records. If information has been de-identified, making it no longer possible to identify you then it is no longer considered to be personal. Your health information is also personal information and can include details of your past, present and future physical and mental health or disability.

What kind of personal information do we collect and why?

Specialised Health is required to collect and hold personal information that is reasonably necessary for, and directly relevant to, the services we provide. When collecting your personal information, we will let you know what kind of information we require and the reason we need it. We use the information we collect to provide you with the best possible service. By collecting and managing your information we can more accurately assess your needs and undertake effective activities and services to best meet them. Information may be collected by phone or face-to-face interview with you or other authorized persons, through use of questionnaires, observation or examination and review of documents. We then establish and maintain a private and confidential record in electronic form. We use a secure health information management system to protect your information. Personal information will be held securely for a minimum of seven years after which time we are permitted to either destroy or de-identify your record.

How do we use and disclose your personal information?

Specialised Health will only use personal information to conduct business activities and deliver services that meet your needs and interests. This may involve disclosing information (verbally, in printed / written form or electronically) to persons, organisations or agencies that have a legitimate and lawful role in the provision of our services. They may include:

Your insurance company
Medical and health practitioners
Your employers – past and present
Our contracted advisors and service providers
Legal practitioners
Government departments and their agencies
Law enforcement agencies

We will only disclose personal information when;

You have been made aware and have given us consent to do so
We are lawfully required or authorized to do so
It is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and/or imminent threat to your life or health (or the life and health of another person)

We shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we collect, hold, use and disclose is:

Accurate, complete and up to date
Relevant to the business activities and services that meet your needs and interests

Giving consent to the collection and use of your personal information

You will be asked to provide consent for us to collect and handle your personal information. Express consent means giving your agreement or permission either verbally or in writing. We will keep the record of your consent on your private and confidential record. When you provide consent, you should be confident that:

You understand what giving consent means
You have been adequately informed about our privacy policy and how it relates to you
You are aware of the specific information we require, the specific purposes for which it will be used and for how long we will require it
You are giving your consent on a voluntary basis
You are able to communicate clearly how you would like us to handle your personal information and any concerns about your privacy

Refusing or withdrawing consent to collection/use of personal information

You may refuse or withdraw your consent at any time. You can do this by giving a written or verbal statement, which should include your concerns and reasons. If you are thinking about withdrawing consent we will discuss this decision with you to determine if there are issues that can be resolved. We will also make you aware of the consequences of withdrawing consent. If you do withdraw consent, Specialised Health will be unable to continue to provide services to you.

Accessing your personal information

Specialised Health will provide you with access to your personal information on receiving your written or verbal request, and after verifying your identity. There may be circumstances in which Specialised Health may be lawfully required or authorized to withhold access to your personal information. For example, we may refuse access to some or all of your personal information when giving access would:

Be prohibited or denied by Australian law or a court order, or
Impose a serious and imminent risk to the life, safety or health of any person/s, or
Unreasonably impact the privacy of other persons, or
Prejudice current or forthcoming legal proceedings or negotiations, or
Prejudice an investigation into unlawful activity or serious misconduct

We may refuse access if your request for information is found to be frivolous or vexatious. If we refuse your request for access, we will give you written notice explaining the reasons why.

Complaints about the privacy of your personal information

If there is any concern about how we handled your privacy and you have been unable to resolve it through discussion with our consultant, you can take your complaint to the company Director.