healthdirect Australia Privacy Statement

Who is healthdirect Australia and what does it do?

• healthdirect Australia is the collective trading name for the National Health Call Centre Network Limited and those of its contractors (including McKesson Asia-Pacific Pty Limited) who provide nationwide access 24 hours a day, seven days a week to healthcare triage, health advice and information.
• Members of the public can phone healthdirect Australia to request health advice and information, including advice on where health and medical assistance might be obtained.
• healthdirect Australia is financed by Commonwealth, State and Territory governments.

What are healthdirect Australia's privacy obligations?

• Your personal information is information about you which can identify you and includes your name, address, date of birth, and can include information about your illnesses, symptoms, disabilities and any information collected about you to provide a health service.
• In dealing with personal information, healthdirect Australia abides by 10 National Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 [Cth] and any applicable State or Territory privacy laws.

What personal information does healthdirect Australia collect and hold?

• You can always choose to deal with healthdirect Australia anonymously, in which case your details are not subject to privacy laws because you cannot be identified as connected to the information.
• The information you give healthdirect Australia is the only information it collects and holds. If you identify yourself healthdirect Australia will usually know your name, gender, contact details, some medical history, your symptoms, ethnic background and, if relevant to your health, sexual practice.
• All calls to healthdirect Australia are recorded and retained for 25 years as is usual with health information.

What uses and disclosures of personal information may occur?

• healthdirect Australia uses recordings of all phone calls to ensure that the advice it gives meets the highest standards of safety and quality and is equal to best international practice.
• healthdirect Australia will share relevant information with health services and/or Government bodies in the event of a national or jurisdictional health disaster in order that an appropriate health response can be provided.
• healthdirect Australia may use your personal information to make a follow up call to you for feedback on your level of satisfaction with the service you have received.
• healthdirect Australia will not disclose your personal information to anyone outside healthdirect Australia except where you consent, or where the identifying data can be removed. healthdirect Australia may consult regarding your case with another health service provider with your consent and possibly while you are still on the line.
• Where a patient is unconscious, incapacitated or a minor healthdirect Australia deals on their behalf with the person responsible for their welfare.
• There may be other disclosures where:
  • you would expect the disclosure to occur (for example, quality assurance purposes, training and the purpose of enhancing the healthdirect Australia service);
  • it will assist your Commonwealth, State or Territory health services to provide you with a health service or to address issues you many raise with them;
  • healthdirect Australia is compelled by law to disclose;
  • it will prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to someone's life or health or a threat to public health or safety;
  • it is required for public health surveillance where symptoms are mapped geographically to see if patterns arise as an early warning system identifying epidemics;
  • it is a necessary part of an investigation following a complaint; or
  • there is a change of contractors to National Health Call Centre Network Limited, in which case personal information may be transferred to a new contractor.
• healthdirect Australia will not sell or rent your personal information to anyone and will not transfer your information overseas unless you ask healthdirect Australia to do so.
• When healthdirect Australia uses contractors to perform services, such as disposal of confidential documents, they are required to work according to the National Privacy Principles and to treat personal information they may see with care and confidentiality. Any breach of these requirements would be a breach of contract.

How does healthdirect Australia protect your personal information?

• healthdirect Australia acts to ensure that no other organisation or person can access your personal information while healthdirect Australia holds it. healthdirect Australia only permits its authorised personnel and contractors to access your information.
• healthdirect Australia has systems and procedures in place to protect your personal information from misuse and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

How does healthdirect Australia ensure that the personal information it holds is accurate & how can I access the information held about me?

• healthdirect Australia ensures that the information it holds about you is accurate, complete and up to date before acting on it. If you learn that personal information healthdirect Australia holds about you is inaccurate, incomplete or not up to date you should contact healthdirect Australia so that your information can be promptly updated.
• If you wish to see what information healthdirect Australia has about you, you can ask for a copy of it. Sometimes it may not be possible to give you a copy of the information if it was provided anonymously, if it contains details about other people, or if it would be unsafe to provide the information in that it may lead to harm being done to another person.
• healthdirect Australia will not charge you for lodging a request for a copy of your personal information but you will be asked to pay a reasonable fee for the work involved in providing you with this information and for associated costs such as photocopying. You will be notified of any likely costs before your request is processed.

What if I have a complaint?

• If you wish to complain about the service you have received from healthdirect Australia, especially if you think your privacy has been affected, you should contact healthdirect Australia as detailed below for an examination of your complaint. If after that you are still unhappy you can complain about a privacy matter to the Federal Privacy Commissioner. See www.privacy.gov.au for how to make a complaint.

Does healthdirect Australia change its policies on privacy from time to time?

• healthdirect Australia may update this Privacy Statement from time to time. To see the most current Privacy Statement, please look at the website www.healthdirect.org.au or contact healthdirect Australia:

Email:
info@nhccn.com.au

Phone:
02 6290 9500

Facsimile:
02 9290 9555

Postal address:
The Communication Officer
NHCCN Ltd
PO Box 122 Civic Square
ACT 2608
Australia