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What is the relationship between healthdirect and healthinsite

Privacy Statement

PART A – ABOUT THIS 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 Medibank Health Solutions Telehealth Pty Ltd and Royal District Nursing Service Ltd) who provide a range of Australia-wide health services to members of the public.
  • Members of the public can use healthdirect Australia's services which include:
    • the healthdirect Australia 24-hour telephone triage, health advice and information line, and online health information service (accessible at www.healthdirect.org.au);
    • the Pregnancy, Birth and Baby Helpline and web portal (accessible at www.healthdirect.org.au); and
    • a range of jurisdiction specific health advice and information services, alert services and health administration services.
  • The services available through healthdirect Australia are wholly or jointly funded by the Australian Government and a number of the 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.

PART B – OUR PERSONAL INFORMATION HANDLING PRACTICES

What personal information does healthdirect Australia collect and hold?

  • The types of information healthdirect Australia collects and holds includes (but is not limited to) personal information about users of its services, and about its employees and contractors.
  • 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.
  • We sometimes collect personal information from a third party if you have consented or would reasonably expect us to collect the information in this way, for example from a healthcare service such as a residential care facility who is managing your care.
  • All calls to healthdirect Australia in relation to its health services are recorded and are retained for up to 25 years as is usual with health information.

What uses and disclosures of personal information may occur?

  • healthdirect Australia uses and discloses personal information for the purpose of providing its services, conducting its business, communicating with you, and complying with its legal obligations.
  • 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 or department of health to provide you with a health service or to address issues you may 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.

PART C – OUR WEBSITE

  • This part of our Privacy Statement explains the type of information that is collected by healthdirect Australia in managing and operating its website, how such information is used and under what circumstances and to whom it may be disclosed.

What are healthdirect Australia's web-based services?

  • healthdirect Australia's web-based services include the healthdirect Australia and HealthInsite online health information service and the Pregnancy, Birth and Baby web portal, accessible at www.healthdirect.org.au.
  • healthdirect Australia's web-based services have been tested to an advanced level of site security. However, users are advised that there are inherent risks in transmitting information across the internet, including the risk that information sent to or from a website may be intercepted, corrupted or modified by third parties.  If you have any security concerns, or if you wish to provide personal information by other means (eg by telephone or paper), you may contact healthdirect Australia using the contact details set out at the bottom of this email.

Can I remain anonymous in using healthdirect Australia's web-based services?

  • Yes. The minimum information required to enrol, and subsequently identify yourself to the site, is a pseudonym and a password.
  • It is important to realise that all healthdirect Australia web-based information is accessible without the need to enrol.  Enrolling with healthdirect Australia enables us to remember your selected favourite pages and to provide you with information specifically selected for you. healthdirect Australia stores your pseudonym and password so we can recognise you when you next use healthdirect Australia.
  • Your e-mail address is only required if you wish to be notified of new material (a user who wishes to remain anonymous can easily establish an anonymous e-mail address using free web-based email services, such as Hotmail).

What personal information does healthdirect Australia collect from website users?

  • healthdirect Australia does not collect your personal information when you only browse our website.
  • healthdirect Australia may collect your personal information if you transmit personal information to us through our website or by e-mail. To the extent that your email address contains personal information, healthdirect Australia will only record your email address in the event that you send us an e-mail or you register for our email newsletter or notification services.
  • You can unsubscribe to our newsletter and notification services at any time by following the prompts on our website or by contacting us on the contact details set out at the bottom of this statement.

What uses and disclosures occur of personal information collected from our website?

  • healthdirect Australia will only use personal information collected via its website for the purposes for which you provided the information.
  • Your e-mail address will only be used for the purpose for which you have provided it and will not be added to any mailing lists without your prior consent.  We will not use or disclose your e-mail address for any other purpose without your consent, unless it is otherwise in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
  • We do not share your personal information with other organisations unless one of the limited circumstances set out in Part B of this Privacy Statement applies (see Part B, 'What uses and disclosures of personal information may apply').

Does healthdirect Australia use cookies?

  • A "cookie" is a small file supplied by healthdirect Australia and stored by the web browser software on your computer when you access healthdirect Australia.  (An explanation of cookies can be found at the website of the Australian Privacy Commissioner at www.privacy.gov.au).
  • healthdirect Australia uses a session cookie for maintaining contact with a user throughout a web browsing session.  At the end of your session, you may choose to manually logoff and the cookie is immediately deleted.  If you do not logoff at the end of your session, healthdirect Australia will automatically log you off after about 20 minutes.  This will ensure that no other person has access to information personalised for you.
  • If you wish to use the features of healthdirect Australia that enable us to personalise the site for you, you must use a browser which is enabled to accept cookies.
  • healthdirect Australia analyses non-identifiable website traffic data (including through the use of third party service providers) to improve our services and for statistical purposes.
  • No attempt will be made to identify anonymous users (including users logging on using a pseudonym) or their browsing activities except, in the unlikely event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect the Internet Service Provider's log files.

PART D – QUERIES, CONCERNS AND FURTHER INFORMATION

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 our website www.healthdirect.org.au or contact healthdirect Australia.
How can you contact us?

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