Procedure

1                 Introduction / background

This policy is to inform and govern the manner in which the Provider (we, us or our) collect, use and manage personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles as contained in the Privacy Act 1999 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the Aged Care Act 1997 (Cth) (Aged Care Act).

All Workers must comply with this policy and procedure.

This policy may be varied from time to time. A current version of the policy is available at www.bellcare.biz

2                 Legislative / compliance obligations

2.1             Our legislative obligations are principally set out under:

(a)              the Aged Care Act 1997 (Cth), including the Aged Care Principles;

(b)              the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), including the Australian Privacy Principles;

(c)              the Aged Care Quality Standards made under the Quality of Care Principles 2014 (Cth).

2.2             This policy is particularly relevant to the following requirements of the Aged Care Quality Standards:

(a)              Standard 1 Consumer dignity and choice: Requirement (3)(f);

(b)              Standard 2 Ongoing assessment and planning with consumers: Requirements (3)(c) and (d);

(c)              Standard 3 Personal care and clinical care: Requirement (3)(e);

(d)              Standard 4 Services and supports for daily living: Requirements (3)(d) and (e);

(e)              Standard 8 Organisational governance: Requirement (3)(c)

3                 What is Personal Information and Sensitive Information?

Personal Information means information or an opinion about an identified individual (or an individual who is reasonably identifiable), whether the information or opinion is true or not, and whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.

Personal Information can include Sensitive Information.

Sensitive Information means information or an opinion about health and related information, including about a person’s physical, mental health, general and specific conditions and illnesses, safety and personal management issues, and a person’s race, ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of political associations and trade associations, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation or practices, criminal record, genetic information about an individual that is not otherwise health information, biometric information that is used for the purpose of automated biometric verification or biometric identification and biometric templates.

Due to the nature of the services we provide, the Personal Information which may be collected, used, and managed by us, may include Sensitive Information.

4                 What kinds of Personal Information is collected and held by us?

Examples of the kinds of Personal Information that may be collected by us include:

(a)               a person’s name;

(b)              a person’s residential address, postal address, email address, telephone number, and other contact details;

(c)              a person’s employer and/or place of business;

(d)              a consumer’s health and medical information, including information about the person’s physical and mental health and emergency contact(s); and

(e)              surveillance and security footage and material

5                 How do we collect and hold Personal Information?

We collect Personal Information from:

(a)              individuals directly (including consumers);

(b)              health care professionals and service providers in the course of them providing health services;

(c)              our suppliers and contractors;

(d)              entities related to us; and

(e)              the use of CCTV cameras and other security technologies

We need to collect Personal Information to enable us to provide consumers with goods, care or services. Consumers are entitled to not provide Personal Information to us, however if certain information is withheld, this may result in us being unable to provide care or services to the consumer.

If you provide us with Sensitive Information about other individuals, such as Health Information, please ensure that the individual or the individual’s representative is aware of the disclosure and they consent to the disclosure to us as well as to the handling of their personal information in accordance with this policy.

6                 How do we deal with Personal Information?

In general, we will collect, hold, use, and disclose Personal Information about a person that is reasonably necessary for one or more of the following functions, activities or purposes:

(a)              to provide care and/or support to consumers;

(b)              to determine a consumer’s eligibility to entitlements and services;

(c)              to respond to requests and inquiries;

(d)              to contact individuals, via email, regular mail, telephone or otherwise;

(e)              to provide you with information that we believe may be of interest to you;

(f)               for direct marketing and business development (if you would not like to receive marketing material you can notify us to remove your name from the mailing list);

(g)              to develop and improve programs, products, services and content;

(h)              to protect our rights and property;

(i)               for security and occupational health and safety purposes;

(j)               to investigate or report suspected unlawful activity;

(k)              to protect someone’s life, health, safety or welfare;

(l)               to comply with a law or regulation, a court order or another legal process;

(m)            for current/prospective employees/volunteers:

             (i)               to enable us to properly assess the quality of applications for employment/volunteer positions applied for; and

             (ii)              to conduct referee checks

We will not use or disclose your Sensitive Information for direct marketing purposes, unless you have provided your consent.

7                 Disclosure to other parties

We may disclose Personal Information to:

(a)              our related entities;

(b)              contractors we use to support our business (including IT support and other IT services, delivery services and financial institutions);

(c)              our suppliers;

(d)              our lawyers, accountants and other business advisers;

(e)              health care professionals and health service providers;

(f)               government health agencies such as the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, the Department of Health and Services Australia/Medicare;

(g)              private health care insurers and providers;

(h)              law enforcement officers, regulators, courts and government agencies – if required by law or regulation, court order or other legal process, or in order to protect our rights, property, or if necessary to prevent a threat to any person’s life, health or safety

8                 Data integrity and security

We take reasonable steps to protect Personal Information we hold from misuse, interference and loss, as well as unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Our data is securely stored in Australia and is not stored or transferred outside of Australia.

When we no longer need Personal Information for any purpose for which the information may be used or disclosed under the Australian Privacy Principles, we take reasonable steps to destroy the information or ensure that it is de-identified, except if the information is part of a Commonwealth record or we are required by law or a court or tribunal order to retain the Personal Information.

9                 Access and correction

We take reasonable steps to ensure that the Personal Information that we collect, use and disclose is accurate, up-to-date and complete.

Individuals have a right to request access to their Personal Information and to request its correction. To do so, please contact us on the details below.

We do not impose a charge for making a request for access, however we may charge for reasonable administrative costs incurred in providing access.

If the individual believes the Personal Information held about them is inaccurate, incomplete or not up to date, the individual may request amendment.

Before correcting or providing access to Personal Information in response to a request, we will require your identity to be confirmed.

10              Notifiable data breaches

We will notify individuals and the OAIC about any data breach that is likely to result in serious harm to them.  There are exceptions where notification is not required, for example where we have already taken appropriate remedial action that removes the risk of serious harm to any individuals.

11              Complaints

If you wish to make a complaint about our management of your Personal Information, we ask that you do so by contacting us on the following details:

Address: Bellevue Care Centre – Complaints, 53 Linkwood Drive, Ferny Hills Qld 4055
Phone: (07) 3550 5999
Email: info@bellcare.biz

You may complain to the OAIC on the following details:

Address: Australian Information Commissioner, GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001
Telephone:  1300 363 992
Fax: +61 2 9284 9666
Web: https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints