This practice has adopted the following Privacy Policy to protect patients, which is in line with the National Privacy Policy Guidelines and approved by The Complementary Medicine Association Ltd
Collection
This practice will only collect personal information:
(a) Necessary for its function or activities;
(b) Fairly, lawfully and not in an unreasonably intrusive way;
(c) Wherever reasonable and practicable, directly from the relevant patient;
(d) Reasonable steps are taken to notify the patient of;
- the identity of the practice, and how to contact it;
- the fact that the patient may gain access to the information collected;
- the purposes for which the information is collected;
- the organisation, or the types of organisations, to which this practice usually discloses the information;
- any law that requires the information to be collected; and
- the main consequences for the patient if the information is not provided.
Use and disclosure
This practice will only use or disclose personal information;
(a) in ways that the patient would expect;
(b) in ways that the patient has consented to;
(c) in ways that are required by the public interest (for example, law enforcement and public health and safety).
Data quality
This practice will take reasonable steps to ensure the personal information it collects, uses or discloses is accurate, complete and up to date.
Data security
This practice will take reasonable steps to:
(a) ensure the personal information it holds is kept secure and protected from misuse, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure; and
(b) destroy, or permanently de-identify, personal information which is no longer required.
Openness
This practice will make this Policy available upon request.
Access and correction
This practice will, subject to certain restrictions, provide patients with access to personal information about themselves upon request, and take reasonable steps to correct that information if it is shown that it is inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date.
Identifiers
This practice will not use, or disclose, identifiers that government agencies have assigned to individuals, except in limited circumstances.
Trans Border Dataflow
This practice will only transfer personal information to a recipient, if;
(a) the recipient is subject to a privacy policy equal to or substantially similar to the Australian National Privacy Principles;
(b) the patient has consented to the transfer;
(c) the transfer is necessary for the performance of a service between the patient and the organisation
(d) the transfer is necessary for the conclusion, or performance, of a service in the interest of the patient;
(e) the transfer is for the benefit of the patient, whose consent is impracticable to obtain, but likely to be given; or
(f) we have taken reasonable steps to ensure that the information transferred will not be used inconsistently with the Australian National Privacy Principles.
Sensitive information
This practice will not collect information, or an opinion, about an individual’s:
(a) racial or ethnic origin; [other than for patient history]
(b) political opinions;
(c) religious, or philosophical beliefs;
(d) membership of a trade union, or professional association;
(e) sexual preferences, or practices;
(f) criminal record;
Unless:
(h) the patient has consented;
(i) the collection is required by law, or for other public interest purposes (such as law enforcement and public health and safety); or
(j) other specified circumstances apply.