Introduction
This privacy policy is to provide information to you, our patient, on how your personal information (which
includes your health information) is collected and used within our practice, and the circumstances in which we
may share it with third parties.

Why and when your consent is necessary.

When you register as a patient of our practice, you provide consent for our GPs and practice staff to access
and use your personal information so they can provide you with the best possible healthcare. Only staff who
need to see your personal information will have access to it. If we need to use your information for anything
else, we will seek additional consent from you to do this.

Why do we collect, use, hold, and share your personal information?
Our practice will need to collect your personal information to provide healthcare services to you. Our main
purpose for collecting, using, holding, and sharing your personal information is to manage your health. We
also use it for directly related business activities, such as financial claims and payments, practice audits and
accreditation, and business processes (e.g. staff training).

What personal information do we collect?
The information we will collect about you includes your:
• names, date of birth, addresses, and contact details.
• medical information including medical history, medications, allergies, adverse events, immunisations,
social history, family history, and risk factors.
• Medicare number (where available) for identification and claiming purposes.
• healthcare identifiers
• health fund details.

Dealing with us anonymously

You have the right to deal with us anonymously or under a pseudonym unless it is impracticable for us to do
so or unless we are required or authorised by law to only deal with identified individuals.

How do we collect your personal information?

Our practice may collect your personal information in several different ways.

1. When you make your first appointment our practice staff will collect your personal and demographic
information via your registration.
2. During the course of providing medical services, we may collect further personal information.
3. We may also collect your personal information when you visit our website, send us an email or SMS,
telephone us, make an online appointment or communicate with us using social media.
4. In some circumstances personal information may also be collected from other sources. Often this is
because it is not practical or reasonable to collect it from you directly. This may include information from:
• your guardian or responsible person
• other involved healthcare providers, such as specialists, allied health professionals, hospitals,
community health services, and pathology and diagnostic imaging services
• your health fund, Medicare, or the Department of Veterans Affairs (as necessary).
Privacy policy template for general practices 2

When, why, and with whom do we share your personal information?
We sometimes share your personal information:
• with third parties who work with our practice for business purposes, such as accreditation agencies or
information technology providers – these third parties are required to comply with APPs and this policy.
• with other healthcare providers
• when it is required or authorised by law (eg court subpoenas)
• when it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to a patient’s life, health or safety or public
health or safety, or it is impractical to obtain the patient’s consent.
• to assist in locating a missing person
• to establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim
• for the purpose of a confidential dispute resolution process
• when there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information (eg some diseases require
mandatory notification)
• during the course of providing medical services, through eTP, My Health Record (eg via Shared Health
Summary, Event Summary).
Only people who need to access your information will be able to do so. Other than in the course of providing
medical services or as otherwise described in this policy, our practice will not share personal information with
any third party without your consent.
We will not share your personal information with anyone outside Australia (unless under exceptional
circumstances that are permitted by law) without your consent.
Our practice will not use your personal information for marketing any of our goods or services directly to you
without your express consent. If you do consent, you may opt out of direct marketing at any time by notifying
our practice in writing.
Our practice may use your personal information to improve the quality of the services we offer to our patients
through research and analysis of our patient data.
We may provide de-identified data to other organizations to improve population health outcomes. The
information is secure, patients cannot be identified, and the information is stored within Australia. You can let
our reception staff know if you do not want your information included.

How do we store and protect your personal information?
Your personal information may be stored at our practice in various forms.
paper records, electronic records, visual records (X-rays, CT scans, videos, and photos), and audio recordings
Our practice stores all personal information securely.
We are using Medical Director Helix which is cloud based and all the electronic information stored securely in
the cloud and only authorized person can access that information by using the right credentials and two way
verifications.
We do not have much physical paperwork as we scan all paperwork in the Medical Director Helix and we
shred them after scanning.

How can you access and correct your personal information at our
practice? 

You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information.
Privacy policy template for general practices 3
Our practice acknowledges patients may request access to their medical records. We require you to put this
request in writing and email us at info@mtnelsonmedicalcentre.com.au or fax us at 03 6144 6423 and our
practice will respond within 2 weeks’ time. A $35 fee may be associated with providing this information.
Patients cannot be charged for making the request – only for the costs of complying with the request.
Our practice will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not
accurate or up to date. From time to time, we will ask you to verify that your personal information held by our
practice is correct and current. You may also request that we correct or update your information, and you
should make such requests in writing to our practice team at info@mtnelsonmedicalcentre.com.au

How can you lodge a privacy-related complaint, and how will the
complaint be handled at our practice?

We take complaints and concerns regarding privacy seriously. You should express any privacy concerns you
may have in writing. We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our resolution procedure.
Please email – Info@mtnelsonmedicalcentre.com.au
Ph: 03 6144 6499
Turnaround timeframe: 25 Working Days
You may also contact the OAIC. Generally, the OAIC will require you to give them time to respond before they
investigate. For further information visit www.oaic.gov.au or call the OAIC on 1300 363 992.

Privacy and our website
Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is
reasonably identifiable. Information is identifiable if the relevant person can be identified. Examples might
include your name, email, or phone number.
If we ask you to provide additional personal information (for example, on a form), we will explain:
Why do we need this information?
how we will use it
If you choose not to provide the information, it may affect our ability to respond and deliver services.

Policy review statement
The policy will be reviewed annually unless we are making any changes in the data collection or storage
process