Gurriny Yealamucka Health Services Aboriginal Corporation - Privacy Policy

Updated 8 February 2021

Introduction

Gurriny Yealamucka Health Service Aboriginal Corporation’s (GYHSAC) Privacy Policy is designed to protect patient privacy and confidentiality in line with Federal Privacy legislation. The Australian Privacy Principles (APP) as set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (the Act) and the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) (IP Act)

This Privacy policy also sets out how we manage personal information to meet our obligations under the Acts, which cover the collection, use, disclosure, security, quality, access, correction and openness of personal information. We believe our Privacy policy not only complies with relevant laws but also represents best practice. In the unlikely instance this Policy conflicts with the Privacy Act, the Privacy Act will prevail

Why and when your consent is necessary

When you register as a patient of GYHSAC, you provide consent for our GPs and GYHSAC staff to access and use your personal information so they can provide you with the best possible healthcare.

Personal information means information or opinions about a person from which that person is reasonably identifiable. Personal information includes sensitive information. Sensitive information includes information about a person's beliefs, associations or health. Health information means information or opinions about a person’s health, or collected in accordance with health services provided to them. Only staff that 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?

GYHSAC 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?

We may collect personal and/or sensitive information from you (“your information”):

Personal information is any information or an opinion about you that identifies you, or that could reasonably identify you. Personal Information collected by us, could include names, date of birth, addresses and other contact information; and
Sensitive information is any information or opinion about you which is health information, or which relates to your racial or ethnic origin, political opinion, religious and/or philosophical beliefs, sexual preferences or practices, or criminal record. Sensitive Information collected by us, could include the following:

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; and/or
healthcare identifiers; and/or
health fund details.

We may ask you for personal and/or sensitive information about other people (for example, your family members). If you provide us with this information, we rely on you to tell those people that you are giving their personal and/or sensitive information to us, and to make them aware of this Privacy Policy.

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?

GYHSAC will collect your personal information in the following ways:

1. When you make your first appointment GYHSAC 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. Information can also be collected through Electronic Transfer of Prescriptions (eTP), MyHealth Record system, e.g. via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary. GYHSAC participates in these eHealth services.

3. We may also collect your personal information when you visit our website, send us an email, telephone us, make an 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 Veteran's Affairs (as necessary).

Who do we share your personal information with?

From time to time we may share your personal information:

with third parties who work with GYHSAC for business purposes, such as accreditation agencies or information technology providers - these third parties are required to comply with Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and this policy
with other healthcare providers
when it is required or authorised by law (e.g. 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 confidential dispute resolution process
when there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information (e.g. some diseases require mandatory notification)
during the course of providing medical services, through Electronic Transfer of Prescriptions (eTP), MyHealth Record system (e.g. via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary).

There may be times where we disclose your personal information to overseas recipients located in other countries on an ad-hoc basis (e.g. to a recipient located in an overseas country to assist us with providing a service to you in that country).

Only people that 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, GYHSAC 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 is permitted by law) without your consent.

GYHSAC 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 GYHSAC in writing.

How do we store and protect your personal information?

We take all reasonable steps to keep your personal information secure, safe and protected from misuse, interference, loss or unauthorised access. Your information is only stored on secure servers (electronic records). In addition, our employees and the contractors who provide services related to our information systems are obliged to respect the confidentiality of any personal information held by us.

GYHSAC stores all personal information securely. Our computer systems are protected through the use of firewalls and individual passwords and storage of all server equipment is maintained in a secured environment. All staff and contractors are required to sign confidentiality agreements.

What happens if there is a data breach?

A data breach is when personal and/or sensitive information held by GYHSAC is lost or subjected to unauthorised access, modification, disclosure, or other misuse or interference. Examples of a data breach are when a device containing personal information of clients is lost or stolen, an entity’s database containing personal information is hacked or an entity mistakenly provides personal information to the wrong person. A ‘data breach’ may also constitute a breach of the Privacy Act, however this will depend on whether the circumstances giving rise to the data breach also constitute a breach of one or more of the APPs.

GYHSAC has a data breach response plan. Our actions in the first 24 hours after discovering a data breach are crucial to the success of our response. A quick response can substantially decrease the impact on the affected individuals.

How can you access and correct your personal information at GYHSAC?

We will take reasonable steps to ensure your personal information held by us is accurate, up-to-date and complete. However, the personal information we hold may not be complete due to planned and periodic destruction, or when an extract of personal information is adequate for the intended purpose. From time-to-time, we will ask you to verify your personal information held by GYHSAC is correct and up-to-date. You may also request that we correct or update your information, and you should make such requests in writing to info@gyhsac.org.au

You have the right to access and correct your personal information.

GYHSAC acknowledges patients may request access to their medical records. We require you to put this request in writing addressed to the Clinic Support Manager and GYHSAC will respond within 30 days. There may be a cost for us to provide hard copies of any documents, this cost would be minimal.

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

If you have a problem, query or complaint about the way in which we collect, use or disclose individuals’ personal information, please contact us using the contact details below. 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 these concerns in accordance with our resolution procedure. All complaints or concerns will be responded to within 30 days.

Clinic Support Manager, GYHSAC
1 Bukki Rd, Yarrabah, Qld,4871.

Ph.: 07 4226 4100
info@gyhsac.org.au

You may also contact the Office of Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). Generally the OAIC will require you to give them time to respond, before they will investigate. For further information visit www.oaic.gov.au or call the OAIC on 1300 336 002.

Policy review statement

This policy will be reviewed and updated to ensure it is in accordance with any legislative changes. GYHSAC will inform its patients of any changes via our Webpage and newsletters.