Privacy policy

When you register as a patient, you consent to our GPs and staff accessing and using your personal information to provide your healthcare. Only staff who need to see it have access. If we need to use your information for anything else, we will ask you first.

You may deal with us anonymously or under a pseudonym, unless that is impracticable or we are required by law to deal only with identified individuals.

• Name, date of birth, address and contact details
• Medical history, medications, allergies, adverse events, immunisations, social and family history, and risk factors
• Medicare number, for identification and claiming
• Healthcare identifiers and health fund details

• From your registration when you book your first appointment, and from you during consultations
• When you use this website, email or SMS us, phone us, book online or contact us on social media
• From others where it is not practical to collect it from you directly — your guardian or responsible person, other treating providers such as specialists, allied health, hospitals, pathology and imaging services, or your health fund, Medicare or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs

Mainly to manage your health. We also use it for directly related business activities such as claims and payments, practice audits and accreditation, and staff training.

We will not use the information in your medical record to market our goods or services to you without your express consent, and you can opt out at any time by telling us in writing. Website advertising, which is based on site visits rather than on your record, is described under “Our website, cookies and analytics”.

We may share your information:

• with other healthcare providers involved in your care
• with third parties who work with the practice, such as accreditation agencies and IT providers — they must comply with the Australian Privacy Principles and this policy
• through eTP and My Health Record, for example a Shared Health Summary or Event Summary
• when required or authorised by law, including court subpoenas and mandatory disease notification
• to lessen or prevent a serious threat to anyone’s life, health or safety, or to assist in locating a missing person
• to establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim, or for confidential dispute resolution

Only people who need your information can access it. Other than as described in this policy, we will not share it with any third party without your consent.

We will not share your information with anyone outside Australia without your consent, other than the website analytics data described below, and except in exceptional circumstances permitted by law.

You do not need to identify yourself to browse this website. If you send an enquiry through a form on the site, we receive the name, phone number, email address and message you enter, and we use them only to respond to you.

We use Google Analytics to understand how the site is used — which pages are viewed, roughly which city visitors are in, what device and browser they use, and how they reached us. This is technical information about website visits. It is not connected to your medical record, and we do not use it to try to identify you.

Google Analytics stores a cookie in your browser and processes this data on Google’s servers, which are outside Australia.

We have Google’s advertising features switched on. This means Google may combine your visit to this site with information from your Google account to give us general, non-identifying reports about the age range, gender and interests of our visitors, and may allow us to show ads for the practice to people who have visited this website before. Those reports never identify you individually, and we never send Google your medical information, your name or your contact details.

If you would rather this did not happen, you can turn it off for your Google account at myadcenter.google.com, or use the opt-out below — both work regardless of which browser or device you use.

We also use Cloudflare to deliver and protect the website, including a security check on enquiry forms to block automated abuse.

Some pages include third-party content that operates under its own privacy policy: a Google Maps panel on our contact page, and appointment booking handled by HotDoc when you choose to book online.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, or install Google’s Analytics opt-out add-on. The website works normally either way, and opting out does not affect your care.

Your information may be held in several forms. We store all personal information securely.

You have the right to ask for access to your information and to have it corrected. We ask for requests in writing, using a request form for file transfers, and we respond within a reasonable time — within 30 days.

We take reasonable steps to correct information that is not accurate or up to date, and we will ask you from time to time to confirm your details are current. Send requests marked to the attention of the Practice Manager by email to the practice, hand them in at reception, or fax 02 9971 7279.

We take privacy concerns seriously. Please put your concern in writing, marked to the attention of the Practice Manager and email it to the practice, hand it in at reception, or fax 02 9971 7279. We respond within 7 business days.

You may also contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, which will generally ask you to give us time to respond first. Visit oaic.gov.au or call 1300 363 992.

We review this policy regularly to keep it current, and notify patients of amendments through pamphlets in the surgery.