Introduction

Our Privacy Policy provides you with information regarding how your personal information is collected and used within our occupational therapy practice, and the circumstances in which we may share it with third parties.

 

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.

 

Your consent

When you become a client of this practice, you provide consent for our occupational therapists and practice staff to access and use your personal information, so they can provide you with the best possible health care. 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.

 

Your personal information

Our practice collects your personal information to provide health care services to you. Our main purpose for collecting, using, holding and sharing your personal information is to manage your health.

 

The information we will collect about you includes:

·        Name, date of birth, address, phone numbers and other relevant contact details

·        Relevant health and medical information, including any information provided by your GP, specialist or other allied health professional through referral processes

·        Medicare number for claiming purposes

·        Private Health Fund details for claiming purposes

·        NDIS number, personal goals and plan review date

We collect, hold and use your personal information for a number of purposes:

·        To ensure you receive the best and most personalised care possible while you are a client at Matthew Ebden Consulting

·        To send communications such as reports, summaries and reviews to you and any relevant referring or treating doctors, specialists or other allied health professionals

·        To provide relevant information and advice to you

·        To update our records and keep your contact details current, our practice may collect your personal information in a number of ways:

·        When you or your agent contacts us for the provision of services, you or your agent will be required to provide referral information, including your contact details and basic medical information

·        During therapeutic intervention or assessment

·        We may also collect your personal information when you send us an email or an SMS, telephone us, or communicate with us using social media

·        In some circumstances, personal information may also be collected from other sources, such as: your guardian or responsible person, other health or education providers invested in your care, or via your health fund, Medicare or NDIS.

 

At times we may need to share your information:

·        With other health care providers, such as your GP, specialist or other healthcare professional

·        When it is required or authorised by law, such as a court subpoena

·        When it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to a client’s life, health or safety, or public health and safety

·        When there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information

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Only people who need to access your information will be able to do so. Other than in the course of providing health care services or as otherwise described in this policy, we will not share personal information with any third party without your consent. Our practice will not share your personal information with anyone outside of Australia (unless under exceptional circumstances that are permitted by law) without your consent. Neither will our practice use your personal information for direct marketing without your consent.

Our practice will store your personal information in various forms:

·        Electronic records

·        Paper records

Our practice stores all of your personal information respectfully and responsibly:

·        In secure and protected ICT and storage systems

 

You have the right to request access to your personal information:

·        We ask that you put this request in writing by emailing us

·        Depending on the way in which you wish to access your personal information, we may require up to 30 days to process your request

·        The fee for this service will be calculated based on time and resources used in the process of retrieving, collating and disseminating the information requested

·        The Privacy Act states that we can reject this request if we believe we have due reason

·        If we reject your request, a reason will be provided in writing

You have the right to request correction of your personal information:

·        We ask that you put this request in writing by emailing us

·        The Privacy Act states that we can reject this request if we believe we have due reason

·        If we reject your request, a reason will be provided in writing

Our practice likes to ensure your details are always accurate and up-to-date:

·        If you move to a new house or get a new phone number, please let us know as soon as possible so we can update our records

·        You can update your details by emailing us

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Website collection
Matthew Ebden Consulting collects personal information from the web site www.matthewebden.com through the receipt of information that you or your agent have provided. They also use third parties to analyse traffic at that web site, which may involve the use of cookies.

 

Complaints Process

We take complaints and concerns regarding privacy seriously. You should express any privacy concerns you have in writing, by emailing Matthew Ebden at matt@matthewebden.com

  

We will attempt to resolve any issues within 30 days of receipt of complaint, in accordance with our Five-Step Resolution Process. You may also contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). Generally, the OAIC will require you give them time to respond before they will investigate. For further information, visit www.oaic.gov.au or call the OAIC on 1300 363 992.

 

Privacy review statement

Our Privacy Policy is reviewed regularly to ensure it is in accordance with any changes that may occur to the Privacy Act or other relevant legislation. Clients will be notified of these changes through our website: www.matthewebden.com