We are committed to protecting the privacy of patient information and to handling your personal information in a responsible manner in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles and relevant State and Territory privacy legislation (referred to as privacy legislation This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use and disclose your personal information, how you may access that information and how you may seek the correction of any information. It also explains how you may make a complaint about a breach of privacy legislation. This Privacy Policy is current from February 5, 2021 and is regularly reviewed. You may access an up-to-date copy on our website or by requesting it directly from our practice.

We collect information that is necessary and relevant to provide you with medical care and treatment and manage our medical practice. This information may be collected by medical and non-medical staff. The information is documented in written and/or digital records. We collect information in various ways (phone, video, email or in writing, in person or over the internet if you transact with us online).

This information may include:

• Name, address, date of birth, gender, health/medical history, family history, necessary account management
  details, credit/debit card and contact details; and
• Other health information about you including symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, other doctor reports and tests, appointment details and billing information, prescriptions, other details you have disclosed.

Wherever practicable we will only collect information from you personally. Otherwise through your responsible person (e.g. parent or guardian), or in emergency situations from your relatives or friends. Information may also be supplied to us by a third party such as other specialists, diagnostic centers, hospitals, other health care providers, and the MyHealth record system.

• We will use or disclose your information for purposes directly related to your care and treatment, or in ways that you would reasonably expect that we may use it for your ongoing care and treatment (e.g. exchange of correspondence/ test results with another practitioner necessary in the context of your treatment);
• We will release your file to the same doctor at another location for the purpose of continuation of care;
• Your personal information will not be disclosed to or released to a third-party unless a separate signed consent has been received by you and the request approved by the treating doctor;
• There are circumstances where we may be permitted or required by law to disclose your personal information such as in the case of court subpoenas;
• Some information may be released to facilitate claims such as Medicare, DVA or Health Fund rebates;
• We will use the information to communicate with you regarding general information about our services, research, or related activities such as information sessions or newsletters;
• We may use parts of your health information for research purposes, if this is required your consent will be sought. In other cases, your details may be used as a part of an informal study, in these cases your information will be de-identified; and
• We may disclose information about you to outside contractors to carry out activities on our behalf (e.g. IT service provider, solicitor, etc.

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is accurate, compete, up to date and relevant. We request that you let us know if any of the information we hold about you is incorrect or out of date. Personal information that we hold is protected by:

• securing our premises;
• placing passwords and varying access levels on databases to limit access and protect electronic information from unauthorised interference, access, modification, and disclosure; and
• providing locked cabinets and rooms for the storage of physical records.

Wherever it is lawful and practicable, individuals must have the option of not identifying themselves or using a pseudonym when entering transaction with an organization. Patients must be aware that this may compromise comprehensive treatment and potential rebates from Medicare.

We will only use government identifiers (e.g. Medicare number, other Commonwealth Government agency numbers) where necessary and not disclose this to any other party.

You are entitled to request access to your medical records. We request that you put your request in writing and we will respond to it within a reasonable time.

There may be a fee for the administrative costs of retrieving and providing you with copies of your medical records.

We may deny access to your medical records in certain circumstances permitted by law, for example, if disclosure may cause a serious threat to your health or safety. We will always tell you why access is denied and the options you have to respond to our decision.

If you believe that the information, we have about you is not accurate, complete or up to date, we ask that you contact us in writing (see contact details below).

We will not transfer your personal information to an overseas recipient unless we have your consent, or we are required to do so by law.

We will not use or disclose sensitive information for the purpose of direct marketing unless we have obtained prior consent to use or disclosure for that purpose.

If you have a complaint about the privacy of your personal information (including complaints about our use of the Myhealth record system), we request that you contact us in writing. Upon receipt of a complaint, we will consider the details and attempt to resolve it in accordance with our complaints handling procedures. If you are dissatisfied with our handling of a complaint or the outcome you may make an application to the Australian Information Commissioner or the Privacy Commissioner in your State or Territory.

Please direct any queries, complaints, requests for access to medical records to: ‘For the attention of SSI Clinic Manager’, Save Sight Institute Clinic, Ground level, South Block, Sydney Eye Hospital Campus, 8 Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW 2000 OR ssi.clinic@sydney.edu.au