Providing personal information

By providing personal information to us, you consent to our storage, maintenance, use and disclosing of personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time by posting an updated copy on our website and we encourage you to check our website regularly to ensure that you are aware of our most current version.

Privacy and confidentiality guidelines

• We are committed to complying with the privacy requirements of the Privacy Act, the Australian Privacy Principles and for Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches)
• We are fully committed to complying with the consent requirements of the NDIS Quality and Safeguarding Framework and relevant state or territory requirements
• We provide all individuals with access to information about the privacy of their personal information
• Each individual has the right to opt out of consenting to and providing their personal details if they wish
• Individuals have the right to request access to their personal records by requesting this themselves or via their nominated representative
• Personal information will only be used by us in accordance with this policy and will not be shared outside the organisation without applicable permissions unless required by law (e.g. reporting assault, abuse, neglect, or where a court order is issued)
• Images or video footage of participants will not be used without their consent

Information protection

We take reasonable steps to protect the personal information we hold against misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification and disclosure, however, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information.

These steps include:

• Password protection for accessing our electronic IT systems
• Securing paper files in locked cabinets
• Physical access restrictions
• Authorised personnel only, are permitted to access information

When personal information that we collect is no longer required, it is destroyed, deleted or de-identified in a secure manner, in accordance with our Information Management policy.

Data breach

We have a requirement to notify individuals and the Australian Information Commissioner about ‘eligible data breaches’ in accordance with the NDB (Notifiable Data Breaches) scheme in Part IIIC of the Privacy Act.

An ‘eligible data breach’ is determined when the following criteria is met:

• There is unauthorised access to, or disclosure of personal information held by an entity (or information is lost in circumstances where unauthorised access or disclosure is likely to occur)
• The breach is likely to result in serious harm to any of the individuals to whom the information relates
• The entity has been unable to prevent the likely risk of serious harm with remedial action

Employee obligations

We require all team members to adhere to Information protection obligations. These obligations include:

• Not discussing or disclosing personal information with people not professionally associated with us without consent
• Not discussing or disclosing personal information with another affiliated service provider that is not factual, relevant or without consent
• Not accessing personal information unless it is required to as part of their role
• Not leaving personal information in unsecured areas or public places

These obligations remain in place during and after being an employee of ours.

Information collection

We may collect personal information either directly from you, or from third parties, including where you:

• Contact us through our website
• Use our services
• Submit any of our online sign up forms
• Communicate with us via email, telephone, SMS, social applications (such as LinkedIn, Facebook or X) or otherwise
• Interact with our website, social applications, services, content and advertising
• Invest in our business or enquire as to a potential purchase in our business

We may also collect personal information from you when you use or access our website or our social media pages. This may be done through use of web analytics tools, 'cookies' or other similar tracking technologies that allow us to track and analyse your website usage.

Cookies are small files that store information on your computer, mobile phone or other device and enable and allow the creator of the cookie to identify when you visit different websites. If you do not wish information to be stored as a cookie, you can disable cookies in your web browser.

We may use Google Analytics to collect and process data, including when you use third party websites or apps. To find out more see How Google uses data when you use our partners’ sites or apps.

Types of personal information we collect

The personal information we collect may include the following:

• Name;
• Mailing or street address
• Email address
• Social media information
• Telephone number and other contact details
• Age
• Date of birth
• Gender
• Credit card or other payment information
• Information you give us when you request a good or service such as;
  
  • Your requirements with respect to specific goods or services
  • Your opinion or preferences with respect to any of our goods or services
• Details of guardians and nominees, including names, addresses and contact details
• Sensitive information as set out below;
  
  • Information about your business or personal circumstances
  • Information in connection with client surveys, questionnaires and promotions
  • Your device identity and type, i.p. Address, geo-location information, page view statistics, advertising data and standard web log information
  • Information about third parties
  • Any other information provided by you to us via our website or our online presence, or otherwise required by us or provided by you.

How we use personal information

We collect and use personal information for the following purposes:

• To provide services or information to you
• Confirm your identity when you contact us
• Allow you to access our services
• Social media information
• Manage your use of the provider choice platform and the requests and bookings conducted between you and providers
• Be aware of any good or service requirements you may have
• Deliver services, process payments, communicate with you about our services and generally maintain your membership with us
• Provide you with electronic confirmation of your services you have requested and advise you of any changes to these services
• For recordkeeping and administrative purposes
• To provide information about you to our team members or other third parties for the purpose of providing goods or services to you
• To improve and optimise our service offering and customer experience
• To comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes or enforce our agreements with third parties
• To send you marketing and promotional messages and other information that may be of interest to you and for the purpose of direct marketing (in accordance with the Spam Act). In this regard, we may use email, SMS, social media or mail to send you direct marketing communications. You can opt out of receiving marketing materials from us by using the opt-out facility provided (e.g. An unsubscribe link)
• To send you administrative messages, reminders, notices, updates, security alerts, and other information requested by you
• To consider an application of employment from you

Providing information for someone else

If you are providing personal and/or sensitive information on behalf of someone else, you must have the consent of that person to provide their personal and/or sensitive information to us to be collected, used and disclosed in accordance with this privacy policy.

This includes where you are an NDIS participant’s nominee, support coordinator or representative. We reserve the right to request evidence of this consent.

If you are providing personal and/or sensitive information on behalf of someone under the age of 18 (Minor), you must be that Minor’s parent or legal guardian and you must provide consent for The Minor’s personal and/or sensitive information to be collected, used and disclosed in accordance with this privacy policy.

Sensitive information

We may collect sensitive information about you during the course of providing you services. The type of sensitive information we may collect includes but may not be limited to, details about your physical or mental health, including disabilities and information about your support requirements including your NDIS plan and budget, if relevant.

We will only collect this sensitive information where you consent and provide us with this information.

If you consent, your sensitive information may only be used and disclosed for purposes relating to providing you with our services and and/or referring you to medical or health service providers in circumstances where we cannot obtain your consent.

Your sensitive information may also be used or disclosed to comply with our legal and or regulatory obligations.

Providing personal information guidelines

We may be required to provide personal information to external organisations, however, will only provide an individual’s personal information to a third party if one of the following applies:

• The individual has consented
• It is otherwise required or authorised by law
• It will prevent or lessen a serious threat to somebody’s life, health or safety or to public health or safety
• It is reasonably necessary for us to take appropriate action in relation to suspected unlawful activity, or misconduct of a serious nature that relates to our functions or activities
• It is reasonably necessary to assist in locating a missing person
• It is reasonably necessary to establish, exercise or defend a claim at law
• It is reasonably necessary for a confidential dispute resolution process
• It is necessary to provide to a health service
• It is necessary for the management, funding or monitoring of a health service relevant to public health or public safety
• It is reasonably necessary for the enforcement of a law conducted by an enforcement body

Access or correction to your personal information

If you wish to request access to or correct any personal information we hold about you, select the “Contact Us” option here on our website and we will direct your request to our Privacy Officer.

We may need to verify your identity before providing you with your personal information. In some cases, we may be unable to provide you with access to all your personal information and where this occurs, we will explain why.

We will deal with all requests for access to personal information within a reasonable timeframe.

Complaints

If you wish to complain about how we handle your personal information held by us, please select the “the “Contact Us” option here on our website and we will direct your complaint to our Complaints Officer.

We will investigate your complaint promptly and respond to you within a reasonable timeframe.

All complaints received will be logged on the complaints register and handled in accordance with our Feedback and Complaints Policy and Procedure.