Privacy Policy

1. The information we collect

Depending on your dealings with us, we may collect:

• your name, date of birth, address, email address and other contact details;
• health information relevant to your hearing care, including medical and ear health history, hearing test results, audiograms, reports relating to tinnitus or hearing aid needs, and clinical notes;
• Medicare, Department of Veterans' Affairs and private health insurance details where relevant to claims and rebates;
• details of your referring general practitioner, ear, nose and throat specialist or other health professional;
• the content of enquiries and quote requests you submit through this website;
• billing and payment information; and
• website usage data such as pages visited, browser type and approximate location.

Health information is treated as sensitive information under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and attracts additional protections under the Australian Privacy Principles.

2. How we collect personal information

Where it is reasonable and practicable, we collect personal information directly from you, for example when you attend an appointment, send us an email, or complete an enquiry or quote form. We may also collect personal information:

• from your referring practitioner or other treating health professionals, with your consent;
• from Medicare, the Department of Veterans' Affairs or your health fund, where you have authorised this; and
• automatically through this website, via cookies and analytics tools.

If we collect personal information about you from someone else, we will take reasonable steps to notify you of that collection, as required by APP 5.

3. Why we collect and how we use your information

We collect, hold, use and disclose personal information so that we can:

• provide audiology and hearing care services, including assessments, hearing aid fittings, adjustments and reviews;
• prepare quotes and respond to your enquiries;
• send appointment reminders and follow-up care information;
• prepare clinical reports and communicate with referrers involved in your care;
• process payments, Medicare and health fund claims;
• maintain accurate clinical records and comply with legal and professional record-keeping obligations; and
• undertake quality assurance and staff training, using de-identified information wherever possible.

4. Consent and sensitive information

We will generally seek your consent before collecting health information about you, and we will only collect sensitive information where it is reasonably necessary for our functions and permitted by law. You may withdraw or limit your consent at any time; however, this may affect our ability to provide certain hearing care services to you.

5. When we disclose personal information

We may disclose your personal information to:

• health professionals involved in your care, such as your general practitioner, ear, nose and throat specialist or other allied health providers;
• hearing device manufacturers or laboratories where custom ear moulds, repairs or components are required;
• Medicare, the Department of Veterans' Affairs or your health fund for rebate and claim purposes;
• our service providers who host data, support our practice management software or help us operate this website, under contractual confidentiality and privacy obligations;
• our professional advisers, such as accountants, auditors and insurers, where reasonably necessary; and
• other parties where required or authorised by law, for example under a court order or a mandatory reporting obligation.

We do not sell, trade or rent your personal information to third parties.

6. Security and retention of your information

We take reasonable steps, as required by APP 11, to protect the personal information we hold from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. This includes the use of secure clinical software, access controls and password protection for electronic records, and locked storage for any paper records.

We retain clinical and business records for as long as required by applicable record-keeping obligations. When the information is no longer required by law or for a permitted purpose, we take reasonable steps to destroy it or de-identify it.

7. Access to and correction of your information

Under APP 12 and APP 13, you may request access to the personal information we hold about you and request corrections where you believe it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. To make a request, email ceo@ssaudiologyeightytwo.online. We will respond within a reasonable period. There is no charge for making a request, although we may pass on reasonable costs associated with providing copies of records. In limited circumstances set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), we may decline a request, and we will explain our reasons if we do.

8. Cookies, analytics and this website

This website may use cookies and analytics tools to understand how visitors use the site and to improve its content. Analytics data is aggregated and de-identified wherever possible. You can configure your browser to refuse cookies, although some features of the website may not function correctly as a result. Information you submit through our enquiry and quote forms is used only to respond to your request. This website may contain links to third-party sites; we are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites.

9. Direct marketing

We will only send you direct marketing about our audiology and hearing care services where permitted by the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles, and where you have consented or reasonably expect to receive it. Every marketing message will include a simple way to opt out, and you can also opt out at any time by emailing ceo@ssaudiologyeightytwo.online.

10. Overseas disclosure

We aim to store personal information on systems located in Australia. Some of our service providers, such as cloud hosting and software providers, may store or process information outside Australia. Where that occurs, we take reasonable steps, as required by APP 8, to ensure that any overseas recipient does not breach the Australian Privacy Principles in relation to your information.

11. Notifiable data breaches

If an eligible data breach occurs that is likely to result in serious harm to any individual whose information we hold, we will notify those individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner in accordance with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme under Part IIIC of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

12. Questions, concerns and complaints

If you have a question about this policy, or you wish to make a complaint about how we have handled your personal information, please email ceo@ssaudiologyeightytwo.online. We will acknowledge your complaint and aim to provide a substantive response within thirty days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au.

13. Changes to this policy

We may review and update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, technology or our practices. The current version is always published on this page, and the "last reviewed" date above indicates when it was most recently updated.

14. How to contact us

Please do not include sensitive health details in general email enquiries. We will advise you of appropriate and secure options when we respond. For the terms governing use of this website, please see our Terms of Use.