Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy applies to all personal information collected by Inform Fitness & Nutrition Coaching (ABN 70 685 088 506) (we, us, our).
We recognise the importance of maintaining the privacy of the Personal Information of the individuals we deal with in conducting our business. We are committed to providing quality services and this policy outlines our ongoing obligations to you in respect of how we manage your Personal Information in accordance with our obligations under the Health Privacy Principles and National Privacy Principles as set out in the Health Records Act 2001 (Victoria) and The Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth) (the Privacy Act).
We have adopted the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act. The APPs govern the way in which we collect, use, disclose, store, secure and dispose of your Personal Information.
A copy of the Australian Privacy Principles may be obtained from the website of The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.aoic.gov.au
By contacting us to enquire about our services, providing us with your information or engaging us to provide you with health services you consent to us collecting, holding, using and disclosing your Personal Information as described in this Policy.
1. What is “personal information”?
a) The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) currently defines “personal information” as meaning information or an opinion about an identified individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable:
i) whether the information or opinion is true or not; and
ii) whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.
b) If information does not disclose your identity or enable your identity to be ascertained, it will in most cases not be classified as “personal information” and will not be subject to this privacy policy.
2. What personal information do we collect?
We collect information that you give us when you correspond with us by, video, phone, SMS, email, social media or otherwise. The personal information which we collect and hold about you may include:
a) your name and date of birth
b) general contact information - address, telephone number and email address
c) your ethnic background
d) your profession, occupation, or job title
e) your lifestyle factors
f) your Medicare number, Veterans’ Affairs number, Health Care Card number or Pensioner Concession Card Number, your private health insurance details, and your Individual Healthcare Identifier if any
g) your current and past medical history, including your family medical history, current medications and/or treatments you are using, allergies, adverse events, immunisations, social history, and risk factors
h) your next of kin or emergency contact
i) images you may provide to us including photos, videos, x-rays and scans
j) the name of any health service provider or medical specialist who you have attended, copies of any medical reports to provide to us
k) financial information including bank account and credit card details to process payments
l) any queries you have, and our response to those queries.
3. What happens if we don’t collect your personal information, or if you want to remain anonymous?
If you do not provide us with the personal information described above, we may not be able to provide the requested services to you properly, or we may not be able to provide our services to you at all.
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 identifiable individuals. We note in most cases it will be impracticable for us to provide you with our services if you choose to remain anonymous for the reasons described above.
4. How we collect your personal information
We may collect information from you when you:
a) Correspondence with us regarding our services, whether by telephone, email, or in person; and/or
b) Complete our Client Questionnaire and Medical Clearance Form before your first consultation; and/ or
c) From other third-party sources, such as from:
i) your spouse, parent, guardian or responsible person, or a relative or friend if they attend an appointment with you or if they contact us
ii) other health professionals
iii) government health agencies
iv) law enforcement agencies and other government entities
5. Purpose of collection
We will use the personal information we collect from you to provide you with the services that you have requested or otherwise to enable us to carry out our business. This includes:
a) to carry out our business function
b) to respond to your queries or complaints
c) to provide you with information about our services
d) to improve our services
e) to provide you with notice of any changes to our services
f) to send you reminders about your booked consultations
g) responding to your queries and to deal with any complaints you may have
h) for administrative and billing purposes
i) marketing including email marketing, promotional and educative activities
j) ensuring compliance with our statutory obligations
k) quality improvement activities, the monitoring the performance of our business and clinical audits; and
l) to meet obligations of notification to our medical defence organisations or insurers.
When we collect personal information about you, we will not use that information for any purpose other than the primary purpose for which it is collected, except as otherwise set out in this Privacy Policy or as permitted or required by the Privacy Act or the Health Records Act.
6. Sensitive Information
Sensitive Information is defined in the Privacy Act to include information or opinion about such things as an individual's racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious or philosophical beliefs, membership of a trade union or other professional body, criminal record or health information.
We only collect Sensitive Information where it is reasonably necessary for our business functions or activities and either:
a) the individual has consented; or
b) we are required or authorised by or under law (including applicable privacy legislation) to do so.
7. Access, correction, and maintenance
It is important to us that your personal information is up to date. We will take reasonable steps to make sure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up to date. If you find that the information we have is not up to date or is inaccurate, please advise in writing to us as soon as practicable so we can update our records and ensure we can continue to provide quality services to you.
Australian Privacy Principle 12 permits you to obtain access to the personal information we hold about you in certain circumstances, and Australian Privacy Principle 13 allows you to correct inaccurate personal information subject to certain exceptions. If you would like to obtain such access, please contact us in writing by email at [email protected]
We will not charge any fee for your access request but may charge an administrative fee for providing a copy of your Personal Information. To protect your personal information, we may require identification from you before releasing the requested information.
8. Security
We will take reasonable steps to protect the security of personal information from misuse. We are required to respect the confidentiality of personal information and the privacy of individuals. We will retain personal information collected from individuals for a period not exceeding Seven (7) years after the last occasion the information was provided. In the case of any health-related information collected while the individual was a child, after the individual attains the age of 25 years. Where we no longer require your personal information, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify it.
9. Complaint procedure
If you have a complaint concerning the way we maintain the privacy of your personal information, please contact us as set out below. All complaints will be considered by our privacy officer, and we may seek further information from you to clarify your concerns. If we agree that your complaint is well founded, we will, in consultation with you, take appropriate steps to rectify the problem. If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome, you may refer the matter to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner or www.oaic.gov.au or Heath Complaints Commissioner of Victoria https://hcc.vic.gov.au.
10. Overseas transfer
Your personal information may be transferred overseas or stored overseas for a variety of reasons. It is not possible to identify every country to which your personal information may be sent. If your personal information is sent to a recipient in a country with data protection laws which are at least substantially like the Australian Privacy Principles, and where there are mechanisms available to you to enforce protection of your personal information under that overseas law, we will not be liable for a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles if your personal information is mishandled in that jurisdiction. If your personal information is transferred to a jurisdiction which does not have data protection laws as comprehensive as Australia's, we will take reasonable steps to secure a contractual commitment from the recipient to handle your information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles.
11. Policy updates
This Policy may change from time to time and may be obtained by contacting our Privacy Officer.
12. How to contact us about privacy
If you have any queries, or if you seek access to your personal information, or if you have a complaint about our privacy practices, you can contact us at:
Privacy Officer
Meagan Moore
Email:[email protected]
Telephone:0424 706 428
You may also contact the following organisations with any privacy related complaints, or see their website more details:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001 Phone: 1300 363 992 Email: [email protected] Website: www.oaic.gov.au
Health Complaints Commissioner Level 26, 570 Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 Phone: 1300 582 113 Email: [email protected] Website: https://hcc.vic.gov.au