Privacy Notice
The North Coast Head to Health website is hosted by Healthy North Coast; an independent, not-for-profit organisation proudly delivering the PHN program in North Coast NSW.
Healthy North Coast is committed to a culture that respects privacy and protecting the privacy of the personal information it collects. From time to time, Healthy North Coast is required to collect, hold, use and/or disclose personal information relating to individuals (including, but not limited to its health consumers, health and social service providers, contractors, suppliers, employees and candidates) in the performance of its business activities.
How will my personal information be managed if I use the North Coast Head to Health website?
The law protects how your personal information will be managed. The North Coast Head to Health website is maintained by Healthy North Coast, and the collection, use and disclosure of information will be managed in line with the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act), including the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and the Australian Government Agencies Privacy Code.
When using the North Coast Head to Health website and online forms, your information is being managed in accordance with this Privacy Notice and the following third-parties:
- Healthy North Coast Privacy Policy – commissioners of the North Coast Head to Health service and host of the North Coast Head to Health website.
- Consultmed Privacy Policy – hosts of the secure webforms for referral and self-referral
What kind of information is collected and why?
Website Information
When you visit the North Coast Head to Health website, our web measurement tools and internet service providers record information, including:
- your server and IP address
- the name of the top level domain (for example, .gov, .com, .edu, .au)
- the type of browser used
- the date and time you accessed the website
- how you interacted with our website
- the previous website you visited
We use the above information to understand how our website is being used. This helps us improve our website and provide you with a better experience.
Personal Information
Healthy North Coast only collects personal information that is reasonably necessary for one or more of our functions or activities, or if we have received your consent to collect the information.
When using the North Coast Head to Health referral or contact forms, we may collect personal information such as names, addresses (postal and email), phone numbers, position details, and other identifying information. If we collect sensitive information such as health information, North Coast Head to Health will obtain your consent.
The information provided in the North Coast Head to Health referral forms is hosted by Consultmed and shared securely with the North Coast Head to Health service delivery team to help support a connection to mental health and wellbeing support or services.
De-identified Information
Healthy North Coast use activity data for monitoring and evaluation purposes. Healthy North Coast requires access to de-identified client information in order to produce statistical reports to support the current and ongoing evaluation of programs and services delivered. For Head to Health services, Healthy North Coast provides de-identified data and information to the Department of Health and Ageing through the Primary Mental Health Care Minimum Data Set. The types of data include:
- Program-level information
- De-identified individual activity data, such as the number of service contacts provided or type of service provided; and
- Group activity data
For reporting purposes, we may be required by our funding bodies to collect personal data relating to the delivery of contracted services. This information is reported de-identified.
De-identified population health data can assist Healthy North Coast’s primary function to assess and understand the health needs of people in our local region, commissioning health services to meet the identified and prioritised needs and address identified gaps in primary health care.
How do you maintain security of collected information?
We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and from unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure.
We take reasonable steps to store your personal information securely with access limited to only those people necessary to manage and use the information.
We take reasonable steps to ensure that our web environment, internal network, and databases are protected from unauthorised access using current technologies.
We store personal and health information on secure servers that are protected in controlled facilities.
How can I request access to my personal information?
Healthy North Coast commissioned service providers are required to adhere to the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles (APP) in relation to the collection, use and disclosure of the personal information of clients. The APP guidelines outline how the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) interprets the Australian Privacy Principles when exercising powers under the Privacy Act.
You may request access to your information by putting the request in writing and sending it to the Healthy North Coast Privacy Officer – privacy@hnc.org.au. We will respond to any request within a reasonable period, and a charge may apply for giving access to the personal information where Healthy North Coast incurs any unreasonable costs in providing the personal information.
Complaints
Any complaints in relation to Healthy North Coast’s handling of personal information should be submitted via the Healthy North Coast Complaints Form
If you believe the complaint has not been appropriately handled by Healthy North Coast, you should contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner using their online Privacy Complaint Form found at www.oaic.gov.au.
Contact Us
Healthy North Coast welcomes your comments regarding this Privacy Policy Statement. If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact us by email at privacy@hnc.org.au.