APP Privacy Policy

Under the Privacy Act 1988, we are required to have an Australian Privacy Principles Privacy Policy dealing with the ways we manage your personal information.

Why we collect personal information

Your privacy is important to Keilor Hostel for the Aged Association Inc.

As an aged care provider, we collect and hold personal information about our clients, our employees and the service providers we engage.

We collect this personal information so we can deliver the best possible care and services to our clients in accordance with their needs and preferences, and to comply with our legal obligations.

The personal information we collect and hold

Clients

To deliver care and services to our clients, we collect any personal and health information that we require, including, but not limited to:

• clients' names, addresses and contact details
• clients' gender, dates of birth, marital status, religion
• photographs
• clients’ health and financial information as well as information about their hobbies.

Employees and service providers

We also collect and hold certain personal information about our employees and service providers, including:

• resumes, employment histories and qualifications
• training records and competency assessments
• medical histories directly related to the individual’s ability to perform the inherent requirements of the position

How we collect personal information

Clients

We always try to collect personal information directly from our clients or their representatives. We also collect information from other sources, such as healthcare providers, government departments and bodies and other people or organisations who have provided or do provide care and services to our clients.

Employees and service providers

We always try to collect information about our employees directly from them. We also collect employees’ information:

• through background checks and police checks
• from referees and employment agencies.
  

Information about service providers and their employees is collected directly from service providers.

How we store personal information

The personal information we hold is stored securely, whether electronic or in hard copy.

Our use of personal information

Clients

We primarily use clients’ personal information to provide them with accommodation, care and services. We also use clients’ personal information for other purposes including, but not limited to:

• complying with our obligations under laws, such as the Aged Care Act 1997
• quality assurance and risk management
• continuous quality improvement activities.

From time to time, we use clients’ personal information for direct marketing. Clients who do not wish to have their personal information used for this purpose should contact us on the details below and let us know.

Employees and service providers

We use personal information about our employees and services providers:

• to assess their suitability to perform the duties required and deliver care and services to our clients, where required
  
• to meet our obligations under relevant laws, including the Aged Care Act 1997 and workplace laws
• to improve the care and services we offer through quality improvement activities such as training.

Circumstances in which we disclose personal information

Clients

We only disclose personal information about our clients to other people or organisations with our clients’ consent. This may include to, for example, a client’s doctor or their allied health service providers. For home care clients, it may include cleaners, gardeners or maintenance personnel who provide services to the client at home.

We may also disclose clients’ information to related organisations .

From time to time, we may also disclose clients’ personal information to third parties including:

• government agencies where this is necessary for us to receive funding and/or comply with our legal obligations to notify the government and police of certain matters
• our professional advisers, such as lawyers or auditors.

Employees and service providers

We generally only disclose certain personal information about our employees and service providers with their consent. However, from time to time we may have to disclose certain personal information about our employees and service providers to relevant authorities and our professional advisers.

Cross-border disclosure

We do not disclose personal information to third parties outside Australia unless we have consent or the disclosure is authorised by law.

Accessing and correcting your personal information

It is important that the information we hold about our clients, employees and service providers is accurate. Except in certain situations, you have the right to access your personal information and ask us to correct it. We will take reasonable steps to update or correct, as soon as possible, any information in our possession that is inaccurate, incomplete, out-of-date, irrelevant or misleading.

We may refuse to grant you access where this is allowed or required by law, for example, where this would have a negative impact on someone else’s privacy. If we do refuse to grant access, we will give you written reasons.

If you would like to access your personal information, please contact:

info@hollowayagedcare.com.au or 03) 9331 2733(mailto:info@hollowayagedcare.com.au) 

We may charge you a small fee for accessing your personal information, as permitted by law.

Complaining about a breach of privacy

You have the right to complain if you believe we have breached this policy or your rights under the Australian Privacy Principles.

To lodge a complaint, please write to our Complaints Officer at the following address:

info@hollowayagedcare.com.au

You can also make a complaint by:

Completing a feedback form and requesting a meeting with the Executive Officer.

Our complaints system

We will consider your complaint and respond within a reasonable time.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner:

Further information can be found at http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/making-a-privacy-complaint .(http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/making-a-privacy-complaint) 

Online privacy

We use cookies on our website. Cookies are a small file that is placed on your computer by a web server when you access a website. They collect user information and data for statistical and analytic purposes, but do not identify the individual user, just the computer.

Websites often use cookies. Most internet browsers accept cookies by default. You can control the use of cookies by configuring the preferences and settings in your browser and/or firewall.