Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Astepahead Pty Ltd (ACN 107 087 589) and its related companies (together we, us, our and other similar expressions) are committed to protecting your personal privacy. This Privacy Policy tells you how we collect, store, use and disclose your personal information. We encourage you to read this policy carefully so that you understand our information handling practices.

Our Privacy Principles

We are bound by the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). We have adopted internal policies and procedures to ensure that personal information that we collect, store, use and disclose is dealt with in accordance with the APPs. You can see the full text of the APPs online at www.privacy.gov.au.

In addition, as a podiatry business we are required or authorised to collect personal information under the Health Practitioner Regulation (New South Wales) Regulation 2016. 

Information we collect

In order to provide our patients with our services, we may collect and use personal information about you and others. If we are not provided with all the personal information we request, we may not be able to supply our services.

The type of information we collect includes names, addresses and medical records (including medical histories

We do collect or store ‘sensitive information’, as defined in the Privacy Act (eg. information about ethnic origin, religious beliefs or health). However, where we are required to and it is practicable to do so, we will seek your consent before collecting your sensitive information and inform you of the purpose at the same time.

How we collect personal information

Generally, we collect an individual’s personal information from that individual.  For example, if you make an appointment at one of our clinics, you may be asked to complete a questionnaire. We may also collect personal information during a consultation with you.

However, occasionally we may also collect personal information from someone other than the individual, for example from an emergency contact or any other person you have given us permission to contact on your behalf.

How we store personal information

We take all reasonable steps to keep secure any personal information which we hold about you and to protect your personal information from loss, misuse or unauthorised alteration. Any personal information you provide to us is stored on secure servers. Access to personal information is limited to those of our personnel who specifically need it to carry out their business responsibilities. We also maintain physical security procedures to manage and protect the use and storage of records containing personal information.

Our employees are obliged and trained to respect the confidentiality of any personal information held by us.

Purpose of collection 

We collect personal information so we can:

  • identify our patients, potential patients and their representatives
  • provide a podiatric health service that is tailored to each individual patient
  • follow all laws applicable to the provision of podiatry services in NSW;
  • inform you or others of any initiatives we think may be of interest to you or them
  • inform you or others about our services and the benefits of using our services
  • provide you or others with information about offers or other benefits that may become available
  • seek your opinion or comments about our services
  • carry out billing and/or debt recovery activities
  • carry out our management, administrative quality assurance and complaint handling activities in a professional and efficient manner
  • develop and implement initiatives to improve our services

Use and Disclosure

We use and disclose the personal information we collect for the purposes indicated above, and for other secondary purposes. 

We usually disclose the personal information we collect to our related entities, service providers and contractors, who help us supply our services.

Except where indicated above, we will not use or disclose personal information unless:

  • the individual concerned has consented to the use and disclosure;
  • the third party is our service provider or contractor, in which case we will require them to use and disclose the personal information only for the purpose for which it was provided to them;
  • the third party is a person involved in a dealing or proposed dealing (including a sale) of all or part of our assets and business;
  • the third party is a credit reporting agency, your creditor, banker, financier, credit provider, mortgage insurer or trade insurer;
  • the disclosure is to a related body corporate; or
  • the disclosure is permitted, required or authorised by or under law.

Under the Medicare Benefits Schedule (July 2016), we must report back to any general practitioner, or other referring practitioner, for any services we provide under the Medicare Benefits Scheme. Our reports to referring practitioners may include personal information.

To ensure that our patients are provided with the best care possible, we may report back to referring practitioners for any services we provide that do not fall under the Medicare Benefits Scheme, unless you specifically ask us not to.

Marketing

We may use personal information to advise the individual concerned of new products, services and marketing initiatives that we think may be of interest to them. This may include product and service offerings, newsletters and general information about us.

Those who prefer not to receive information about our services can ask to be removed from the relevant circulation list by contacting contact us, using the details listed below.

We do disclose personal information to third parties for the purpose of allowing them to provide you with general news and updates in podiatric health throughout the year. However, no sensitive information is provided to these third parties, only contact names and contact numbers. The third parties who send the messages will include a mechanism in those messages which allows for you to opt-out of receiving further health alerts from them, if you wish.

Access

If at any time you want to know what personal information we hold about you, you are welcome to request access to that information by contacting us, using the details listed below. However, where:

  • the access impacts on the privacy of others;
  • the request for access is frivolous or vexatious;
  • there are existing or anticipated legal proceedings; or
  • such access can be denied under law or by a law enforcement agency,

we may deny your request for access.

If we deny your request for access, we will let you know why.

We may also charge a fee to cover the reasonable costs we incur in processing your request.

Quality & correction

At all times we strive to ensure that the information we hold about you is accurate, complete and up-to-date. If at any time you believe the personal information that we hold about you is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate, you should let us know. We will use all reasonable efforts to correct the information.

Website & cookies

To ensure we are meeting the needs and wants of our website users, and to develop our online services, we may collect aggregated information by using cookies or similar electronic tools.

Cookies are small amounts of information sent from a web server to your computer. These cookies are used to retain login and location information in order to make your experience more convenient and personal. We do not use cookies to track your internet activity before or after you leave our website.  No other business has access to our cookies.

We do not use this technology to access any personal information of a user in our records and a user cannot be personally identified from a cookie.

Changes to our Privacy Policy

As our business evolves our business processes and policies will be reviewed and may be revised. We may change our Privacy Policy at any time. We will notify you of any change by posting an updated version of our Privacy Policy on our website.

Complaints

We are committed to constantly improving our procedures so that personal information is treated appropriately. If you feel that we have failed to deal with your personal information in accordance with this policy or in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles, please contact us, using the details listed below, so we have an opportunity to resolve the issue to your satisfaction.

We will log your complaint and our privacy officer will:

  • listen to your concerns and grievances;
  • discuss with you the ways in which we can remedy the situation; and
  • put in place an action plan to resolve your complaint and improve our information handling procedures if appropriate.

No disclosure to overseas recipients

We are not likely to disclose personal information to overseas recipients.

Contact us

If you require more detailed information about our information handling practices or if you have any concerns about our handling of your personal information, please let us know by contacting us at:

Privacy Officer

Astepahead Pty Limited

Email: privacy@astepahead.com.au

We will endeavour to respond to your concerns as quickly as possible.