Practice privacy act document

The privacy act 1988 requires medical practitioners to obtain consent from the patient or guardian to collect, use and disclose that patient’s personal information.

Collection 

This means we will collect information that is necessary to properly advise and treat your child or yourself. Such necessary information may include:

  • Full medical history;
  • Family medical history;
  • Ethnicity;
  • Contact details;
  • Medicare/private health fund details;
  • Genetic information; and
    • Billing/account details.

This information will normally be collected directly from you. There may be occasions when we will need to obtain information from other sources, for example:

  • Other medical practitioners, such as former GPs and specialists;
  • Other healthcare providers, such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists’s, psychologists, pharmacists, dentists, nurse’s; and
    • Hospitals and Day surgery units.
Both our practice staff and the medical practitioners may participate in the collection of this information.
 
In emergency situations we may need to collect personal information from relatives or other sources where we are unable to obtain your prior express consent.

Use and disclosure

With your consent, the practice staff will use and disclose you or your child’s information for purposes such as:
  • Account keeping and billing purposes;
  • Referral to another medical practitioner or health care provider;
  • Sending of specimens, such as blood samples or biopsies, for analysis;
  • Referral to Hospital for treatment and/or advice;
  • Advice on treatment options;
  • The management of our practice;
  • Quality assurance, practice accreditation and complaint handling;
  • To meet our obligations of notification to medical defence organisations or insurers;
  • To prevent or lessen a serious threat to an individuals life, health or safety; and
  • Where legally required to do so, such as producing records to Court, mandatory reporting of child abuse or the notification of diagnosis of certain communicable diseases.

Access

You are entitled to access your child’s health records at any time convenient to both yourself and the practice.
 
Access can be denied where:
  • To provide access would create a serious threat to life or health;
  • There is a legal impediment to access;
  • The access would unreasonably impact on the privacy of another;
  • Your request is frivolous;
  • Information relates to anticipated or actual legal proceedings and you would not be entitled to access the information in those proceeding; and
  • In the interests of national security.