We are committed to protecting your privacy and being open and transparent about how we handle your personal information. This Privacy Policy outlines how we manage the personal information we hold about you in accordance with our obligations, under the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 (as amended) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

Who we are

Our website address is: http://www.hearingfirstaudiology.com.au

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Media

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

Cookies

If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Who we share your data with

If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.

How long we retain your data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

What rights you have over your data

f you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Where your data is sent

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

What you can expect

• We will never sell your information to a third party.
• We need information from you to be able to provide you with reliable results and your doctors with helpful advice.
• We need your consent to collect information about you.
• We will be fair in the way we collect information.
• Most information is collected at the time of your initial appointment.
• Neurosensory’s record systems are reliable and secure.
• You may request access to information we hold about you.
• You can discuss any concerns you may have about how we handle your information.

Why we collect personal information

Hearing First Audiology Clinic is dedicated to its clients. We help our clients to manage hearing, balance, and communication impairments so that they may have a better quality of life.

Hearing First Audiology Clinic collects personal information for the primary purpose of providing diagnostic and rehabilitation services and solutions, and, at times, for other secondary purposes such as research and marketing.

We may ask for other information voluntarily from time to time (eg through market research) to enable us to improve our services and consider the wider needs of our clients or potential clients and to participate in clinical research projects.

Types of personal information

The type of personal information we may collect includes (but is not limited to) your name, date of birth, gender, contact telephone number, mail and email addresses, referral information, Commonwealth Government references including your pensioner number, and, if relevant, Department of Veterans’ Affairs number, and payment details.

Some personal information we collect is “sensitive”.

“Sensitive information” may include information or an opinion about your hearing, balance, communication, and health condition and history.

Sources of information

We may collect your personal information:

• When we have contact with you by telephone, text, fax, email, post or in person.
• From your medical/health referrer (and their staff), and associated referral documents.
• When you attend an appointment and complete a client information form, and provide details of your clinical history.
• When you provide feedback to us on client satisfaction forms, or via email, fax or post.
• From our website, when you request information about us, our products or services.
• When you request us to complete applications on your behalf (eg online process of the Office of Hearing Services program).
• When you apply for a position of employment with us.

Where it is unreasonable or impractical to collect personal information directly from you, or if we are otherwise permitted to do so, we may also collect personal information about you from other third parties (eg family members or guardians).

For promotional/marketing purposes, we may take photos of you, but only with your consent.

When you visit and browse our website, our website host may collect information for statistical, reporting and maintenance purposes. The information collected is used to administer and improve the performance of our website and will not be used to identify you.

Uses of personal information

We use your personal information to:

• Provide diagnostic and rehabilitation services and solutions. This includes provision of our professional opinion concerning test results to your medical and/or other referrer/s.
• Contact your medical/ health practitioners and providers to arrange appropriate referral/s and /or arrange appropriate appointments.
• Assess your eligibility, and apply on your behalf, for the Australian Government Hearing Services Program (through the Office of Hearing Services).
• Verify your claims with Medicare, private health insurers, relevant Government programs including Australian Government Hearing Services
• Program and Department of Veteran Affairs, or a third party (eg WorkCover) should they be responsible for payment of your account.
• Remind you of an upcoming appointment.
• Order products from suppliers.
• Review your ongoing needs.
• Coordinate/ analyse your feedback to us.
• Manage and respond to requests for information.
• Manage complaints.

We may also use your personal information to:

• Undertake clinical research. If we cannot de-identify your personal information, we will contact you to obtain your consent.
• Conduct market research.
• Improve service delivery.
• Market services and products we think you may be interested in.

Management of your personal information

We take all reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we hold is accurate, complete, relevant and up to date. We train our employees who handle personal information to respect the confidentiality and privacy of your information.

How we hold and secure your personal information

We hold your personal information in both paper and electronic form. We take reasonable steps to protect it from misuse, interference, loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Our electronic records are stored securely, in Australia. We may need to retain records for a significant period of time to comply with our legal obligations. If we find that we have no further need for your personal information we may archive it in accordance with our record retention obligations or securely destroy all record of it.

If a data breach involving your personal information occurs, or we suspect that a data breach has occurred, whether the entity experiencing the data breach is Neurosensory or third parties we use, such as contractors or subcontractors, we will expeditiously conduct an investigation and assessment. Based on this assessment, we will determine whether any steps need to be taken by us to ensure your personal information is not accessed by unauthorised persons or whether we need to notify you with recommendations about the steps that you should take in response to the data breach. If there is a serious data breach we will tell you about any action we have taken, or we are intending to take, to prevent reoccurrence.

Disclosure of personal information

We will not disclose your personal information without your permission, unless we are required or authorised by law to do so. Depending on the nature of your engagement with us, we may disclose your personal information to:

• Any person you request or consent to receiving the information. On rare occasions, this will include medical/health practitioners who are based overseas.
• Your medical/health practitioners, hospitals and providers.
• Your parents, guardians or family members, unless you advise us of a relevant reason to restrict this disclosure.
• Suppliers to Hearing First Audiology Clinic (eg manufacturers of hearing aids, ear moulds, cochlear implants or other implantable products or other related products.)
• The Office of Hearing Services for assessing your eligibility, and processing your application.
• Relevant officers of Commonwealth, State or Territory Governments (such as Departments of Health and Veterans’ Affairs, or Medicare).
• We may also disclose your personal information to media outlets for marketing/promotional purposes, but only with your consent.

How to access, and correct your personal information, or to make a complaint

Under Privacy laws, you have the right to request access to your personal information and to request its correction. You also have the right to complain if you feel that your privacy has not been respected or that we have conducted ourselves inconsistently with this Privacy Policy.

To request access and/or correction to your personal information, to make a complaint, or for any other queries in relation to this Privacy Policy, please contact us by:

Email: info@hearingfirstaudiology.com.au

Phone 1300 885 583

Post your request to: Privacy Officer, Hearing First Audiology Clinic. PO Box 2365, Burwood North NSW 2134

Before we can consider the request we will verify your identity and may also clarify what information you require. On receipt of your request, we will respond as soon as possible, within 30 days, at the very most.

Ordinarily, we will give you full access to your personal information. However, there may be some legal or administrative reasons to deny access. If we refuse your request to access your personal information, we will provide reasons for the refusal.

If you do not wish to receive promotional or marketing material from us, you can contact us as per details above.

Complaints Process

If you have a complaint, we will investigate and notify you of the outcome of our investigation within a reasonable time. We will let you know if we can respond to the matter quickly or whether we need more time to investigate and resolve your complaint.

If you are not satisfied with our response you can contact the Commonwealth Government Privacy Commissioner.