Privacy Policy

Ambience care Abn: 89510175155 respects and values the privacy of all information we handle about our Clients, by complying with the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act and its principles. We collect and securely store personal and sensitive information for the primary purpose of providing services for people with disability and their families/carers, including our duty of care obligations.

We will seek and obtain prior consent if any personal or sensitive information is disclosed for any other reason than the primary purpose for which it was collected.

Ambience care treats all confidential information we hold (even where it is not specifically covered by the Privacy Amendment Act) with the same level of care and security that applies to our obligations for personal and sensitive information we hold under the Privacy Amendment Act. Examples include the commercial information we collect and hold from our clients and client’s families.

Australian Privacy Principles

Ambience care is committed to ensuring that all personal/sensitive information we hold is handled in accordance with the 13 National Privacy Principles of the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012.

The Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) are the base line privacy standards which Ambience care complies with in relation to personal and sensitive information we hold.

Open & Transparent Management of Personal Information

Ambience care will only collect Personal Information where the information is necessary for Ambience care to perform one or more of its functions or activities.

Ambience care collects Personal Information primarily to provide information and services to our Clients. Ambience care also collects and uses Personal Information for secondary purposes including: –

• Information on products and services
• Accounting purposes
• Business planning and product/service development
• Medical/specialist’s appointments

Personal Information is defined as information or an opinion about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information or opinion. Common examples of Personal Information we collect and hold includes a Client’s full name, date of birth and home address.

Personal Information may be stored electronically, in hard-copy documents, spoken words and/or photographs.

How we collect your Personal Information

We collect your Personal Information when you provide it to Ambience care in a number of ways including but not limited to:

• through a call to our admin number
• a referral from a GP or other health professional

We may also collect your Personal Information in other ways, for example from publicly available sources such as the telephone directory.

Personal Information

Ambience care will not provide your Personal Information to any other individuals or organisations without your prior consent except where required by law to do so or where that information is provided on a confidential basis to contractors who provide services, for example database management, printing and mailing for Ambience care. In these cases, we ensure that our contractors are also bound by the National Privacy Principles to keep your Personal Information confidential.

Ambience care is very thankful to people who are willing to share their personal stories with others through media stories and in our newsletters. We will only use your Personal Information for publicity purposes or as stories in newsletters with your express written permission.

Use and Disclosure

Where Ambience care holds Personal Information about an individual, it will provide the individual with access to the information on request, in a form or manner suitable to the individual’s reasonable needs, except to the extent that:

• providing access would pose a serious and imminent threat to the life or health of any individual; or
• providing access would have an unreasonable impact upon the privacy of other individuals; or
• the request for access is to cause annoyance or frustration; or
• the information relates to existing legal dispute resolution proceedings between Ambience care and the individual, and the information would not be accessible by the process of discovery in those proceedings.

Where providing access would reveal evaluative information generated within Ambience care in connection with a commercially sensitive decision-making process, Ambience care may give the individual an explanation for the decision rather than direct access to the information.

Wherever direct access by the individual is impractical or inappropriate, Ambience care and the individual should consider whether the use of mutually agreed intermediaries would allow sufficient access to meet the needs of both parties.

Ambience care will correct its records containing Personal Information as soon as is practicably possible, at the request of the individual concerned in accordance with the Privacy Act.

Data Quality

Ambience care will take reasonable steps to make sure the Personal Information it collects, uses or discloses is accurate, complete and up-to-date as far as is practicable.

Opting out or modifying your information

If you want to change any information that you have previously given us, or if you want to opt out of future communications please contact us directly on 0408 381 686

Data Security

Ambience care holds all Personal Information in secure databases, soft-copy lists, and in web hosted environments that are fire-walled.

The purpose of such security is to protect all Personal Information from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification and/or disclosure.

Openness

Ambience care will have clearly expressed policies on its management of Personal Information and these will continue to be readily available.

Ambience care will take reasonable steps to let individuals know, generally, what sort of Personal Information it holds, for what purposes and how it collects, uses and discloses that information.

Sensitive Information

Ambience care will not collect sensitive information about an individual unless: –

• the individual has consented; or
• the collection is required by law; or
• the collection is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the life or health of any individual, where the individual whom the information concerns:
  • is physically or legally incapable of giving consent to the collection; or
  • physically cannot communicate consent to the collection
• if the information is collected in the course of the activities of a non-profit organisation – the following conditions are satisfied:
  • the information relates solely to members of the organisation or to individuals who have regular contact with it in connection with its activities;
  • at or before the time of collecting the information, the organisation undertakes to the individual whom the information concerns that the organisation will not disclose the information without the individual’s consent.
  • the collection is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal or equitable claim.

Privacy Policy

For a copy of our Privacy Policy or any further information you may require, please contact Ambience care admin on 0408 381 686

Complaints about Breaches of Privacy

If you believe that your personal and sensitive information has not been treated with privacy, please contact Ambience care admin on 0408 381 686

Ambience care welcomes complaints as it provides feedback on our services and enables us to make service improvements. We will strive to resolve your complaint internally. If we are unable to resolve your complaint satisfactorily, you may request the Federal Privacy Commissioner to have your complaint investigated. For more information about how you may lodge a complaint with the Federal Privacy Commissioner, please contact the Commissioner’s hotline service on 1300 363 992.