This privacy policy sets out how Southcare Inc (Southcare, us or we) uses and protects personal information that is collected by Southcare.

Southcare is committed to protecting personal information by complying with relevant laws. Southcare takes steps to protect your personal information from misuse and to collect, manage, use and disclose your personal information as described in this privacy policy and in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

This privacy policy does not apply to personal information collected, or otherwise obtained, by Southcare in relation to current and former employees or volunteers which relates directly to the employment relationship that exists, or existed, between Southcare and its current and former employees.

Management of personal information

We make our privacy policy available on our website located at https://www.southcare.org.au/privacy-policy/. If you would like more information, have any other questions about this privacy policy, or would like to request a hard copy of this privacy policy, please contact us by:

email: enquiries@Southcare.com.au
phone: (08) 9450 6233; or
post: The CEO Southcare
53 Bickley Crescent
Manning, WA, 6152

Personal information

Personal information is information or an opinion about an individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion.

We can only identify you personally if you give us your personal information voluntarily.

The personal information which we may collect, store, use and disclose may include your:

  • name;
  • contact details, such as your address and email address;
  • date of birth;
  • gender;
  • Medicare number;
  • My Aged Care ID number;
  • pension status;
  • tax file number, Centrelink and superannuation information;
  • banking details; and
  • any other personal information provided by you during the course of your interactions or correspondence with Southcare.

If you apply for a job with us, or volunteer, the personal information which we may collect, store, use and disclose may include (in addition to some of the personal information listed above):

your banking details and/or credit card details;
your employment history;
your tax file number, Centrelink and superannuation information;
your drivers licence;
educational qualifications; and
your date of birth, age, gender and current occupation.

Some personal information is considered ‘sensitive information’ for the purposes of the Privacy Act. The sensitive information which we may collect, store, use and disclose may include (depending on the context) information or an opinion about your:

  • health;
  • race and ethnic background; and
  • religious beliefs or affiliations.

Collection of personal information

We only collect personal information by lawful and fair means where reasonably necessary for our functions and activities.

We may collect personal information which:

  • you provide in the course of engaging with us;
  • you provide in the course of applying for employment or volunteering positions at Southcare;
  • you provide to us in order to subscribe to our mailing list;
  • is provided to us by third parties who have disclosed that information to us with your consent, such as health professionals (and only if it would be unreasonable or impracticable to collect the information directly from you);
  • you upload via your MYAGEDCARE government portal;
  • you provide to us in the course of updating or changing your details;
  • is contained in documents you provide to us; or
  • you provide to us in person, by phone, by post, via our website or via other forms of electronic communication (including via social media).

If we receive unsolicited personal information about you and we determine that we could not have collected the unsolicited personal information had it been solicited, we will destroy or de-identify that unsolicited personal information as soon as practicable, provided it is lawful and reasonable to do so.

Use and disclosure

We may collect, store (in hard copy or electronic form), use or disclose, and otherwise process, your personal information for the primary purpose of conducting and supporting our functions or activities.  Without limiting the foregoing, we may collect, store, use, disclose or process your personal information:

  • to provide you with our services;
  • to send you updates and newsletters;
  • to contact you should we need to;
  • to address any enquiries, complaints or feedback from you; or
  • to do anything Southcare is required or authorised to do by law.

Where you provide your consent, we may also use your personal information to send you promotional information about Southcare and about third parties which we think you may find interesting.

We may also use your personal information for our internal record keeping and to improve our services.

We may disclose your personal information to:

  • third parties where you have given your consent (express or implied) – for example, where we make a referral to other Health and Allied health organisations;
    government agencies or other similar entities as required or permitted by law; and
  • our professional advisors, contractors or other service providers whom Southcare may engage from time to time to carry out, advise or assist with the carrying out of the functions or activities of Southcare – for example, our IT providers, accountants, and cloud-based storage providers.

Southcare will not use your personal information for a secondary purpose unless:

  • you consent to the use or disclosure or you would reasonably expect us to use it for a secondary purpose which is related to the primary purpose (or directly related, in the case of sensitive information);
  • the use or disclosure is required or authorised by law; or
  • the use or disclosure is otherwise permitted by the Privacy Act.
    Overseas disclosure

We may send your personal information to other organisations or persons located overseas. For example, indirect overseas disclosure of your personal information to third parties overseas may occur as we use various third party service and storage providers using cloud based servers.

If we disclose personal information to a third party in a country which does not have equivalent privacy laws to Australia (including with respect to access and enforcement), we will take reasonable steps in the circumstances to ensure that the overseas recipient does not breach the Privacy Act in respect of that personal information.

Cookies

We also utilise ‘cookies’ which enable us to monitor traffic patterns and to serve you more efficiently if you revisit our website. A cookie does not identify you personally, but it does identify your computer.

When you visit our website, our server automatically tracks user activity and records some general information about your visit but does not recognise or record any individual personal information about you. The information we record and use for statistical purposes is:

  • your server address;
  • the date and time of your visit;
  • the pages accessed and documents downloaded;
  • the previous site visited; and
  • the type of browser used.

You can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie and this will provide you with an opportunity to either accept or reject it in each instance. If you reject a cookie, some of the parts or features of our website may not function properly.

Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. If you use these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. We are not responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such other sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy policy. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy policy applicable to the website in question.

Security of personal information

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure.  In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and store the information we collect.

Adoption, use or disclosure of government related identifiers

Where we collect your personal information, it will usually be identified by a common identifier, such as your name, address or contact details.

Subject to certain exceptions under the Privacy Act, Southcare will not disclose identifiers assigned by Government agencies or their agents, such as tax file numbers, or use those identifiers to identify your personal information.

Access to Personal Information

Subject to any exceptions in the Privacy Act, if you wish to access the personal information that we hold, you have a right to request access to it. If you wish to obtain the personal information that Southcare holds in relation to you, please contact us using the details provided above. We may ask you to provide proof of your identity if you request access to or correction of your personal information.

We will provide the personal information that you have requested as soon as possible. A small fee may be payable.

Correction of personal information

Southcare takes reasonable steps to keep your personal information as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as possible. Whilst Southcare makes an effort to ensure the personal information about you which we hold is correct, this relies on the accuracy and frequency of the information provided by you.

If Southcare holds personal information about you and you request that Southcare correct the information, please contact us using the details provided above.

We will take all reasonable steps to correct any information we consider to be incorrect.

Direct marketing

Unless you request otherwise, Southcare may use your personal information for marketing purposes to send you news, information about our activities and general promotional material which we believe may be useful or of interest to you. If you do not want Southcare to use your personal information in this manner, please contact us using the contract details provided above and we will process your request soon as possible.

This direct marketing may include, from time-to-time, emails to your email address (if provided) about new products, exclusive offers or other information which we think you may find interesting, including information or promotional materials of selected third parties.

You may unsubscribe from these emails at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any direct marketing email you might receive.

Complaints and questions

If you wish to make a complaint about a breach of your privacy by Southcare, you may contact us using the contract details provided above.  All complaints will be investigated by an appropriately qualified representative of Southcare.  We will endeavour to resolve your complaint as quickly as possible and, in any event, within 30 days.

We will notify you of the outcome of the investigation, including how we propose to resolve your complaint and what, if any, corrective measures we will implement.

If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.  For more information about doing so, visit https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints/.

Changes to privacy policy

Southcare reserves the right to amend this privacy policy from time to time.  If we do so, the amended privacy policy will be posted as soon as practicable following that amendment on this webpage.