We take your right to privacy seriously and want you to understand how we collect, use and disclose personal information.

This Privacy Policy deals with personally identifiable information that may be collected by us on our site or through our practice functions. Private information will here forth be referred to as ‘Data’. Please take time to read our Terms of Use.

1.      Introduction

This Privacy Policy sets out our commitment to protecting the privacy of your personal information that we collect through this website www.insteppodiatrybrisbane.com.au (Site) or in the course of our usual business operations.

Please read the Privacy Policy carefully. Please contact us if you have any questions, our contact details are at the end of the Privacy Policy.

You providing us with personal information indicates that you have had sufficient opportunity to access the Privacy Policy and that you have read and accept it.

If you do not wish to provide personal information to us, then you do not have to do so, however it may affect your use of this Site or any products and services offered on it.

2.      Collection of personal information

We may collect personal information from patients, healthcare professionals, employees, contracted service providers, students, trainees, suppliers and other individuals with whom we work with, engage, or interact with in the course of our usual business operations. This means that the type of information we collect depends on how you interact with our practice and any potential or existing relationship you might have with the practice.

The type of information we collect may include:

• individual identifiers such as your name, date of birth, gender;
• contact details including email address, address and telephone number;
• parent/guardian details, next of kin, and/or emergency contact details;
• marital status and anniversary;
• demographic information such as postcode;
• employer details if applicable (e.g. workers compensation/workcover claims);
• preferences and opinions; and
• sensitive information including health and medical information such as Medicare, DVA File Number details (if applicable), referral doctor information, and all other necessary health information;

and any other information requested on this Site, in the course of providing services to you, or otherwise requested by us or provided by you.

All of our registration, signup and contact processes require valid contact details including contact name and email address. Please take note that your details or other submissions on this site may contain other personally identifiable information and, as a result, may appear on this site. Like many web sites, we may also automatically receive general information that is contained in our server log files such as your IP address and cookie information.

Your use of our Site: As with most online businesses, we may log information about your access and use of our Site, including through the use of Internet cookies, your communications with our Site, the type of browser you are using, the type of operating system you are using and the domain name of your Internet service provider.

Your opinion and feedback: We may contact you to voluntarily respond to questionnaires, surveys or market research to seek your opinion and feedback. Providing this information is optional to you.

If we receive your personal information from third parties, e.g. from other health and medical professionals, we will protect it as set out in this Privacy Policy.

3.      Use of personal information

We collect and use the information for purposes including:

• to contact and communicate with you;
• to discuss your medical condition with referral parties where permissible or appropriate i.e. with your consent and/or in accordance with applicable rules and regulations;
• for internal record keeping;
• for market research and business development including website development;
• marketing including direct marketing;
• to offer additional benefits to you (e.g. to provide educational materials or other paperwork); and
• to send you information about third parties following any recommendations discussed during the consultation.

We may use Data to customise and improve your user experience on this site.

Names, telephone numbers or email addresses supplied to us via this website will only be used for communication purposes with the subscriber. We will not share, trade or transfer your personal details or information with any other parties. You can opt out and choose not to receive communication or information from us at any time.

4.      Disclosure of personal information

We may disclose personal information:

• for the purpose of providing information, products, services or marketing to customers;
• to credit reporting agencies and courts, tribunals, regulatory authorities where customers fail to pay for goods or services provided by us to them;
• to courts, tribunals, regulatory authorities, and law enforcement officers as required by law, in connection with any actual or prospective legal proceedings, or in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights; and
• to third parties, including agents or sub-contractors, who assist us in providing information, products, services or direct marketing to you. This may include parties located, or that store data, outside of Australia.

Where we disclose your personal information to third parties for these purposes, we will request that the third party follow this Privacy Policy regarding handling of your personal information or we will take steps to ensure that we are satisfied that the third party is compliant with relevant privacy legislation.

If there is a change of control of our business or a sale or transfer of business assets, we reserve the right to transfer the extent permissible at law our user databases, together with any personal information and non-personal information contained in those databases.

This information may be disclosed to a potential purchaser. We would seek to only disclose information in good faith and where we have sought to maintain confidentiality.

5.      How we treat personal information that is also sensitive information

In referring to ‘sensitive information’ we mean:

• information that relates to your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion, trade union or other professional association or memberships, philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation or practices, criminal records;
• health information; or
• biometric information.

Sensitive information will be used and disclosed for the following purposes:’

• to provide health care services, coordinate your care and for directed related secondary reasons (e.g. billing, appointment management etc);
• to discuss your health and/or medical condition with a referring doctor and/or health professional;
• to provide information to Medicare, DVA, WorkCover, Public Trustees, carers or guardians as necessary;
• to our suppliers as necessary for us to perform our services; and
• to TUH Health Fund, and other health funds, if applicable.

Sensitive information may also be used or disclosed if required or authorised by law.

6.      Your rights and controlling your personal information

Choice and Consent: Providing us with your personal information is optional to you. When you provide us with your personal information, you consent to the terms in this Privacy Policy, and to us disclosing or receiving your personal information for these purposes.

Restrict: You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information. If you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by contacting us at the email address listed in this Privacy Policy.

Access: You may request details of personal information that we hold about you, in certain circumstances set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). An administrative fee may be payable for the provision of information. We may refuse to provide you with information that we hold about you, in certain circumstances set out in the Privacy Act.

Correction: If you believe that any information we hold on you is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, please contact us by email. We rely in part upon customers advising us when their personal information changes. We will respond to any request within a reasonable time. We will endeavour to promptly correct any information found to be inaccurate, incomplete or out of date.

Complaints: If you believe that we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles and wish to make a complaint about that breach, please contact us by email setting out details of the breach. We will promptly investigate your complaint and respond to you in writing setting out the outcome of our investigation, what steps we propose to take to remedy the breach and any other action we will take to deal with your complaint.

Unsubscribe: To unsubscribe from our e-mail database, or opt out of communications, please contact us at the details below.

7.      Storage and Security

Personal information collected by the practice may be stored in various formats depending on factors such as the nature of the information, the original format of the information (e.g. a hard copy letter vs email), the reason for collection and the relationship of the individual with the practice. Most commonly, personal information in our practice is stored:

• in hard copy (e.g. paper consultation records) and stored onsite or off-site in a secure storage facility ; and/or
• electronic or digital records, stored locally and/or within reputable cloud storage service provider systems.

Less commonly, personal information may be stored in the form of hard copy or digital images, videos or photographs and rarely, audiorecordings.

We are committed to ensuring that the information you provide is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information and protect it from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification and disclosure.

Electronic Communication & Information Transmission Disclaimer: No information transmitted over the Internet can be guaranteed to be secure. We cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to us, or receive from us. The transmission and exchange of information is carried out at your own risk. Although we take measures to safeguard against unauthorised disclosures of information, we cannot assure you that personal information that we collect will not be disclosed in a manner that is inconsistent with this Privacy Policy.

8.      Cookies & Web Beacons

We may use cookies on this Site from time to time. Cookies are text files placed in your computer’s browser to store your preferences. Cookies, by themselves, do not tell us your e-mail address or other personally identifiable information. However, once you choose to furnish the Site with personally identifiable information, this information may be linked to the data stored in the cookie.

We may use web beacons on this Site from time to time. Web beacons or clear .gifs are small pieces of code placed on a web page to monitor the behaviour and collect data about the visitors viewing a web page. For example, web beacons can be used to count the users who visit a web page or to deliver a cookie to the browser of a visitor viewing that page.

9.      Links to other websites

Our Site may contain links to other websites of interest. We do not have any control over those websites. We are not responsible for or liable for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such websites, and such websites are not governed by this Privacy Policy.

10.   Amendments

This Privacy Policy may be amended, including with changes, additions and deletions, from time to time in our sole discretion. Your continued use of our Site following any amendments indicates that you accept the amendments. You should check the Privacy Policy regularly, prior to providing personal information, to ensure you are aware of any changes, and only proceed to provide personal information if you accept the new Privacy Policy.

Last updated 22/12/2021

11.   Privacy contact details:

For questions or notices, please contact us at:
Brachford Pty Ltd trading as Instep Podiatry Brisbane
ABN 53 079 146 740
Head Office Unit 1/12 Blackwood Street MITCHELTON QLD 4053
Phone: 07 3855 2877
Fax: 07 3855 2666
Email: reception@insteppodiatrybrisbane.com.au
Postal Address: PO Box 440 FERNY HILLS QLD 4055