Privacy Policy | Care Matcher

Your privacy is important to us. Care Matcher (ACN 663 701 906) and its associated companies (“Care Matcher”) has set out in this policy (“Privacy Policy”) how we handle your Personal Information.

We must comply with the Privacy Act 1988, including the Australian Privacy Principles, regarding our management of Personal Information.

In this policy, the term ‘personal information’ means information or opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable. One type of personal information is ‘sensitive information’, which includes information about an individual’s health, genetics, race, political opinion or membership, religion, philosophical beliefs, union membership, sexual preference and criminal record.

Care Matcher collects Personal Information from and about:

prospective residents of aged care facilities and retirement communities.
people who receive community aged care services from us.
prospective employees.
other individuals with whom Care Matcher has contact.

The purposes for which we collect and hold Personal Information include:

If you are a prospective resident or receive aged care services:

to determine your eligibility to entitlements under the Aged Care Act 1997.
to determine your eligibility to reside in a retirement community or aged care facility.
to liaise with your authorised representative and to contact nominated individuals (such as family members) if requested or needed.
to meet any other regulatory, legislative or care requirement.

For other individuals with whom we have contact:

to enable us to contact you.
to enable us to fulfil any obligation or undertaking relevant to your relationship with Care Matcher.

The kinds of information we collect and hold will depend on the information we need to perform our functions and activities. If you are a prospective resident or a person who receives aged care services, we may collect and hold:

information relating to your health and care needs, your lifestyle choices and your health care preferences and wishes.
information about you that was provided to the Aged Care Assessment Team.
information about you that was provided to the Commonwealth Department of Health.
information about your financial status.
information about your Social Security status.
information regarding details of your appointed attorneys or other alternative decision makers.
information that we are required to collect or hold under the Aged Care Act 1997 which includes sensitive information relating to your health, health care services and religion.
contact details for your family members.
information that we are required to collect or hold under the Aged Care Act 1997 which includes sensitive information relating to your health, health care services and religion.

For other individuals with whom we have contact, we may collect and hold:

Personal contact details.
Information relevant to your relationship with us.

We only collect your personal information where it is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, one of our functions or activities. Wherever possible we collect information directly from you.

However, we may collect “Personal information” in any of the following ways:

from you or your authorised representative
A relevant Commonwealth Government Agency including but not limited to:
- Centrelink
- Medicare
- Services Australia
From your medical practitioner or other member of your treating team
Aged care facilities, or
From family members

If you are a prospective resident or receive aged care services:

from you or your authorised representative
when completing our enquiry form.
during meetings with you.
when you and we complete your Residential Care Agreement.
during the retirement community acquisition or termination process.
from a Commonwealth Government agency including Centrelink and Medicare or from an Aged Care Assessment Team.
from your medical practitioner or other health care professional.
from other aged care facilities where you have stayed.
from your authorised representative or family members.

For other individuals with whom we have contact:

personally: by mail, internet, phone or face to face.

When we collect personal information from a third party, we will notify you if it is reasonable to do so. The notice will include why we are collecting, the legal authority for our collection and how we will use the information.

The primary purposes for which we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information include:

to provide appropriate ongoing care and services, including by communicating with your nominated health professionals.
to determine your eligibility to entitlements provided by the Aged Care Act 1997.
to liaise with your nominated representative and to contact your family members if you have consented and this is requested or needed.
to respond to any inquiries.
to enable us to meet any undertaking or obligation arising from our relationship with you.
to provide you with news about new products and services.

We may also collect, use and disclose personal information in connection with lawful information requests from courts, government agencies and lawyers and in connection with suspected fraud, misconduct or unlawful activity.

We may securely store Personal Information at each of our facilities and at our head office in any of the following ways:

electronically on our computer databases.
hard copy documents kept within the premises.

We may also store archived Personal Information at a secure offsite records storage and archive management facility. The Personal Information will be destroyed in line with Care Matcher’s Policies.

We take reasonable steps to ensure the security of Personal Information that we collect and hold including by storing paper records in locked rooms and limiting access to them and for electronic records by including passwords and creating secure electronic files.

We maintain policies regarding who has the authority to access your Personal Information. All our staff are bound by a formal Code of Conduct and our Confidentiality Policy. We educate and supervise our staff to ensure Personal Information is handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy and privacy laws, and with respect and care.

You (or your authorised representative) are entitled to access your Personal Information we hold except where access can or must be denied or limited by the Privacy Act 1988.

Access to your personal information may be requested by writing to Care Matcher’s Privacy Officer at PO Box 1026 Pasadena SA 5042 or via email [email protected]

Requests for access should include:

Proof of identity (POI) documents
specific details of the information sought so that we can identify what Personal information is being requested.
the form in which the information is requested (for example, a copy of the information or a request to view the information contained in a resident’s records).

If you are acting on behalf of someone else, you should also include:

Proof of authority to act on their behalf (for example, a letter of authority)
POI of the customer whose information you are requesting

You do not need to provide a reason for requesting access to your Personal Information.

We may charge for providing access to the requested Personal Information. Charges will generally be consistent with fees imposed by the Australian Government for access to documentation under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

We will not charge a fee for lodging a request for access.

We will generally provide access to Personal Information in the form requested unless this is unreasonable or impractical, in which case we may provide the information in another way. For example, if providing information may have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of other individuals, we may provide only some of the information.

If you (or your authorised representative) believe the Personal Information we hold is inaccurate, incomplete, not up to date or misleading, you (or your authorised representative) may request that the information be amended and we must take reasonable steps to correct the information. If we do not agree that the information is not accurate, complete or up to date, we may include a statement noting that you do not agree that the information is accurate, up to date, complete, relevant or not misleading.

If we decide not to grant access to Personal Information or we refuse to correct Personal Information we will provide you with written reasons for our decision, the mechanisms available to complain and any other matters that we may be required to tell you under the Privacy Act 1988 or regulations.

Notification of a data breach

If Care Matcher suspects a data breach has occurred, the Privacy Officer will assess the situation to decide whether a data breach has been experienced that may require a notification.

If Care Matcher experiences a data breach that is likely to result in serious harm, the Privacy Officer will notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (“OAIC”) and all affected individuals in relation to that data breach.

If you are affected from a data breach, we will notify you and provide:

A description of the data breach
The kinds of information involved
Recommendations about what steps to take next.

Complaints

If you are not satisfied with our handling of your Personal Information or believe we have breached our privacy obligations, you can complain in writing to the Privacy Officer listed below.

If you are not satisfied with our handling of or response to your complaint you may also make a complaint to the OAIC via the online form on the OAIC website www.oaic.gov.au, or by contacting the OAIC at GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001 by phone 1300 363 992 or by fax (02) 9284 9666.

How to contact us

Our Privacy Officer can be contacted at:

Care Matcher

PO Box 1026

Pasadena SA 5042

By phone 1300 404 547

By email [email protected]