Privacy Policy

Information we collect

We collect information reasonably needed to respond to enquiries, assess care needs and provide nursing and palliative care. Depending on your contact with us, this may include:

• Your name, date of birth, address, telephone number and email address.
• Details of your nominated contacts, carers, treating practitioners and authorised representatives.
• Health history, medicines, allergies, assessments, nursing notes, care plans and relevant referral or discharge information.
• Your care preferences, communication and cultural needs, consent, and relevant advance care planning or decision-making documents.
• Appointment, billing and payment records, and funding or insurance details where relevant to your care.
• Correspondence, feedback and complaints, and technical information about visits to our website.

Health information is sensitive information and receives additional protection under Australian privacy law. We do not ask for your full medical history simply to answer a general enquiry.

Collection and your choices

We usually collect information directly from you during conversations, phone calls, emails, assessments and care visits. We may also receive relevant information from your GP, hospital, other care providers, referrer or authorised representative, with your consent or where the law permits.

We normally collect health information with your consent. Limited legal exceptions may apply, such as a serious threat to life or health where obtaining consent is unreasonable or impracticable. We explain why information is needed and relevant sharing arrangements when collecting it.

You may make a general enquiry anonymously or use another name where practicable. For clinical care, we usually need to identify you and understand your health needs to provide safe care. You may decline to provide information, but this may limit the assistance we can offer.

You can discuss or change your consent and communication preferences by contacting Stephanie. Withdrawing consent does not undo lawful handling that has already occurred or remove legal record-keeping obligations.

If you are enquiring or referring on someone else's behalf, please ensure you have their consent or other lawful authority before sharing their information.

How we use and share information

We use information to respond to you, assess whether our service is suitable, plan and deliver care, coordinate with your healthcare team, manage appointments and accounts, and handle safety concerns, feedback and legal obligations.

Where relevant and lawfully permitted, information may be shared with:

• Your GP, hospital, pharmacist, allied health practitioners or other providers involved in your care.
• People you authorise to receive updates or make decisions on your behalf.
• Personnel and service providers who assist with administration, information technology, accounting or professional advice, where they need the information for that work.
• A funder or insurer where necessary for an authorised payment, claim or service arrangement.
• Emergency services, regulators, courts or other bodies where disclosure is required or permitted by law.

We limit sharing to information relevant to the purpose. Health information is used or disclosed for the purpose for which it was collected, a directly related purpose you would reasonably expect, with your consent, or under a legal exception.

We do not sell personal information. We will not use your health information for direct marketing without your specific consent. You can withdraw marketing consent at any time.

Families and representatives

We welcome family involvement while respecting each client's privacy and choices. Being a relative or an emergency contact does not automatically give someone unrestricted access to health information.

We check consent or the representative's authority before sharing information. If a client cannot communicate consent or make a particular decision, any disclosure will be guided by applicable law, the person's known wishes and the authority of any substitute decision-maker. Where permitted for care or compassionate reasons, we share only what is reasonably necessary.

Storage, security and retention

Information may be held in care records, correspondence and administrative records, in electronic or paper form. We are responsible for taking reasonable steps to protect it from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure, including when a service provider holds it on our behalf.

Access should be limited to people who need information for their role. The safeguards required depend on the sensitivity of the information and how it is held, including appropriate access controls for electronic records and secure handling of paper records.

We retain information for as long as needed for lawful care, administrative and record-keeping purposes, including applicable legal requirements. When it is no longer needed and retention is not legally required, we take reasonable steps to securely destroy or de-identify it. A request to delete a record may not override those obligations.

No communication or storage method is completely risk-free. If a breach occurs, we will assess and respond to it and notify affected people and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) where required by the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

Website and overseas services

This website provides information and phone and email links. It does not offer a patient portal, online payment facility or online form for submitting health records. We have not added advertising trackers or visitor analytics tools to the website.

Our website is hosted by Vercel. Hosting and security services may process technical information such as your IP address, browser details, requested pages and the time of a request to deliver and protect the website. This information may be processed overseas, including in the United States. See Vercel's privacy notice for its handling of information.

The site itself does not set advertising cookies. Hosting or security features may use technologies needed to operate or protect the site. External websites, including LinkedIn, have their own privacy and cookie practices when you follow a link.

Email and other technology suppliers may also process information outside Australia, depending on the service and its configuration. Please contact Stephanie to discuss the systems and storage arrangements relevant to your care before sending sensitive records. Website hosting is separate from clinical record-keeping; this website is not a place to upload client files.

Where we disclose personal information to an overseas recipient, we must comply with the Australian Privacy Principles, including taking reasonable steps to protect it unless a lawful exception applies. Using this website does not, by itself, constitute consent to unrestricted overseas disclosure of your health information.

Email, photographs and publicity

For an initial enquiry, please provide only your contact details and a brief description of the support you need. Ordinary email is not guaranteed to be secure. Call first to arrange an appropriate way to share detailed clinical records, identification documents or sensitive photographs.

Consent to receive care is not consent to appear in publicity. We will seek separate, informed permission before using an identifiable client's photograph or story for promotional purposes. Declining will not affect care. Any photograph needed for clinical care is health information and must be handled accordingly.

Illustrative stock or AI-generated website imagery does not identify or represent an actual client receiving our services.

Accessing or correcting your information

You can ask Stephanie, by phone or email, to access the personal information we hold about you or to correct information that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. An authorised representative may also make a request. We may need to verify identity and authority before releasing information.

We respond within a reasonable period, generally within 30 days. There is no charge to make a request or to correct information. If providing access involves a reasonable, non-excessive charge, we will explain it in advance and discuss available options.

If a lawful reason prevents access or correction, we will explain our decision in writing, including complaint options, except where the law permits us not to give a reason. We will consider alternative ways to provide access. If we decline a correction, you can ask us to attach a statement recording your disagreement.

Privacy questions and complaints

Please contact Stephanie with any privacy concern, access request or question about this policy. Tell us what happened and how you would like us to respond. You can ask a support person or authorised representative to help.

We will acknowledge your complaint, review the relevant information and discuss the outcome and any action with you. We aim to respond within 30 days and will keep you informed if more time is needed.

If you are unhappy with our response, or have not received a response within 30 days, you can lodge a privacy complaint with the OAIC or call 1300 363 992.

Concerns about a health service in Queensland can also be raised with the Office of the Health Ombudsman on 133 646.

Copies and updates

This policy is available free of charge. Contact us for a copy or to discuss a format you can use more easily. We may update it as our services, technology or legal obligations change; the current version and its date appear on this page.

For information about using the website, see our Terms of Use.