Privacy Policy

Introduction

This privacy policy is to provide information to you, our patient, on how your personal information (which includes your health information) is collected and used within our practice, and the circumstances in which we may share it with third parties.

Why and when your consent is necessary

When you register as a patient of our practice, you provide consent for our medical and practice staff to access and use your personal information so they can provide you with the best possible healthcare. Only staff who need to see your personal information will have access to it. If we need to use your information for anything else, we will seek additional consent from you to do this.

Why do we collect, use, hold and share your personal information?

Our practice will need to collect your personal information to provide healthcare services to you. Our main purpose for collecting, using, holding and sharing your personal information is to manage your health. We also use it for directly related business activities, such as financial claims and payments, practice audits and accreditation, and business processes (eg staff training).

What personal information do we collect?

The information we will collect about you includes your:

• names, date of birth, addresses, contact details
• medical information including medical history, medications, allergies, adverse events, immunisations, social history, family history and risk factors
• Medicare number (where available) for identification and claiming purposes
• healthcare identifiers
• health fund details

Dealing with us anonymously

You have the right to deal with us anonymously or under a pseudonym unless it is impracticable for us to do so or unless we are required or authorised by law to only deal with identified individuals.

How do we collect your personal information?

Our practice may collect your personal information in several different ways:

1. When you make your first appointment our practice staff will collect your personal and demographic information via your registration.
2. During the course of providing medical services, we may collect further personal information including recording of audio during consultations to assist with artificial intelligence assisted medical transcription software.
3. We may also collect your personal information when you visit our website, send us an email or SMS, telephone us, or communicate with us using social media.
4. In some circumstances personal information may also be collected from other sources. Often this is because it is not practical or reasonable to collect it from you directly. This may include information from:
   • your guardian or responsible person
   • other involved healthcare providers, such as specialists, allied health professionals, hospitals, community health services and pathology and diagnostic imaging services
   • your health fund, Medicare, or the Department of Veterans' Affairs (as necessary)
5. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Dictation software is used at our practice (Heidi Health). Recordings will be taken of your consultation and transcribed using the external AI software to improve letter accuracy and turnaround time. Please note Heidi Health reports to comply with Australian Privacy Principles and for more information you can visit their website at https://www.heidihealth.com/au/safety.

Website Privacy

When you visit our website, we collect certain information to understand how it is being used and to improve your experience:

Contact Forms

If you submit a contact form or send us an email through our website, we will collect the information you provide (such as your name, email address, phone number, and message). This information is used solely to respond to your enquiry and is treated in accordance with this privacy policy. We will not share this information with third parties without your consent.

Analytics and Cookies

Our website does not currently use analytics tracking or cookies. However, if this changes in the future, we will update this policy to disclose all information collection practices. Any analytics or tracking will only be used to understand website usage and improve our online services, and will not be used for marketing or shared with third parties without your consent.

When, why and with whom do we share your personal information?

We sometimes share your personal information:

• with third parties who work with our practice for business purposes, such as accreditation agencies or information technology providers – these third parties are required to comply with Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and this policy
• with other healthcare providers
• when it is required or authorised by law (eg court subpoenas)
• when it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to a patient's life, health or safety or public health or safety, or it is impracticable to obtain the patient's consent
• to assist in locating a missing person
• to establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim
• for the purpose of confidential dispute resolution process
• when there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information (eg some diseases require mandatory notification)
• during the course of providing medical services, through eTP, My Health Record (eg via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary)
• Dr Kamalaraj is actively involved in research projects, audits and teaching programs. Some of your information may be included in such academic activities in an unidentifiable form. Examples of such information would include your age, medical history, x-ray and clinical photographs. This information will not be able to be attributed to any individual and personal information such as name, address and phone number etc. will not be included.
• Dr Kamalaraj uses artificial intelligence assisted medical transcription software that uses audio recordings of consultations that are then transcribed and assist in creating letters and documentation relevant to your medical care. The original audio is deleted immediately after the transcription is created by the software.

Only people who need to access your information will be able to do so. Other than in the course of providing medical services or as otherwise described in this policy, our practice will not share personal information with any third party without your consent. We will not share your personal information with anyone outside Australia (unless under exceptional circumstances that are permitted by law) without your consent. Our practice will not use your personal information for marketing any of our goods or services directly to you without your express consent. If you do consent, you may opt out of direct marketing at any time by notifying our practice in writing.

How do we store and protect your personal information?

Your personal information may be stored at our practice in various forms. Most medical records will be stored electronically with occasional use of paper records. Dictation of medical records may be stored as audio recordings. No data is sent, replicated, or stored outside of Australia. Our practice stores all personal information securely via remote cloud-hosted servers (Xestro). All medical and practice staff including contractors sign confidentiality agreements prior to their commencement of employment.

How can you access and correct your personal information at our practice?

You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information. Our practice acknowledges patients may request access to their medical records as per the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). We require you to put this request in writing by email to info@sswspecialists.com.au and our practice will respond within 30 days. As per the OAIC, a fee may be payable for the request of file copies including 55 dollars per hour (GST included) of administrative staff time required to produce the medical file in addition to the per-page printing cost of 11 cents per page (GST included). Fees may be higher if a medical practitioner is required to review your personal information, but this will be discussed with you at the time of request prior to proceeding. Our practice will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up to date. By becoming a patient of this practice, you agree that is your responsibility to update us if any personal information or information about your healthcare team has changed and needs to be updated. You may also request that we correct or update your information, and you should make such requests in writing to info@sswspecialists.com.au. From time to time, we will ask you to verify that your personal information held by our practice is correct and current.

How can you lodge a privacy-related complaint, and how will the complaint be handled at our practice?

We take complaints and concerns regarding privacy seriously. You should express any privacy concerns you may have in writing to info@sswspecialists.com.au OR mail to:

Email is the preferred mode of receiving communication. We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our resolution procedure and you should receive a response within 30 days. Please call (02) 4607 2526 to discuss further. You may also contact the OAIC. Generally, the OAIC will require you to give them time to respond before they will investigate. For further information visit www.oaic.gov.au or call the OAIC on 1300 363 992.

Policy review statement

This privacy policy is subject to review annually and any amendments to the privacy policy will be published here on our website.

Last updated: May 2026