Privacy

We handle your information in accordance with the Information Privacy Principles in the Information Act 2002 and other relevant legislation. We have a responsibility to protect your personal information and take reasonable steps to make sure that your personal information is protected.

This privacy statement describes the information we collect about you when you submit a complaint to the HCSCC and explains how personal information is managed and protected. We recommend that you read this statement in conjunction with the Information Privacy Principles available on the Information Commissioner Northern Territory website.

We will only collect personal information necessary for us to accept and/or process your complaint (or the complaint of another person if you are submitting a complaint on behalf of someone else).

The information you will be asked to provide includes:

• Your name
• Your date of birth
• Your contact details
• Contact details of your health, disability or aged care service provider
• Details of the complaint you are making about the provider

If you give us permission to request medical records and other information from the service provider, we may receive other personal and sensitive information about you that is held by the service provider.

If a complaint is against, or directly involves a health provider who is required to be registered by one of the fifteen National Boards, our Act states that the Commissioner must notify the relevant National Board and consult with the Board in relation to management of the complaint. In practice, this means that we will share your complaint with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra), which is the administrative arm of the national boards. If your complaint is better suited to being managed by the relevant Board, you will be advised of this and it will be referred.

If you give us permission, we may disclose your personal information to other oversight or advocacy bodies where it would be more appropriate for those bodies to handle your complaint. In some circumstances, this may mean that your personal information is transferred outside of the Northern Territory. We may also disclose your personal information to the service provider you are making a complaint about. We disclose this information for the purpose of obtaining a response from the service provider.

You do not have to provide your personal information, but if you choose not to, we may be unable to accept or process your complaint. Except for the purposes above, the information you provide to us will only be provided to third parties where this is authorised or required by law.

If you have any concerns about the way we protect your privacy, please contact us.