Privacy Statement
Protecting your privacy
Rural Doctors Foundation is committed to ensuring that all confidential information is treated with respect and that all necessary steps are taken to protect the privacy of individuals.
The purpose of this statement is to outline the framework that Rural Doctors Foundation adheres to when collecting, handling, and managing personally identifiable and sensitive information. It is about protecting personal information obtained through donations, sponsorship or grants.
Rural Doctors Foundation is committed to compliance with the ethical and legal obligations prescribed by the following Acts:
- Australian Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)
- Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (Privacy Act)
- Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) Act 2017 (Cth)
- Code of Conduct of the Fundraising Institute of Australia and
- other relevant legislation and guidelines applicable
Principle
Rural Doctors Foundation is guided by the following principle:
Information is collected only if it is helpful to the individual in ensuring our communication and service is appropriate, relevant and timely. It may include name, date of birth, address and other contact details such as telephone numbers and email address. Financial data may also be stored but credit card details are not held within our system.
Storing of personal information
Rural Doctors Foundation holds information in our cloud-based password protected Sharepoint system and on our cloud-based password protected Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Personal information may be collected in paper-based documents and converted to electronic form for storage (with the original paper-based documents either archived or securely destroyed). Information held in paper-based form is securely stored at the offices of Rural Doctors Foundation.
Rural Doctors Foundation uses physical security and other measures to protect personal information from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure. Information held in electronic form is held on servers located in Australia either under our direct control or under the control of contracted cloud service providers adhering to best practice data security standards. Rural Doctors Foundation uses physical security, password protection and other measures to protect personal information from misuse, interference and loss and from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure.
Individuals (or legally authorised representative) are generally entitled to access the personal information held under the Australian Privacy Principles 12 and 13, except where access can or must be denied or limited by the Privacy Act. Proof of identification will be required.
Supporters of Rural Doctors Foundation
When donating or registering for an event that requires payment, additional personal information is collected and may include donation history, and payment information including credit card or banking details. This information is collected to provide receipts and to seek ongoing support for the Foundation. This information is used to issue tax-deductible receipts.
Individuals can elect to opt out of communications from Rural Doctors Foundation and this request will be respected.
Workers
Rural Doctors Foundation may collect personal information when recruiting staff or volunteers to process information for the purpose of assessing an application. We will collect information from third parties, including referees, to determine a candidate’s suitability for employment or volunteering. When conducting reference checks, it is considered that the candidate has given consent to collecting information for the purposes of employment or volunteering.
When considering an applicant for employment or a contract role, Rural Doctors Foundation may collect additional personal information such as date of birth, tax file number, emergency contact details, ABN (if relevant), bank account and superannuation information, visa, passport and licence details (if relevant) and police check details.
GP Program participants
Rural Doctors Foundation offers support for clinical programs to enhance the delivery of GP services. Although Rural Doctors Foundation funds and manages the program logistics, the service delivery relationship remains solely between the Treating GP (under contract with Rural Doctors Foundation) and the patient. Therefore, the patients details and health information are not held by, or available to Rural Doctors Foundation. An MOU between the Rural Doctors Foundation and the Treating GP outlines the requirement for privacy, confidentiality, and the secure storage of any patient information by the Treating GP.
Research participants
Rural Doctors Foundation conducts evaluation, audits and research that focuses on improving the health outcomes of our rural communities. Data may be collected for these purposes using paper based and/or online data collection methods. All data collected for such purposes is kept securely with policies guiding access to such data. Electronic data are password protected. Before reporting or dissemination of evaluation, audit or research findings, the data are deidentified and aggregated unless specific consent has been granted from an individual that their data such as their story may be shared. Participants in evaluation, audit, or research programs can request that any identifiable data be destroyed by communicating with the Rural Doctors Foundation.
Suppliers, contractors and grant recipients
Rural Doctors Foundation may collect information about individuals or organisations on a commercial basis such as suppliers and contractors from which goods and services are acquired. It will also collect information from organisations and individuals who have been successful in acquiring grant funding from Rural Doctors Foundation. Personal information including name, position, contact details, licence or registration number, ABN, bank details and other information relevant to the capacity in which you are dealing with Rural Doctors Foundation may be collected. Such information will be stored securely and will be password protected for online storage.
Social networking
Rural Doctors Foundation use social networking services such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube to communicate. Social networking services handle personal information for its own purposes. These services have their own privacy policies and Rural Doctors Foundation cannot accept responsibility for their privacy policies but will advise of their availability as required.
Rural Doctors Foundation web servers automatically log information such as server address, date and time of visit and web pages accessed. No personal information is recorded. These logs are used for website management and improvement. People can generally visit our website without revealing who they are or providing any personal information. Rural Doctors Foundation will not collect any personally identifiable information about visitors to our website, except when visitors take steps to provide personal information to us, for example, when submitting an enquiry. Information provided through our website will be collected, held, used and disclosed in accordance with this Privacy statement.
It should be noted the internet is not always a secure method of transmitting information. Whilst Rural Doctors Foundation will take reasonable steps to ensure that information is maintained securely, it cannot ensure that communications conducted via the internet will be secure.
Rural Doctors Foundation is committed to not disclosing personal or sensitive information for any other purpose without first seeking consent, unless authorised or required by law or for any other purposes as expressed in the Privacy Act.
Notifiable data breaches
If Rural Doctors Foundation determines that personal information has been accessed without permission, acquired, used or disclosed in a manner which compromises the security of the personal information, Rural Doctors Foundation will assess the risk to affected parties in accordance with the Privacy Act. If it is determined that a breach would be likely to result in harm to an individual, all potentially impacted individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) will be notified. The notification will provide advice on the steps Rural Doctors Foundation has taken with recommendations about the steps individuals should take in response to the breach.