Privacy Policy
Protecting your privacy
Purpose
This policy outlines the framework that Rural Doctors Foundation adheres to when collecting, handling, and managing personal information. Rural Doctors Foundation is committed to compliance with the ethical and legal obligations prescribed by the Australian Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) as amended by the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (Privacy Act) and other relevant legislation such as the Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) Act 2017 (Cth).
This policy covers all activities relating to collecting, recording and reporting personal and confidential information.
Personal information is information or opinion that identifies a person or from which a person can reasonably be identified. It includes information such as your name, address, date of birth, contact details and emergency contacts.
Policy statement
Rural Doctors Foundation is committed to ensuring that all confidential information is treated with respect. All necessary steps are taken to protect the privacy of individuals.
Rural Doctors Foundation is guided by the following principles:
Information is collected only if it is helpful to the individual in ensuring our communication and service is appropriate, relevant and timely.
4.1 Supporters
When donating or registering for an event that requires payment, additional information is collected. This may include donation history, 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. We collect this information to send you receipts.
Individuals can elect to opt out of communications and this request will be respected.
4.2 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 candidates suitability for employment or volunteering. In providing details of referees, it is considered that the candidate has given consent to collecting information for the purposes of employment or volunteering.
If considering an applicant for employment, Rural Doctors Foundation may collect additional personal information such as your 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.
4.3 Other individuals
The Foundation may collect information about individuals or organisations such as suppliers and contractors. Relevant information only will be collected.
4.4 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 we cannot accept responsibility for their privacy policies but will advise of their availability as required.
Our 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. We will not collect any personal information about visitors to our website, except when visitors take steps to provide personal information. This includes submitting an enquiry. Information provided through our website will be collected, held, used and disclosed in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
It should be noted the internet is not always a secure method of transmitting information. Whilst we will take reasonable steps to ensure that information is maintained securely, it cannot ensure that communications 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.
4.5 Storing of personal information
Rural Doctors Foundation holds personal information in paper-based and electronic records systems. Personal information may be collected in paper-based documents and converted to electronic form for storage. The original paper-based documents will be archived or securely destroyed. Information held in paper-based form is securely stored at our office based in Brisbane. In the case of archived records, they are held at a local external storage facility. This is under a commercial contract with best practice security, retention, destruction, and data protection provisions.
Rural Doctors Foundation uses physical security and other measures to protect personal information from misuse, interference and loss. We also protect against unauthorised access, modification and disclosure. Information held in electronic form is held on servers located in Australia. It is either under our direct control or under the control of contracted cloud service providers adhering to best practice data security standards. We have 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 their personal information under Australian Privacy Principles 12 and 13. Exceptions are where access can or must be denied or limited by the Privacy Act. Proof of identification will be required.
4.6 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 security, we 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. This will include recommendations of steps individuals should take in response to the breach.