RESOURCES

My Aged Care Provider Specialisation Verification

RESOURCES

My Aged Care Provider Specialisation Verification

RESOURCES

My Aged Care Provider Specialisation Verification

Privacy Notice – Third Party Collecting Information

Who is collecting your personal information?

Your personal information is being collected by Australian Healthcare Associates (AHA). AHA is contracted by the Department of Health and Aged Care (department) to verify My Aged Care specialisation applications submitted by aged care providers.

What personal information is being collected?

Contact details and sensitive information such as racial or ethnic origin and sexual orientation.

Is the collection authorised or required by law?

No.

Why is your personal information being collected?

We collect personal information for the purpose of verifying the eligibility of aged care providers against criteria set out in the Specialisation Verification Framework. Verification helps to ensure that aged care provider profiles on My Aged Care reflect information which is accurate and relevant, for the purposes of providing aged care recipients and their representatives with specialised healthcare services.

Your personal information may also be used for other purposes such as delivering and evaluating the initiative and for statistical, performance, policy development and research purposes.  

What would happen if  AHA did not collect your personal information?

If you do not or are unable to provide your personal information AHA may be unable to verify the eligibility of an aged care provider to be listed as delivering specialised services on My Aged Care.

Who will AHA disclose your personal information to?

We may disclose your personal information to the department and employees of contracted services for the secondary purposes described above, but only those employees or contractors who need to have access.

Access to and correction of your personal information

AHA’s privacy policy contains information about how you may access and seek correction of personal information about you that is held by AHA.

Privacy complaints

AHA’s privacy policy contains information about how you may complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles and how AHA will deal with complaints.

Overseas disclosure of your personal information

We will not disclose your personal information to any overseas recipients.

Further information

You can read AHA’s privacy policy below. You can obtain a copy of the APP privacy policy by contacting AHA using the contact details set out at the end of this notice.

Contact details

If you wish to contact AHA about a privacy-related matter, including questions about this notice, please contact AHA’s  Privacy Officer by one of the following methods:

Post: 

My Aged Care Provider Specialisation Verification
Australian Healthcare Associates
Reply Paid No 86905
Collins Street East
Victoria 8003

Email: macspecialisation@health.gov.au

Telephone: 1300 186 711

AHA’s privacy policy

This policy describes how AHA will protect people’s privacy and handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 and Australian Privacy Principles.

Personal information that we may collect

AHA may collect personal information, including sensitive information, by receiving evidence from:

  • providers – through the process of applying to be a specialised provider
  • aged care recipients – through the aged care recipient feedback process.

This information includes:

  • providers’ names
  • providers’ telephone numbers
  • providers’ ABNs
  • names of staff members who identify as being from one or more special needs groups
  • names and telephone numbers of aged care recipients who identify as being from one or more special needs groups, and/or their representatives
  • meeting minutes that may identify individual staff or aged care recipients.

We may directly collect personal information when people complete online or hard copy forms, email us and/or speak with us on the telephone. Aged care recipients who contact us by any of these means will be able to be anonymous or use a pseudonym, if they wish.

If a person believes that the information that AHA holds is incorrect or out-of-date, or if they have concerns about how we are handling personal information, they can contact our help desk on 1300 186 711 to resolve these concerns.

If some or all of the personal information is not collected AHA may be unable to verify an application made by a provider representative to be listed on My Aged Care as delivering specialised services.

Collecting, storing and using personal information

AHA collects, stores, uses and discloses personal information for varying purposes that may include one or more of the following:

  • to provide our assessment services under the framework
  • to respond to a person’s request
  • for general management purposes
  • for reporting to the department.

Your information may also be used and disclosed for other purposes such as delivering and evaluating the initiative and for statistical, performance, policy development and research purposes.

The department stores all data related to an individual application, including personal information, in its file management system.

Disclosing personal information

AHA does not disclose personal information to individuals or organisations that are located outside of Australia.

Within Australia, we do not disclose personal information to other individuals or organisations unless:

  • the department requests that we transfer information to them
  • some or all of the assets or operations of AHA’s assessment services are or may be transferred to another party as part of a contract transition process
  • a person gives consent for their personal information to be disclosed.

Giving access to personal information

AHA will give a person access to personal information upon request, except in the limited circumstances in which it is permitted for us to withhold this information (for instance, where granting access would infringe another person’s privacy). When a person contacts AHA’s help desk to request access to personal information (e.g. evidence that AHA has received as part of an application), we may require them to provide some form of identification (such as an outlet ID number) so that we can verify their identity.

If at any time a person wants to know what personal information we hold about them, they should make a request in writing to:

Privacy Request – My Aged Care Provider Specialisation Verification
Australian Healthcare Associates
Locked Bag 32005
Collins Street East 3000

In circumstances where we have refused a person access to or correction of their person information, we will give them a written notice that explains:

  • the reasons for the refusal (where it is reasonable for us to do so)
  • how they may make a complaint about the refusal to the department.