PRIVACY POLICY

Privacy Policy

Berwick Family Medical Clinic

Current as of 1st July 2026

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 GPs 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.

  • When you make your first appointment our practice staff will collect your personal and demographic information via your registration.
  • During providing medical services, we may collect further personal information. This may be via My Health, Shared Health Summary, ETP (electronic transfer of prescriptions).
  • We may also collect your personal information when you visit our website, send us an email or SMS, telephone us or make an online appointment.
  • 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).

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 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 impractical 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)
  • while providing medical services, through eTP, My Health Record (eg via Shared Health Summary).

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.

Our practice may use your personal information to improve the quality of the services we offer to our patients through research and analysis of our patient data.

We may provide de-identified data to other organisations to improve population health outcomes. The information is secure, patients cannot be identified, and the information is stored within Australia. You can let our reception staff know if you do not want your information included.

How do we store and protect your personal information?

Your personal information may be stored at our practice in various forms:

Electronic medical records

Video recording of the reception area, clinic perimeter and corridors for safety and security

Our practice stores all personal information securely. Our practice takes responsible steps to protect the personal information we hold from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure.

 Records are stored in electronic format, in protected information systems. Confidentiality agreements for staff and contractors are stored in secure, locked cabinets. Doctor’s rooms are locked when not in use. Prescription pads are other official documents are stored in a locked cupboard in the Practice Manager’s office.

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 or transfer of medical records to another clinic. We require you to put this request in writing and our practice will respond within a reasonable time. Our practice will respond to your request within 7 days. We may charge you fees for complying with your request, depending on what is requested and the amount of work involved. Patient health information will be transferred in a timely, authorised and secure manner.

Our fees are aligned to the directives issued by the Victorian Health Complaints Commissioner and published on its website: (https://hcc.gov.au/healthcare-providers/health-records).

Our practice will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up to date. From time to time, we will ask you to verify that your personal information held by our practice is correct and current. You may also request that we correct or update your information, and you should make such requests in writing to admin@bfmcgroup,com

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. We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our resolution procedure. Our preferred contact is admin@bfmcgroup,com or The Practice Manager, Berwick Family Medical Clinic, 10 Langmore Lane Berwick Phone: 9769 5500

You may also contact the Office of Australian Information Commissioner (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.

We are also regulated in our handling of health information by the Victorian Health Complaints

Commissioner. For further information visit www.hcc.vic.gov.au or call the Commissioner

on 1300 582 113.

Notifiable data breach scheme

If there is a loss, or unauthorised access or disclosure of your personal information that is likely to

result in serious harm to you, we will investigate and notify you and the Office of the Australian

Information Commissioner (OAIC) as soon as practicable, in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

Privacy Review Statement

Berick Family Medical Clinic is updated regularly. You can find our up –to-date Privacy Policy posted on our website.