Bipolar Australia Limited (ABN 35 169 187 517) Website Privacy Policy

 

Overview

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When you utilise one of our services, register for one of our events, list a service in our directory or create an account on this website, Bipolar Australia Limited (hereinafter referred to as “Bipolar Australia”) collects certain information about you and your health. This policy outlines what we collect, and explains how we use and store your personal information.
Bipolar Australia’s collection and use of personal information is performed in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles outlined in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Health Privacy Principles outlined in the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW). At no time will Bipolar Australia break the law when collecting or using personal information.

 

What we collect

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We will generally collect your full name, residential or postage address, email address, and home and/or mobile telephone numbers, as well your information specific to the services you are interested in or intending to use. From time to time, this may include information or opinions about your health, including mental health diagnoses, and sensitive information which will allow us to customise our delivery of services to you.

 

We may also collect your choice of username, which is the unique personal identifier both you and we will use to refer to your website account. When choosing a username, you agree to ensure that the username you choose is not the same as any identifier referring to you or your organisation that is held by a government department or agency, unless this identifier is your, or your organisation’s, name or Australian Business Number.

 

Should you wish to remain anonymous, we may be unable to provide you with access to many of our services. For example, you must disclose your name, telephone number and email address in order to register for events.

 

What we do not collect

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We do not actively collect sensitive information about you unless it is health information necessary for the delivery of services to you. For example, we do not actively collect information about your criminal records (if any), political opinions, membership of a political association, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional or trade association, membership of a trade union, sexual preferences or practices, or genetic information.

 

How we will use your information

 

Generally, we will use the personal information and health information you provide to us in order to provide you with the information, service or referral you requested at the time you provided such information to us. In the case of information intended for publication in our service directory, we may, with your consent, publish your name, email address and telephone number to allow visitors to our website to contact you regarding your service(s).

 

However, we may also, at our sole discretion, use your personal information to send promotional material regarding current or additional products, events, and services to you in the future. If you wish to opt out of such notifications, you may contact us to specify this preference.

 

We will not disclose your personal information to any third parties unless disclosure is necessary for your safety or protection, is required by law, or we believe it is in the community’s interest to do so. If we disclose your personal information to a third party for reasons other than a legal requirement, we will notify you in writing within 30 days of the disclosure.

 

How we store your information

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Most information we hold is stored in electronic form on our web server, which is located in South Australia. When you register for our website, events, or services, you consent to the transfer of any personal and health information you provide or we collect to South Australia.

 

Our web server is protected by various technological measures that are provided by third parties. We will take reasonable measures to protect administrator passwords and screen individuals who wish to access these facilities.

 

If your contact details change, you should telephone us inform us. If we discover that we cannot contact you, we will take reasonable steps to update your personal information. Should we be unable to update your personal information, we may decide to cease the provision of services to you.

 

Access and correction

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You may request to see the personal information and health information that we hold about you at any time. We will not charge you to access your information. However, if we incur any costs during the retrieval of the information, these will be passed on to you.

 

We will normally not withhold access to your personal information or health information. However, if we are required by law or it is in our interests to withhold access, we will provide you with the reasons for denying your request in writing. If we reject your application, we may offer to provide you with the information through a mutually agreed intermediary. If any costs are incurred through the use of the intermediary they will be passed on to you.

 

We will take reasonable steps to update information that you believe is incorrect within 20 working days. If we disagree regarding the accuracy of your personal information or health information, you may provide us with a statutory declaration containing the information that you wish us to update.

 

You may usually lodge a request by telephoning us. However, some requests must be made in writing. If we require a written request, we will inform you when you call.

 

If you make a request on behalf of a third party, we will only disclose the third party’s personal information in exceptional circumstances, unless you are acting as an authorised intermediary between us and the third party.

 

Generally available publications

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From time to time you may choose to contribute to generally available publications, such as by posting a comment on our website or posting to a social media platform. The information you choose to contribute to such generally available publications is not covered by this policy, and should be regarded as information in the public domain. Bipolar Australia accepts no liability in relation to information you voluntarily contribute to such publications, nor for any consequences which arise from such publication.

 

Disposal of information

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You may direct us to destroy most information at any time. When you choose close your website account, remove your directory listing, or opt out of our services, we will destroy most personal information we possess within a reasonable period of time. In addition, if we are unable to contact you for a period of six months, we will usually destroy most of your personal information.

 

However, in regards to health information we possess, the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW) requires that we retain all health information for a certain period from the cessation of your involvement with us. Such health information will be destroyed after seven years or when the individual concerned has turned 25, whichever is greater, and we will retain the names of these individuals indefinitely.

 

You should also note that any personal information and health information which you contributed to generally available publications, and which are therefore not covered by this policy, will not be destroyed.

 

Contacting us

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In this policy, “we”, “our” and “us” means Bipolar Australia Limited.

 

If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about this privacy policy or our practices regarding the management of personal information or health information, you may contact us using the details below:

 

Address: 30 Griffiths Ave West Ryde NSW 2114
Phone: 02 8819 6090
Email: privacy@bipolaraustralia.org.au

 

If we do not resolve a complaint to your satisfaction, you have the right to complain to the relevant Privacy Commissioner. We will provide you with the appropriate contact details if required.