How we handle your personal information

This policy explains what personal information Inspiring Homecare Pty Ltd, trading as Inspiring Homecare (“we”, “us”), collects, why we need it, and what we do with it. It covers the people we care for, their families and representatives, job candidates and staff, and anyone who visits inspiringhomecare.com.

We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and follow the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). If anything here is unclear, call us and we will talk it through with you.

We only ask for what we need. Depending on how you deal with us, this can include:

• Contact details: your name, address, phone number, email address and date of birth, plus details of an emergency contact.
• Care and health details: your health conditions, medicines, allergies, mobility, daily routines and the way you like your care to be given.
• Family and representative details: names and contact details of relatives, carers, guardians or others who help you make decisions or speak for you.
• Job candidate and staff details: identity details, your residential address, an optional identification number and your signature when you sign an employment contract with us.
• Basic website data: our website host may keep standard technical logs, such as IP address, browser type and the pages requested, to keep the site running and secure. We do not use analytics or advertising tools on this website.

Most of the time we collect information straight from you, when you phone us, meet with us in person, or write to us. Our website has no contact form or newsletter sign-up, so browsing it does not send us your details.

Sometimes we receive information from other people, such as a family member, your representative, your GP or another health professional. We do this with your consent, or where the law allows it. Job candidates enter their own details on our contract signing page.

We use personal information to:

• plan, arrange, deliver and review your care at home;
• choose carers who suit your needs and keep them informed so they can help you safely;
• stay in touch with you and the people you have asked us to involve;
• keep accounts and records, and look after the safety and quality of our work;
• recruit and employ staff, including preparing and signing employment contracts; and
• meet our legal and regulatory obligations.

If you choose not to give us some information, we may not be able to provide the care or support you are asking for.

Health information is treated as sensitive information under the Privacy Act, and it gets extra protection. We collect it only with your consent (or the consent of someone authorised to act for you), and only when it is reasonably needed to care for you. The law allows a few exceptions, for example in an emergency where someone’s life or safety is at serious risk.

You can ask us at any time how your health information is being used, or tell us if you want to change what you have agreed to.

We never sell your personal information. We share it only when there is a good reason, such as:

• Your carers: the people delivering your care see the details they need to do their job well and safely.
• Your health professionals: your GP, nurses, allied health workers or hospital, with your consent or where the law permits.
• People you nominate: family members or representatives you have told us we may speak with.
• Service providers: businesses that help us run our operations, such as IT, hosting, document storage and email services. They may only use the information to do work for us.
• When the law requires it: for example to answer a court order or a lawful request from a government agency, or to prevent a serious threat to someone’s life, health or safety.

Some of the service providers we use to store data or send emails may keep information on servers in other countries. Before that happens, we take reasonable steps under APP 8 to make sure those providers handle it in a way that is consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles.

We take reasonable steps to stop personal information being lost, misused, or seen or changed by people who should not have it. These steps include:

• keeping paper records locked away;
• limiting electronic records to staff who need them, behind a password-protected staff area;
• using encrypted connections on our website; and
• reminding our team of their privacy duties.

No system is completely secure, but we work to keep the risk low and review our practices as things change.

If we offer you a job, we may send you a private link to sign your employment contract on our website. On that page you enter your name, residential address and, if you wish, an identification number, then add your signature and agree to sign electronically.

Our systems process these details to produce the signed contract, and keep it as the record of your employment agreement and proof of your signature. Our system may also note when you signed and basic details about the device you used, as evidence of the signing.

You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to fix anything that is wrong, out of date or incomplete. Contact us using the details below. We will confirm who you are first, then respond within a reasonable time.

In rare cases the law lets us refuse access, for example if giving it would put someone else’s privacy or safety at risk. If that happens, we will explain why in writing.

If personal information we hold is lost or accessed without permission in a way that is likely to cause serious harm, we will follow the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme. That means acting quickly to contain the problem, telling the people affected, and notifying the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

We hold on to personal information for as long as we need it for the reasons above, or for as long as the law says we must keep health and employment records. After that, we destroy it securely or remove anything that could identify you.

If you are worried about how we have handled your information, please tell us first. We will look into it, keep you updated and let you know what we have done.

If you are not satisfied with our answer, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992.

We will review this policy from time to time and post any new version on this page with a fresh date at the top. If a change affects how we use your health information, we will let you know directly.