Privacy Policy

Specialist Access Clinics Pty Ltd (ABN 47 655 133 663) (“Company” “we”, “us” or “our”) trading as Novel Health Co manages medical centres on behalf of health service providers and medical practitioners who operate from our centres. Normally these medical practitioners are not employees of the Company and in providing medical services and doing other things, are independent contractors.

We are committed to privacy protection. We understand the importance of keeping personal information private and secure. This privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) describes generally how we manage personal information and safeguard privacy. If you would like more information, please contact us.

By using our site located at www.novelhealth.com.au (“site”) or attending one of our centres you consent to your personal information being handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

We will treat all personal information in accordance with any and all obligations that are binding upon us under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“Privacy Act”) and other relevant State and Territory legislation. The Privacy Act lays down 13 key principles in relation to the collection and treatment of personal information, which are called the “Australian Privacy Principles”.

Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified or reasonably identifiable person, whether or not true and whether recorded in a material form or not. Within this Privacy Policy unless indicated otherwise, references to personal information also include sensitive information such as information or an opinion about your health, or health services provided to you.

The type of personal information we may collect and hold include:

• your name, contact details, date of birth, gender and next of kin;
• your Medicare number, health insurance number, bank account and/or credit card details for agreed billing purposes;
• your medical history, clinical notes, test results and treatment plan; and
• any information that you otherwise share with us.

We collect personal information about you in several ways, including from:

• you directly (including through our sites, when you complete a form, or when you interact with our personnel);
• someone with responsibility for you (such as your parent, carer or guardian);
• independent medical practitioners in our centres, including as recorded in your patient records;
• external health providers which is included in your medical record;
• national digital health records and government agencies such as the Department of Veterans Affairs or Medicare, and
• contractors or service providers engaged to carry out functions on our, or our medical practitioners’, behalf (such as call centres and other providers of recall, marketing campaigns and other communication services).

When you visit our site, a small data file called a “cookie” is stored on your computer or mobile device by our server. We use cookies to maintain user sessions and to generate statistics about the number of people that visit our site. Generally, this information will not identify you and we do not link it back to your identity or other information that you have provided to us.

We may use your personal information:

• for the purpose of delivering, or facilitating the delivery of medical and health services, and
• as is reasonably incidental to our ordinary business operations.

We may use de-identified information (derived from your personal information) for the purposes of:

• facilitating, conducting or contributing to clinical research;
• internal teaching purposes; or
• to monitor, evaluate, plan and improve the services provided at our centres.

From time to time we may email you with news, information and offers relating to our products/services or those of selected partners. Your personal information may also be collected so that we can promote and market products and services to you. This is to keep you informed of products, services, and special offers we believe you will find valuable. You can unsubscribe from such communications at any time if you choose.

In order to deliver the products/services you require or for the purposes set out above, the Company may disclose your personal information to organisations outside the Company. The Company takes reasonable steps to ensure that these organisations are bound by confidentiality and privacy obligations in relation to the protection of your personal information.

In addition, we may disclose your personal information to:

• your authorised representatives or legal advisers (when requested by you to do so);
• credit-reporting and fraud-checking agencies;
• credit providers (for credit-related purposes such as creditworthiness, credit rating, credit provision and financing);
• our professional advisers, including our accountants, auditors and lawyers;
• government and regulatory authorities and other organisations, as required or authorised by law;
• organisations who manage our business strategies, including those involved in a transfer/sale of all or part of our assets or business (including accounts and trade receivables) and those involved in managing our business risk and funding functions;
• for the purposes of a permitted general situation or permitted health situation under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth); or
• where we reasonably believe it necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to the life, health or safety of an individual or public health or safety.

If you would like more information about the way we manage personal information that we hold about you, or are concerned that we may have breached your privacy, please contact us by email to privacy@novelhealth.com.au or by post.

In most cases, you may have access to personal information that we hold about you. We will handle requests for access to your personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles. All requests for access to your personal information must be directed to the Privacy Officer by email using the email address provided above or by writing to us at our postal address. We will deal with all requests for access to personal information as quickly as possible. Requests for a large amount of information, or information that is not currently in use, may require further time before a response can be given. We may charge you a fee for access if a cost is incurred by us in order to retrieve your information.

In some cases, we may refuse to give you access to personal information that we hold about you. This may include circumstances where giving you access would:

• be unlawful (e.g., where a record that contains personal information about you is subject to a claim for legal professional privilege by one of our contractual counterparties);
• have an unreasonable impact on another person’s privacy; or
• prejudice an investigation of unlawful activity.

We may also refuse access where the personal information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings, and the information would not be accessible by the process of discovery in those proceedings

We will amend any personal information about you that is held by us and that is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date if you request us to do so. If we disagree with your view about the accuracy, completeness or currency of a record of your personal information that is held by us, and you ask us to associate with that record a statement that you have a contrary view, we will take reasonable steps to do so.

We are committed to maintaining the confidentiality of the information that you provide us and we will take reasonable precautions to protect your personal information from unauthorised use or alteration.

From time to time, it may be necessary for us to revise this Privacy Policy. Any changes will be in accordance with any applicable requirements under the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles. We may notify you about changes to this Privacy Policy by posting an updated version on this site.

If you require any further information about the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles, you can visit the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s website (see https://www.oaic.gov.au/).