PRIVACY POLICY
The Australian Dental Association (Queensland Branch) (ADAQ) - ABN: 98 138 331 174 -has a vision of supporting the dental profession and advancing the oral health of all Queenslanders. We are also a professional association for dental practitioners and support and represent our members and their practices.
We provide a range of services including: member support and assistance, practice support, arranging professional indemnity insurance, complaint and claims management, and providing continuing professional education of other events. ADAQ is also a Registered Training Organisation – RTO: 30621 and our services include the provision of Certificate III and IV training courses for Dental Assistants.
We respect your privacy:
Your privacy is important to us. When dealing with your personal information we observe our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and comply with the Australian Privacy Principles, as well as other relevant State legislation. This policy sets out how we will collect, use, store, disclose and de-identify personal information.
1. What types of information we collect:
We collect information of a personal and sensitive nature as part of our activities that involve information handling. These activities include the provision of our Services, managing employee records and running our website and social media accounts.
The types of personal information we collect include:
• Contact details (name, address, professional information, telephone numbers, email, etc)
• Demographic information (gender, date of birth)
• Professional Information (qualifications, specialty etc)
• Activities (participation in ADAQ activities or enrolment in courses or training)
The types of sensitive information we collect includes records of communication between us, information and documents provided to us or we collect from other sources. This includes, but is not limited to, the following types of information:
• Membership status and practice information
• Personal, financial or legal information
• Personal credit card data or banking details
• Health information
• Employment status and history;
• Insurance policy information and claims history.
2. Why we collect private information about you:
We collect information about our members and others to enable the provision of our Services and to enable us to communicate with our stakeholders, including industry regulators, government agencies and insurers.
We also collect, personal and sensitive information from our members and third parties where this is reasonably necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal or equitable claim. Sensitive information may include patient health information obtained by our members which is disclosed to us (as a general permitted situation under the Privacy Act), for the purpose of managing complaints, addressing liability indemnity arrangements, seeking peer reviews for our members and for legal proceedings.
3. How we use your information:
We only use your personal and sensitive information for the reason we collect and for the purpose(s) for which it was collected, or as otherwise permitted by law.
We use your information for the following primary purposes:
• For the immediate reason for which you have provided it to us (for example, to enable us to process membership requests, payments, event registrations, insurance requests, subscriptions, training enrolments, and the access or delivery to other services);
• To maintain contact with you about our Services, or to encourage you to learn about what we do.
• For the purpose of assessing and managing complaints and indemnity claims relating to members.
• Any other purpose directly related to our work and for which you have provided consent (as reasonably required by law).
We may also use your information for the following purposes:
• To conduct research for continuing professional development purposes and the ongoing improvement of our services to members and students.
• To maintain contact with you or report about our work.
We do not use the information in any way other than our stated objectives and purposes.
We may be required to use or disclose personal information without consent as allowed by law, for the following reasons:
• to take appropriate action in relation to suspected unlawful activity or serious misconduct
• to locate a person reported as missing
• where reasonably necessary for establishing, exercising, or defending a legal or equitable claim
We may disclose your personal information to other organisations as detailed in section
6: Disclosure (sharing your information)
4. How we collect your information:
We collect personal information about our members, patients, students, supporters, volunteers, employees, contractors and visitors to our events.
We may collect information from you either directly or from third parties. Information we collect from third parties may be by formal or informal means.
Where we collect information from third parties , we will take all reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify the information if required by law.
We collect your information in the following ways:
• Face-to-face contact
• Electronically including email and through our website and online surveys
• Via social media messages or conversations
• During phone calls
• Voice or image recordings, including surveillance cameras in our premises
• Whilst delivering and administering our Services
• From forms and other correspondence (in writing and electronically)
• From third parties including public sources and government entities.
When collecting personal or sensitive information directly from an individual, ADAQ will take reasonable steps, when required, to notify them or otherwise ensure that the individual is aware, before or as soon as practicable afterwards, of the following:
• What information has been collected, and for what purposes
• How to contact us and details of our privacy policy, including how to access and seek correction of that personal information, and about how to lodge a complaint about a breach of the APPs
• whether ADAQ is likely to disclose an individual’s personal information to overseas recipients and, if it is practicable to specify, the countries in which those recipients are likely to be located.
5. How we securely store your information:
We take reasonable steps to ensure the security of personal and sensitive information we hold and to protect it against loss, misuse or unauthorised access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure.
We store your information in electronic systems under our control and with contracted data storage providers. We take appropriate steps to protect the security of the information we hold about you, including protections against unauthorised access, virus or other electronic intrusions, fire, theft or loss. We require our contracted providers to do the same.
Our IT systems are password protected and comply with applicable security standards. Our staff and partners are bound by strict requirements regarding the protection of the privacy of the information we collect and hold about you.
We implement internal measures to ensure information security, including internal audits and staff training and monitoring.
It is our policy to:
• De-identify personal information where reasonable and possible; and
• Destroy personal information once there is no longer a legal or business need for us to retain it.
6. Disclosure (sharing your information)
We do not rent, sell or exchange your information.
We may share your information with other organisations, as follows:
• with your consent;
• in the course of our work, to entities engaged by us to undertake functions on our behalf, such as mailing, surveys or data collection (practice and member data), and IT system maintenance.
• To professional services providers to record and confirm a member’s course credentials or for the purposes of conducting training
• To government entities when legally required to disclose information we hold about you.
• De-identified and non-personal information for research purposes and file reviews.
• To insurers and other agents, in connection with insurance policies applied for or taken out by our members and also in relation to claims made against our members.
• Approved organisations such as sponsors or partners for the purpose of promoting products or services for which the ADAQ is directly affiliated.
• Where permitted by law.
Your information is processed and stored in databases and applications run by third-party providers. If you pay an account or make an online purchase with us, all personal and financial details are secured at all stages of the transaction. Credit card details are sent via a secure payment gateway and details are not stored on our computer servers.
We take all reasonable steps to ensure that all organisations we share information with, are in turn bound by confidentiality and privacy obligations when handling your personal information.
If you do not want your personal information disclosed to another organisation, please inform us at the time we collect your information, or at any later time.
We will not disclose personal and sensitive information we collect to third parties for a secondary purpose without your consent, unless required or authorised by law (see also: 3.
How we use your information).
We engage third-party providers to assist us in delivering our Services through our online platforms and tools. These include: payment processing tools; customer relationship management systems (CRM); student learning management platforms (LMS); IT and security services providers; marketing and analytics tools. All vendors engaged by us are reputable and bound by contractual obligations and their own policies to abide by all relevant privacy standards.
We use third-party software suppliers to outsource certain tasks such as mailings and surveys. We will only use the information collected from said software suppliers for statistical purposes and to assist with improvement of Member services including professional development. In most instances the information collected will be anonymous, unless you consent to include personal or sensitive information. Information you choose to provide on these surveys will be transferred to the third party’s server (as applicable) then forwarded to us. By completing our surveys, you agree to these transfers of information.
We do not usually send personal information out of Australia. If we are otherwise required to send information overseas, we will take measures to protect your personal information. We will protect your personal information either by ensuring that the country of destination has similar protections in relation to privacy or that we enter contractual arrangements with the recipient of your personal information that safeguards your privacy.
In order to comply with the
National VET Provider Collection Data Requirements Policy, ADAQ Training must provide statistical and personal student data to the Australian Department of Education and Training. Further information on this is available from the
Australian Skills Quality Authority website.
Sometimes we may be legally required to disclose your information, for example, to government departments. Such information would only be disclosed if legally obligated to do so.
7. Cookies and links to other websites:
When you visit our website a record of your visit is logged. The following data is supplied by your browser:
• Your IP address and/or domain name;
• Your operating system (type of browser and platform);
• The date, time, and length of your visit to the website; and
• The resources you accessed and the documents you downloaded.
This information is used to compile statistical information about the use of our website. It is not used for any other purpose.
The ADAQ website uses cookies. A cookie is a small file placed in your browser that collects information about your browsing behaviour. A cookie cannot alter or do anything to your computer or its contents. Cookies are not stored by us and do not inform us about anything on or in your computer, or collect any identifiable information. To log in to any password-protected section of our website, you will need to accept cookies. If you do not want ‘cookies’ to be used please adjust your browser settings to disable them.
Our website may contain links to third party websites, and third-party websites may also have links to our website. The ADAQ Privacy Policy does not apply to external links or other websites. The operators of other websites may collect your personal information. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any website you link to from our website.
8. CCTV/Photography and Video Recordings:
ADAQ’s premises at 24-28 Hamilton Place, Bowen Hills QLD 4006 are protected by Closed Circuit Television (CCTV). We use 24-hour video surveillance on a CCTV system. The system records activity throughout the exterior of the entire building and within some internal public areas for monitoring purposes.
CCTV monitoring is to provide a safe and secure work environment for our staff, students, Members, and visitors. Footage from CCTV is recorded and stored digitally within our CCTV software, and only approved ADAQ staff may access or view these files.
Recordings may be provided as evidence to assist police or other law enforcement agencies with investigations or enquiries. CCTV is not used to monitor performance of staff but may be used in the investigation or enquiry into staff misconduct allegations, occupational health and safety issues, or as required by law.
9. How you can access or correct your personal information:
If you access our Services it is important that you advise us at the earliest opportunity of any changes to your personal information, so that our records can be updated.
If you are a member and wish to access your personal information or need to update your details, you can access your information by asking us (
[email protected]) or accessing your details through the ADA Inc or ADAQ Member websites using your personal log in and password.
We respect your right to access all personal information we hold about you. We will not charge a fee for your access request but may charge an administrative fee for the reasonable cost of providing a copy of your personal information. We will endeavour to process all requests as soon as possible and within 30 days. To protect your personal information, we may require identification from you before releasing such information.
If you have a question about this privacy policy or want to access your personal information you can contact us on 07 3252 9866 or email
[email protected]. We aim to respond to you within 2 business days of receiving your enquiry.
10. Anonymity:
It is your right to deal with us anonymously, provided that is it lawful and practicable. We will try to accommodate a request for anonymity wherever possible. However, in some circumstances, this may prevent us from communicating with you effectively. If this is the case, we will notify you.
11. Complaints about a breach of your privacy:
If you are concerned about how we have collected or managed your personal information, we request you submit a formal complaint by contacting the ADAQ Chief Executive Officer, who is our Privacy Officer, on 07 3252 9866 or
[email protected].
After we receive all the information we need from you, please allow us 28 days to address your complaint. If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your complaint, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) on
www.oaic.gov.au. The OAIC is an independent Australian Government agency and has the power to investigate complaints about possible interference with your privacy.