Accuro Homecare Privacy Policy

• Accuro Homecare is committed to protecting the privacy of personal information which we and our funded service partners handle. Personal information is information which directly or indirectly identifies a person.
• We collect and handle a range of personal information for the purposes of providing services. We also collect some personal information for planning, monitoring and evaluating our services, but we remove identifying details from information used for these purposes.
• In accordance with our responsibilities, the services we and our service partners provide relate primarily to the areas of health, community support and the protection of public health and safety. They include in particular primary and community health, public hospitals, mental health, disability, early childhood, family support, child protection, juvenile justice, housing, homelessness support, and public health. We are committed to providing coordinated care to our clients.
• We recognise that the nature of these services means that much of the information we handle is particularly sensitive.
• We recognise that privacy principles protect personal information both as a matter of individual right, and to support the public interest in ensuring Accuro Homecare can collect information necessary for its services.
• We recognise the essential right of individuals to have their information handled with professionalism - protected and made accessible to them.
• These privacy values are reflected in and supported by our vision, mission and philosophy.
• We are bound by the NSW privacy laws, the Information Privacy Act 2000 and the Health Records Act 2001, as well as other laws which impose specific obligations in regard to handling information.
• We have adopted the respective Privacy Principles contained in the NSW privacy laws as minimum standards in relation to handling personal information.

In broad terms this means that we:

• Collect only information which we need for a specified primary purpose.
• Ensure that the person knows why we collect it and how we will handle it.
• Use and disclose it only for the primary or a directly related purpose, or for another purpose with the person's consent (unless otherwise authorised by law).
• Store it securely, protecting it from unauthorised access.
• Retain it for the period authorised by the Public Records Act 1973.
• Provide the person with access to their own information, and the right to seek its correction.
• For information in we possess, this right is available through the Freedom of Information Act 1982*. For information in our service partner’s possession, this right is available through privacy legislation.