Victor Medical Centre Privacy Policy

Current as of: July 2025

The objective of this document is to provide you, our patients and prospective patients, with clear
information on how your personal information is collected and used within the practice.
Occasionally we also need to share your personal information to involve others in your healthcare
and this policy outlines when, how, and why we may share your information.

1. Who can I contact about this policy?
For enquiries concerning this policy, please contact:
General Manager
Victor Medical Centre
11 Torrens St
Victor Harbor SA 5211
admin@victormedical.com.au
08 8551 3200

2. When and why is your consent necessary?
It is important to us that as our patient, you understand why we collect and use your personal
information.

When you register as a patient of this practice or use our services, you provide consent for the
doctors and staff to access and use your personal information to facilitate the delivery of
healthcare. Access to your personal information is restricted to practice team members who
require it for your care. If we ever use your personal information for purposes other than outlined
in this document, we will obtain additional consent from you.

By acknowledging this Privacy Policy you consent to us collecting, holding, using, retaining and
disclosing your personal information in the manners described below.

Under most circumstances, we cannot provide healthcare services to patients that withhold their
consent to our Privacy Policy.

3. Why do we collect, use, store, and share your personal information?
The practice collects, uses, stores, and shares your personal information primarily to manage your
health safely and effectively. This includes providing healthcare services, managing medical
records, and ensuring accurate billing and payments. Additionally, we may utilise your information
for internal quality and safety improvement processes such as practice audits, accreditation
purposes, and staff training to maintain high-quality service standards.

4. What personal information is collected?
The information we may collect about you includes your:

names, date of birth, addresses, contact details, emergency contact, and next of kin;
demographic information including cultural identity;
medical information including medical history, medicines, allergies, and adverse reactions;
immunisations, social history, family history and risk factors;
Medicare number for identification and claiming purposes;
healthcare identifier numbers;
health fund details (when applicable).

5. How is personal information collected?
The practice may collect your personal information in several different ways. When you make your
first appointment, the practice team will collect your personal and demographic information via
your registration at our practice or online.

We may also collect your personal information when you visit our website, send us an email or
SMS, telephone us, make an online appointment, or communicate with us using social media.

In some circumstances, personal information may also be collected from other sources, including:

your guardian or responsible person;
other involved healthcare providers such as specialists, allied health professionals,
hospitals, community health services, and pathology and diagnostic imaging services;
your health fund, Medicare, or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (if relevant);
electronic prescribing;
My Health Record;
online appointments.

We will always comply with privacy obligations when collecting personal information from third-
party sources. This includes ensuring transparency with patients, obtaining necessary consents,
maintaining data accuracy, securing the information, and using it only for specified purposes

6. How is your personal information stored and protected?
Your personal information may be stored at our practice in various forms. We primarily utilise
digital systems to transmit, retrieve, store and safeguard your personal information including but
not limited to:

Patient Information System (Zedmed), which includes SMS communications;
transcription and AI scribing services (Heidi Health);
photos and medical images as part of your clinical files;
online booking system and patient registration (HotDoc);
referral communications system (HealthLink);
telephony and communications platforms (Telstra, Teams, FaceTime, etc);
payment processing system (Tyro, etc);
our website and social media platforms;
cloud computing platforms.

Our practice stores all personal information securely. All data is encrypted, securely and
confidentially stored on servers located within Australia to comply with local requirements.

During the course of electronic transmission, data may cross international boundaries (internet
routing protocols, phone calls utilising satellites, etc).

Physical records (such a paper files and records) may occasionally be utilised. We securely dispose
of physical records at regular intervals.

7. When, why and with whom do we share your personal information?
We sometimes share your personal information:

with third parties for business purposes, such as accreditation agencies or information
technology providers. Third parties are required to comply with Australian Privacy
Principles and this policy;
with other healthcare providers (e.g. referral letters, records transfer requests);
when it is required or authorised by law (e.g. court subpoenas);
when it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to a patient’s life, health or safety
or public health or safety, or it is impractical to obtain the patient’s consent;
to assist in locating a missing person;
to establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim;
for the purpose of confidential dispute resolution process;
when it is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information (e.g. some
diseases require mandatory notification);
when it is provision of medical services, through electronic prescribing, My Health Record
(e.g. via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary).

Only people who need to access your personal information will be able to do so. Other than
providing medical services or as otherwise described in this policy, the practice will not share
personal information with any third party without your consent.

We do not share your personal information with anyone outside Australia (unless under
exceptional circumstances that are permitted by law) without your consent.

8. Can you deal with us anonymously?
If you have a genuine legal need to remain anonymous during your interactions with us, please
contact us in advance to discuss how we may be able to assist you. You can deal with us
anonymously or under a pseudonym unless it is impracticable for us to do so or unless we are
required or authorised by law to only deal with identified individuals. Limited services may be
available to patients that require anonymity.

9. Will your information be used for informational or marketing purposes?
The practice may use your personal information to communicate informational or marketing
related services directly to you. Examples of this include proactively notifying patients of
appointment opportunities related to vaccinations, medications, and conditions relevant to the
patient.

If you would like to withdraw your consent from receiving informational or marketing
communications, please inform us in writing.

10. How is your information used to improve services?
The practice may use your personal information to improve the quality of the services offered to
patients through research, analysis of patient data for quality improvement and for training
activities with the practice team.

We may provide de-identified data to other organisations to improve population health outcomes.
If we provide this information to other organisations patients cannot be identified from the
information we share, the information is secure and is stored within Australia. You can let
reception staff know if you do not want your de-identified information included in such studies.

At times, general practices are approached by research teams to recruit eligible patients into
specific studies which require access to identifiable information. You may be approached by a
member of our practice team to participate in research. Researchers will not approach you directly
without your express consent having been provided to the practice. If you provide consent, you
would then receive specific information on the research project and how your personal health
information will be used, at which point you can decide to participate or not participate in the
research project.

11. How are Artificial Intelligence (AI) Scribes used?
The practice uses an AI scribe tool to support GPs with note taking during their consultations with
you. The AI scribe analyses ambient audio of your consultation to generate clinical notes and
supporting documentation for your health record in real time. The AI scribe service that VMC uses
is Heidi Health.

Heidi Health:

does not share information outside of Australia;
does not store audio recordings of your conversation;
stores data on servers inside Australia to comply with local requirements.

The practice will only use data from our AI scribe tool to provide healthcare to you.

You may opt out of our use of AI scribes by informing reception at the time of your appointment.

12. How can you access and correct your personal information at the practice?
You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information. The practice
acknowledges and supports our patients’ rights to receive your personal and clinical data
contained in clinical records.

The practice will respond to any requests to access or correct your personal information within a
reasonable time frame, usually 30 calendar days.

Reasonable fees may be assessed in accordance with the effort of complying with a request. Any
fees to be charged will be quoted to the patient before we begin work on your request.

The practice will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the
information is not accurate or up to date. Sometimes, we will ask you to verify your personal
information held by the practice is correct and current. You may request that we correct or update
your information. To do this please contact us in writing using the following contact details:

Patient Services Manager
Victor Medical Centre
11 Torrens St
Victor Harbor SA 5211
admin@victormedical.com.au

13. How can you lodge a privacy-related complaint, and how will the complaint be handled
at the practice?
We take complaints and concerns regarding privacy seriously. We encourage you to express any
privacy concerns you may have.

Complaints should be made in writing using the following contact details:

General Manager
Victor Medical Centre
11 Torrens St
Victor Harbor SA 5211
admin@victormedical.com.au

The practice endeavours to address and resolve all written complaints in a reasonable time frame,
usually 30 calendar days.

If you do not feel we have resolved your issue, you may also contact the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner (OAIC). The OAIC will require you to give them time to respond before
they investigate. For further information visit www.oaic.gov.au or call the OAIC on 1300 363 992.

14. When is Victor Medical Centre obligated to proactively inform parties of a data breach?
Under OAIC guidelines, we are required to proactively notify affected persons if a data breach is
likely to cause serious harm. Examples of serious harm include:

identity theft, which can affect your finances and credit report;
financial loss through fraud;
a likely risk of physical harm, such as by an abusive ex-partner;
serious psychological harm;
serious harm to an individual’s reputation.

In such cases, we are also required to proactively notify the OAIC.

Further information on our obligations to report a data breach can be found at the OAIC website:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/your-privacy-rights/data-breaches/what-is-a-notifiable-data-breach

15. Statement regarding our website and social media platforms
Cookies and analytics may be used on website and social media platforms.

16. Statement regarding internal logs
Access or event logs (e.g. phone call logs, email server logs, website logs, database logs,
application server logs, building access logs, social media logs, etc) do not form part of your clinical
record and are considered internal work products of Victor Medical Centre. As such, access logs
and the information contained in them are not subject to disclosure under current privacy and
health information regulations.

Access logs may be provided to the proper regulatory or law enforcement authorities upon
request, or they may be subpoenaed by court order.

Requests for such logs will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis in the light of applicable laws,
regulations, and circumstances.

17. Statement regarding policy reviews and updates
This Privacy Policy is reviewed at least annually to ensure compliance with current obligations, and
updates to this Privacy Policy will be posted on our website. Significant changes to this policy may
be communicated directly to patients via email or other means.

Please check this policy periodically for updates