Hand in Hand, Central Victorian Hand Therapy is committed to providing quality services to you and this policy outlines our ongoing obligations to you in respect of how we manage your Personal Information. This policy aligns with the Australian Privacy Principles (APP) within the Privacy Act. The APP outlines the way we collect, use, disclose, Store, secure and dispose of your Personal information.

Our aim is not to complicate this information for you, so please reach out if you have any questions.

Personal information includes things like your name, address, phone number, email address and date of birth.

Health information is more sensitive and may include details about your medical history, injuries, diagnoses, treatment plans and investigation results. It may also include your Medicare number, referrals, photos and notes taken by your health care providers.

Information is collected in various ways including:

• When you complete Client details form, both online or in person
• Through discussion with our admin and or Therapists
• During treatment sessions
• From referrers (eg: GP or surgeon) with your consent
• Indirectly from family or support persons.

At Central Victorian Hand Therapy, we use secure digital systems:

• Cliniko (Cloud base) – for you appointment bookings and clinical records
• Snapforms -to collect your details form and consent
• Abby – integrated with Cliniko for appointment confirmation

These systems are password protected and access is restricted to authorised team members only.

We only share your information with:

• Other health professionals involved in your care (e.g. GP or specialist)
• Your insurer, if you are using a third-party (e.g. WorkCover, TAC )
• Your referrer, when requesting and update or report
• Anyone you have given written permission to share with

We use Gmail for email and fax to communicate with other providers involved in your care. If you have a third party involved this may involve forwarding reports and invoices to your case managers or insurance company.

Emailing can carry a risk; this is outlined in our email consent which is provided at your initial consultation. If you prefer us not use email to share your information, please let us know.

At Hand in Hand, we use a secure practice management system, Cliniko.

This system is password protected with two factor authentication and stored in secure Australian based cloud environment. Access is restricted to authorised team members only.

By law, we must keep health records for:

• Seven years for adults
• Until age 25 for those under the age of 18

Any collection of information on paper is saved to your digital file and then destroyed unless required for legal or clinical purposes

You have the right to:

• Access you information
• Correct any incorrect or out of date information
• Request deletion of personal data no longer needed. There are some cases where legal requirements prevent us carrying out this request.
• Object to how your data is used
• Ask how we use our software systems regarding your information

Update to privacy laws in 2025 expand your rights and give you more control over your data.

We take your privacy seriously and have the following systems in place to protect your personal information:

• Lock away paper files or confidential notes when not in use
• Restrict digital access to team members involved in you care
• Use secure password and cloud systems
• Confidential information never left unattended in public areas
• Ensure all staff are informed and education on privacy systems.

We also have a Data Protection system in place which will be utilised promptly if any breach occurs to protect your information.

If you have any questions about how your information is used, or you would like to access, correct or delete you information please do not hesitate to contact us:

• Practice Owner: Janelle Kilcullen
• Lead Administrator: Kate Orde
• Email: info@centralvichandtherapy.com.au
• Phone: 03 44399885

If you are dissatisfied with how we handle your concern the Office of the Australian information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au is available to you.