Privacy policy

Our commitment to your privacy

Wilmer Medical Service collects personal information so we can care for you safely. We handle it under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW). This policy explains what we collect, why, who may see it, and your rights.

What we collect

When you become a patient, and during your care, we collect:

Your name, date of birth, address and contact details.
Your Medicare number and, where relevant, DVA, concession or health fund details.
Your health history, including conditions, current treatments, allergies, immunisations and relevant family history.
Records of your consultations, referrals, test results and letters from other health services.
Emergency contact and next of kin details.

This website itself collects no health information. Any electronic message to the practice — for example by email, or a website enquiry — is for general enquiries only, such as questions about hours or how to book. Please do not send symptoms, results or other health details this way. For anything about your health, contact the practice directly or book an appointment.

Why we collect it

We collect and use your information to:

Provide you with safe, well-informed medical care.
Handle billing, Medicare claims and payments.
Send reminders and recalls, such as follow-up on results or immunisations due.
Manage the practice, including appointments, record keeping and improving how we work.

We only collect what we need for these purposes.

We share your information only when it is needed for your care, or when the law requires it. That can include:

Other treating doctors and health professionals involved in your care.
Pathology and imaging providers, when you are referred for tests.
Medicare and Services Australia, to process claims and payments.
My Health Record, where you have one.
Others where the law requires it, for example under a court order or public health reporting rules.

We never share or sell your information for marketing, and we never send you marketing material on behalf of anyone else.

My Health Record

My Health Record is the Australian Government’s online summary of your key health information. Whether you have one, and what goes into it, is your choice. You can set your own privacy controls, limit what is uploaded, or opt out entirely. If you would like help deciding, talk to your doctor at your next visit. You can read more at myhealthrecord.gov.au.

How we store and protect your information

Your record is kept securely in the practice’s clinical record system. Access is limited to those involved in your care and in running the practice, and everyone who works here is bound by strict confidentiality obligations. We keep health records for as long as the law requires, and we dispose of them securely when that period ends.

If you live in a residential care facility, your full health record is kept at the facility where you live, under the facility’s arrangements. If your records need to be transferred because of a change in your circumstances, the transfer is arranged through the facility.

Overseas disclosure

We do not send your personal information overseas without your consent, unless the law requires us to.

Seeing or correcting your record

You have the right to ask for access to the health information we hold about you. You can also ask us to correct anything that is wrong or out of date. To make a request, ask at reception or contact the practice. We may need time to prepare copies, and we will confirm your identity first to protect your privacy. If any cost applies to preparing copies, we will tell you before we begin.

How to make a privacy complaint

If you are worried about how we have handled your information, please tell us first. We take privacy concerns seriously and will look into them. See feedback and complaints for how to raise a concern with us.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au. Because health information in NSW is also covered by the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW), you can raise a concern with the NSW Privacy Commissioner through the Information and Privacy Commission NSW at ipc.nsw.gov.au.

This website

We keep this website itself simple and private:

It uses no advertising or marketing trackers.
It uses no third-party analytics. If we ever introduce an analytics tool, we will update this policy first.
Fonts are served from our own site, not from an outside font service.
The contact channel takes general enquiries only and is never used to collect health information.

Questions

If anything in this policy is unclear, ask at reception or raise it with your doctor at your next visit. We may update this policy from time to time; the current version is always on this page.