Heart Support - Australia

Privacy Statement
21 December 2001

Heart Support Australia is Australia’s leading Heart Support Organisation.

Heart disease remains the biggest cause of premature death in Australia today and Heart Support Australia works to help all Australians live longer healthier lives.

The National Privacy Principles.
The Australian Government has introduced new legislation that came into force on 21st December 2001 to protect the privacy of individuals.

This legislation comprises 10 national Privacy Principles that apply to private sector organisations. You can find out more about these principles by calling the Office of the Privacy Commissioner on 1300 363 992 or through their website at www.privacy.gov.au

Heart Support Australia respects and upholds your rights to privacy protection under the National Privacy Principles in regulating how we collect, use, disclose and hold your personal information. We have a detailed policy and set of procedures to ensure that only authorisedstaff has access to your personal information and that it remains confidential and only usedfor appropriate purposes and in accordance with this policy.

Why we collect your personal information

When you give us personal information such as your name and address, we record it on our database and use it to contact you. We may use your personal information to send you information on heart disease or to let you know about our special events and programs. Each
time that we send you a communication we will provide you with a simple way to OPT OUT of receiving similar communications in the future. You can also let us know that you do not wish to receive any further mail by phoning our national Office on 02 62852357.

We will not collect personal information of a sensitive nature such as your racial or ethnic origin, your religious beliefs or political associations. We will only collect and record health information about you with your permission.

How we collect your personal information

We collect your personal information when you provide it to Heart Support Australia in a number of ways including:

- through a call to our branches or health information service

- by participating in one of Heart Support Australia’s Counselling sessions, many community fundraising and information events

- when you respond to our services and programs

How we keep your personal information secure

If you provide us with your personal information, it is securely stored in our database, which is accessed only by authorised staff at Heart Support Australia. Our computer system is kept secure by our internal network using Windows NT Domain authentication. Each user has security level access and must provide a username/password to gain access. In addition, our
external access to e-mail and the Internet is protected by a Firewall/Router.

Disclosing your personal information

Heart Support Australia will not provide your personal information to any other individuals or organisations except on a confidential basis to contractors who provide database management, printing and mailing services to Heart Support Australia. In these cases we ensure that our contractors are also bound by the National Privacy Principles to keep your
personal information confidential.

The Heart Support Australia will not provide your personal information to any overseas organisation without first asking your permission. In such a case, we will also ensure that such organisations are bound by privacy laws at least as strict as those in Australia.

Visiting our website

When you visit our website, you can browse at your leisure, Heart Support Australia does not use “cookies” to track your movements through its website or your visits to other websites.
We will only record your email address if you send us a message and your email address will not be used for any other purpose without your consent and will not be passed on to any
other organisation.

Heart Support Australia website contains links to other sites of interest. Heart Support Australia does not control, and is not responsible for, the content or privacy practices of those websites. Please check the Privacy Statements on other websites before you provide
your personal information to them.

By using Heart Support Australia’s Internet site, you agree that the Internet is inherently insecure and accordingly, Heart Support Australia cannot provide any definitive assurance regarding security or personal information. Heart Support Australia will not be liable in any way in relation to any breach of security or any unintended loss or disclosure of that
information.

Changes to our Privacy Policy

Heart Support Australia may, without notice, amend or modify its Privacy Policy by posting the amended Privacy Policy to Heart Support Australia’s website.

How to access, correct or update your personal information

If you have any complaints, questions or concerns about what information Heart Support Australia holds or about the accuracy of that information, please contact Heart Support Australia Office.

If you would like to access the information that we hold about you, you can write to HS-A at the address below. We will endeavour to give you access to that information within two weeks. In order to maintain the confidentiality of your personal information, we will ask you to come into Heart Support Australia Branch nearest you and to bring with you specific identification before we give you access. If it is not practical for you to visit our office, we will arrange to check your identification before we mail the information out to you.

If the information that we hold about you is incorrect or not up to date, we will update it as soon as possible after you have shown us how and why it is incorrect.

In the unlikely event that we are unable to provide you with access to your personal information for legal reasons as specified in the Privacy Act, we will provide you with reasons
for denying access.

How to contact us

If you have any concerns or questions, please contact Heart Support Australia through the contact details listed below.

Phone: 02 62852357
Fax: 02 62811120

EMAIL: heartsupport@heartnet.org.au