Personal information is protected by law, including the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).
Who is collecting the personal information
Personal information is being collected by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (the department/ we).
Information we collect
If you do not wish to remain anonymous, or you are making a disclosure on behalf of a person other than yourself and they have not chosen to remain anonymous, we will collect the following information:
- Your name(s)
- Your phone number(s)
- Your email address(es)
- The name(s) of people involved in what happened and information or opinions about those people
- The name of the organisation(s) involved in what happened
- Your role at the organisation if you work for the organisation.
You may wish to remain anonymous or use a pseudonym when you interact with us. When we deal with you anonymously, we do not collect any personal information or identifiers from you. Using a pseudonym means to use a different name or term instead of your legal or chosen name.
If you are making a disclosure on behalf of a person other than yourself, they can choose to remain anonymous.
Why we collect this information
We collect personal information for the purpose of contacting the whistleblower if more information is needed and taking action with respect to the matters raised in the disclosure as needed. We may also contact the whistleblower to notify them of the outcome of the disclosure.
What would happen if we did not collect this information
While you may make anonymous whistleblower disclosures, if you do not or are unable to provide personal information, this may limit any assessment of the disclosure. We will also not be able to notify you of the outcome of the disclosure.
Your identity as a whistleblower will be protected in line with the disclosure information below.
Who we disclose your personal information to
The Aged Care Act 2024 (Aged Care Act) authorises us to share confidential information with other organisations or people to protect people, meet legal obligations or fulfil our functions. This includes:
- sharing within the department
- sharing with authorised external bodies or people, including the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, police officers, legal practitioners, courts, tribunals and Royal Commissions
- if we need to share it to prevent serious risk to safety, health or wellbeing
- if the person making the disclosure consents to sharing it.
We will treat identity and disclosure information confidentially. This means, we must not share identity information of the discloser or information that may lead to their identity being known unless authorised under the Aged Care Act. Failing to comply with this part of the Aged Care Act attracts a civil penalty.
How you can access or correct your information
The department’s privacy policy contains information about how you may access and seek correction of your personal information.
Privacy complaints
The department’s privacy policy contains information about how you may complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles or the Australian Government Agencies Privacy Code and how the department will deal with complaints.
Overseas disclosure of your personal information
We will not disclose your personal information to any overseas recipients.
Further information
Read the department’s privacy policy. You can obtain a copy of the APP privacy policy by contacting the department.
Consent
By providing your sensitive information to us, you consent to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing collecting sensitive information about you, or about a family member, for the purposes indicated above.
The Privacy Act defines sensitive information as information or an opinion about an individual’s:
- racial or ethnic origin
- political opinions or membership of a political association
- religious beliefs or affiliations
- philosophical beliefs
- membership of a professional association or trade association
- union membership
- sexual orientation or practices
- criminal record
- health information (including information about health services needed or provided) or
- genetic information
- biometric information or biometric templates.
If you are providing the department with personal information about another individual, unless you are authorised to consent on their behalf, you will need to inform that individual of the contents of this notice and obtain their consent to the department collecting their personal information.
Contact
If you wish to contact the department about a privacy-related matter, including questions about this notice, please contact the department’s Privacy Officer by one of the following methods:
