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Privacy policy: Mental Health Professionals’ Network

The Mental Health Professionals Network Ltd (MHPN) (ABN 67 131 543 229) (“we”, “us”, “our”) is committed to managing your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and other applicable Australian privacy laws. This Privacy Policy sets out how we collect and manage personal information and the steps we take to protect it.

You can request a copy of the Privacy Policy by contacting our Privacy Officer (contact details outlined below).

What is personal information?

Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, recorded in any form, whether or not the information or opinion is true.

How and why we collect personal information

MHPN provides professional development webinars and facilitates interdisciplinary networks for mental health professionals across Australia. In the course of providing our services, MHPN collects personal information in a variety of ways.

Personal information collected and held by MHPN may include:

  • your name
  • your profession and/or job title
  • your contact details (including postal address and email address, phone numbers)
  • your signature (when you indicate your consent to share your contact details)
  • suburb and postcode of your practice or work location
  • audio and/or audio-visual recordings of any contributions made during webinars or interdisciplinary network meetings
  • in limited circumstances, for example to facilitate the reimbursement of network meeting expenses, your financial institution details (bank or credit union).

You provide most of the personal information directly to us and for a specific purpose. For example, we collect personal information when you:

  • register for a webinar or network, or RSVP for a network meeting, through our website or the website of our external service provider
  • contribute during webinars or online interdisciplinary network meetings, as such events may be recorded by MHPN
  • complete a contact form, register for a network, join a subscriber list on our website/s
  • complete an attendance sheet when you attend a network meeting
  • provide your personal details to us over the telephone or via email or letter
  • are engaged as a webinar facilitator, webinar panellist or network coordinator
  • order products or materials from us
  • provide payment details for attendance, facilitation or reimbursement of approved expenses
  • engage with us on social media, including leaving posts on Facebook and Twitter
  • apply for a job with us
  • supply goods or services to us
  • make an inquiry about our services.

When you request to be placed on a mailing list or make an inquiry about our services, we collect your contact details so that we can provide you with the service or information you need.

When you apply for a job with us, we collect information included in your job application, including your contact details and information about your qualifications and experience to enable us to contact you and assist us in making decisions about recruitment. We may also collect information from third parties in ways which you would expect (for example, from recruitment agencies or referees you have nominated).

If you wish to purchase services or goods from us, we will collect personal and financial information so that we can collect any necessary payment from you, or make a payment to you.

We also collect, use and disclose that information for the purpose of:

  • maintaining our network and distribution list records
  • providing services, including facilitating interdisciplinary network meetings and webinars
  • conducting surveys about our webinars and networks
  • marketing our services to you
  • resolving disputes and responding to queries.

We will not collect personal information about you unless that information is reasonably necessary for one or more of our functions or activities.

We are generally exempt from the Privacy Act when we collect and handle employee records and this Privacy Policy does not apply to that information. Where health privacy legislation applies in a State or Territory we are required to protect the privacy of health information and this Privacy Policy will apply in those circumstances.

Information provided by third parties

We will collect information directly from you where it is reasonable and practicable to do so.
We do not collect any personal information from our project partners or key stakeholders about their members. However, we may sometimes collect personal information from our staff or other third parties about potential suppliers or service users. If we do this, we will take steps which are reasonable in the circumstances to inform you that we have collected your personal information in this way, our purpose in doing so and how we manage and protect this information.

Sensitive information

Sensitive information is personal information and includes health information or information about race, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and other matters.

We do not collect sensitive information other than health information relating to an employee, volunteer or contractor where that information relates to an injury or disability relevant to the performance of your role or sustained in the course of MHPN’s activities.

Sensitive information is only used for the primary purpose for which it was collected.

Using and disclosing your personal information

MHPN will use or disclose your personal information for the primary purpose for which it was collected by MHPN. For example, if you provide us with your contact details to request information from us, we will use those details to supply the information.

We may also use or disclose your personal information for a secondary purpose where:

  • you have consented; or
  • the secondary purpose is related to the primary purpose and you would reasonably expect us to use or disclose the information in such a way; or
  • the use or disclosure is required or authorised by law, including under privacy legislation.

As noted above, we also use and disclose personal information for the purpose of:

  • maintaining our network and distribution list records
  • providing services, including facilitating interdisciplinary network meetings and webinars
  • conducting surveys about our webinars and networks
  • marketing our services to you; and
  • resolving disputes and responding to queries.

As part of carrying out our functions, MHPN may at times disclose your personal information to organisations external to MHPN.

These organisations include:

  • outsourced service providers who assist us in the delivery of some of the services you receive (such as when you register for a webinar or RSVP to a network meeting)
  • our professional advisers, including auditors; and
  • government authorities, as required or authorised by law.

Information is disclosed to external organisations when required by law, or otherwise on a limited based. If your personal information is being disclosed outside MHPN in this way, we will make reasonable efforts to let you know.

Other entities to whom information is disclosed must agree not to use the personal information for any other purpose than the purpose for which it is being provided.

If you attend an online interdisciplinary network meeting, your image, user name, and any information you share during the meeting will be disclosed to other participants and the meeting coordinator. In general, MHPN does not record online interdisciplinary network meetings. However it is acknowledged that there may be exceptions to this policy, and networking meetings may be recorded on a case-by-case basis as approved by the Networks Program Manager, in order for MHPN to distribute to other members of the network. Recorded meetings may be distributed to others within your network, so that persons who are not able to attend the event are able to view the discussion. However, network meetings are not uploaded to MHPN’s website or distributed outside the network. By choosing to attend an online interdisciplinary network meeting, you consent to your information and image being recorded and shared in this way.

Security of Your Personal Information

MHPN is committed to ensuring that personal information that it holds is stored securely. This section sets out how we protect your personal information from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Information collected electronically by MHPN is stored on cloud-based Microsoft Azure servers located in Australia.

All online events, including webinars and networking events, are conducted using secure videoconferencing or streaming platforms.

In approved instances some network meeting attendance RSVPs are stored off site using the Google application, Google drive, which may be stored overseas. Data collected via this medium is removed within 60 days of last use.

Your personal information may also be held temporarily on a third party web server when you first submit that information to us online, or when we provide that information to a third party in connection with providing services or information to you.

MHPN works with established and reputable information technology contractors to maintain its IT systems and manage the security of its systems. Electronic system backups occur regularly and that data is also stored locally in Australia.

Hard copy and archived data is stored securely at MHPN’s premises. MHPN uses secure document destruction providers for document disposal. MHPN monitors the services provided by its contractors to ensure systems remain secure and current.

Destruction and de-identification of personal information

MHPN periodically reviews the personal information that it holds. If we identify that we hold personal information about you that we no longer require for any purpose, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify that personal information (unless we are required by law to retain it).

Your ability to obtain access and to correct your personal information

You can help us to keep the personal information that we hold about you accurate, complete and up-to-date by letting us know about any changes to your personal information, such as your name and postal and email address.

You are entitled to access your personal information held by MHPN upon request, subject to some exceptions permitted by law. If you would like to access the personal information we hold about you, please contact our Privacy Officer (contact details below). Your request will need to be put in writing for security and recording purposes and to help us to find the information you are looking for.

You are also entitled to request a correction of your personal information that we hold. We will respond to your request within a reasonable period after your request for access or a correction is made. We will take reasonable steps to correct that information to ensure that it is accurate, up-to-date, complete, relevant and is not misleading.

In the event that copies of individual documents are requested and MHPN agrees to meet that request, the fee for provision of documents via post or email is $1.00 per page, payable prior to delivery.

We reserve our right to refuse your request for access or correction where we are legally entitled to do so. We will give you our reasons for refusal. Access may be denied, for example, where release of information may have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others or if we reasonably consider the request is frivolous or vexatious.

Complaint process

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or the way your personal information has been handled, or you wish to make a complaint about how we have collected or managed your personal information, you can contact our Privacy Officer (contact details below).

The Privacy Officer will consider your enquiry or complaint to determine if there are simple or immediate steps that can be taken to resolve the complaint. We will generally respond to your enquiry or complaint within a week.

If your complaint requires more detailed consideration or investigation, we will notify you of this and undertake an investigation into the complaint. We may ask you to provide further information about your complaint. We will endeavour to investigate and respond to your complaint within 30 days of receipt, subject to the complexity of the matter.

If you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint, you can make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), which can be contacted by telephone on 1300 363 992 or by using the contact details on the OAIC’s website at: http://www.oaic.gov.au

Identifiers

MHPN only use internally issued identifiers to identify you for our purposes. We do not use for our purposes a government identity number, such as a tax file number.

Anonymity

We will provide you with the opportunity of remaining anonymous or using a pseudonym in your dealings with us wherever this is lawful and practicable. For example, individuals have the option of not identifying themselves when contacting us to make a general enquiry. However, given the purpose and activities of MHPN, it is not practicable for services (other than basic information provision) to be provided or for us to deal with you on an ongoing basis if we do not collect personal information about you.

Links

We are not responsible for the privacy practices, privacy statements or other content on websites outside of the MHPN website. If you link to another website from the MHPN website we encourage you to read the privacy statements of those websites.

Use of Cookies

Most websites use “cookies” and most web browsers automatically accept cookies. You can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to disable cookies, you may not be able to access all features of the MHPN website.

A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disc by a web page server. One of the primary purposes of cookies is to save you time. The cookie notifies the web server that you have returned to a specific page. When you return to the same page of the website, the information you previously provided can be retrieved and used by you. If you tick a box asking to remember your password, you are probably activating a cookie.

DoubleClick cookies are used by advertising providers to track your preferences. MHPN does not include advertising on its website so DoubleClick cookies are not used.

Changes to This Policy

We will occasionally update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in the law, policies of our organisation and feedback from stakeholders and customers. We encourage you to periodically review these terms to stay informed as to how we are protecting your information.

How to Contact MHPN

If you have any questions in relation to the privacy of your personal information, please contact MHPN via:

MHPN Privacy Officer
Address: PO Box 203, Flinders Lane VIC 8009
Email: contactus@mhpn.org.au
Phone: 03 7065 1560 or 1800 209 031

 

Version date: September 2021
© Mental Health Professionals Network 2023
ABN 67 131 543 229

The Mental Health Professionals’ Network (MHPN) respectfully acknowledges the Wurundjeri and the Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin nation, the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land on which our office is situated. We also acknowledge Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and pay our respects to their Elders past and present.