Our Approach to Your Privacy

The provision of quality health care is our principal concern.  It requires a doctor-patient relationship of trust and confidentiality.  The treatment of infertility involves a multi-disciplinary team of doctors, nurses, scientists and counsellors working towards the desired outcome.  All require some degree of access to your personal information which they regard as confidential and only collected with your consent.

Your personal information is handled in accordance with our privacy policy and in compliance with privacy legislation.  You are entitled to know what personal information is held about you, how you may access it, why it is held, how it is used, to whom it may be disclosed and when consent is required for this purpose.

Every effort will be made to discuss these matters with you at the time that the information is collected and this pamphlet is designed to summarise the policy to enable you to fully understand it.

Collection, Use & Disclosure of Your Information

Information about your medical and family health history is needed to provide the most accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment.  Most of the information will be collected directly from you.  Should we receive information about you from others we will endeavour to inform you that we have received this information.

A quality assisted reproduction program requires appropriate knowledge of your health information by all members of the team.  Some information is also provided to Medicare and private health funds, if relevant, for billing and rebate purposes.  Our accrediting body, the Reproductive Technology Accreditation Committee (RTAC) also has access to your records to validate the appropriateness of your treatment.  Members of RTAC sign a confidentiality agreement with QFG.

As a condition of its accreditation QFG is obliged to release de-identified details of your treatment to the Australian & New Zealand Assisted 
Reproduction Database, and this information may be further supplied to other government and statutory bodies.

The diagnosis and treatment of infertility involves two partners.  It is our policy to disclose all information to both partners.

There are circumstances where your doctor is legally bound to disclose personal information.  Examples include the mandatory reporting of communicable diseases and the provision of details of your treatments (without your name) to the national infertility statistics database.

Your Access to the Information

You have a right to access your information.  You may view it or ask for a full or partial copy of it.  In rare circumstances access may be denied in which case you would be given a reason and have a right of appeal.  Depending on the nature of the access a charge may be payable where the clinic incurs costs in providing access.

If you find that the information held on you is not accurate or complete it is your right to have the information amended accordingly.

Upon your request, health information held about you by the Queensland Fertility Group will be made to another health service provider.

Complaints

It is important to us that your expectations about the way that we handle your information are the same as ours.  Please do not hesitate to discuss any issues related to the privacy of your information with your doctor or any member of the Queensland Fertility Group

If you are still dissatisfied you may complain to the Federal Privacy Commissioner:

Level 8, Piccadilly Tower
133 Castlereagh Street
Sydney  NSW  2000
GPO Box 5218
Sydney  NSW  1042
Privacy Hotline:  1300 363 992
Website: www.privacy.gov.au