Privacy Statement
POLICY ON MANAGEMENT OF PERSONAL & HEALTH INFORMATION
Victorian
Cytology Service (VCS) has been contracted by the Commonwealth to
establish and manage the National HPV Vaccination Program Register (HPV
Register) on the Commonwealth’s behalf. The Register is required to be
established under legislation passed in 2007.
The
HPV Register is a confidential database that collects information
(including sensitive personal and health information) about HPV
vaccinations given in Australia.
The
management and staff of VCS appreciate that sensitive personal and
health information is held by the organisation. The organisation has
strict confidentiality and privacy practices in place and all staff are
required to abide by these. Any third party who may potentially have
access to the Register will be required to sign a confidentiality
statement.
All personal information is
managed from the premises of VCS or its authorised subcontractors. In
accordance with prudent business practice, backup tapes of the
information system on which the HPV Register is located are stored in a
secure facility off-site. Where any services associated with the HPV
Register are subcontracted and the subcontractor may have access to
personal information, VCS will ensure that the subcontractor is
required to abide by strict privacy requirements in relation to that
information.
How personal information is collected?
Personal
information held on the HPV Register is collected by VCS from the
doctor or nurse who provided the vaccination (Immunisation Provider),
unless a woman elects not to have her immunisation details recorded on
the Register (see Opt-off process below). Information about
HPV vaccinations given in schools will be provided by state and
territory governments for inclusion on the Register
What personal information is held?
VCS
will only collect and hold personal information about an individual
which is relevant or related to the performance of its role in
maintaining the HPV Register.
The personal
information held on the Register may include the name, date of birth,
current addresses, contact telephone number, and Medicare Number of a
person receiving a vaccination as well as the name, address and
Medicare Provider Number of the health care practitioner who
administered the vaccination, and the venue where the vaccination
occurred.
In the case of children*, the name of a parent or guardian may also be recorded.
A person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background may elect to have her indigenous status recorded on the Register.
The
HPV Vaccination history is the only health information recorded on the
Register. This information may include details about when and where the
HPV vaccine was administered and what HPV vaccine was administered.
* A child, for the purposes of the HPV Register is:
<14 yrs in NSW
<16 yrs in SA and NT
<18 yrs in other States and territories
How personal information is used?
The personal and health information held about a person vaccinated on the HPV Register is used for the following purposes:
- Providing
an Immunisation Completion Statement when the course of vaccinations is
completed. This is provided to the person who was vaccinated unless
they have elected to Opt-out of correspondence (see Opt-out process below).
- Providing
a person’s HPV Immunisation History Statement. This is provided to
individuals vaccinated through the schools program, unless they have
elected to Opt-out of correspondence (see Opt-out process below).
- Providing
a vaccination Reminder Letter to individuals participating in the
schools program when a vaccine dose is overdue, unless they have
elected to Opt-out of correspondence (see Opt-out process below).
- Providing Overdue Dose Reports and Exception Dose Reports to school and community-based immunisation providers.
- Providing
access either by telephone or online (where access is granted) to
Medical Practitioners and other immunisation providers to an
individual’s Immunisation Record
- Providing information to Pap Test and Cervical Cancer Screening Registers operated by the States and Territories.
- Information
from the Register may be provided to researchers for ethically-approved
health research. This will usually involve de-identified information,
i.e. summary statistics that do not identify a person.
To whom is information disclosed?
Personal information about an individual may be disclosed to the following parties:
- An individual’s Immunisation Provider.
- An individual’s Medical Practitioner with her consent.
- A representative of the individual (e.g. an authorised representative or lawyer), with her written consent.
- In the case of children*, to the parent or guardian of the child as recorded on the HPV Register
- The Department of Health & Ageing upon written request of the Secretary
- Pap Test and Cervical Cancer Screening Registers operated by States and Territories.
Opting-Off the Register
An individual, or in the case of a child*, her parent/guardian, may elect not to have her personal and immunisation details recorded on the Register. This is referred to as Opting-off the Register.
To
opt-off the Register you should indicate to your Immunisation Provider
that your personal details are not to be forwarded to VCS for inclusion
on the Register.
If you wish to have your personal
information removed from the Register, you should make a request in
writing to the Register’s Medical Director. A form is available for
this purpose (Register contact details below).
Opting-Out of correspondence
A person, or in the case of a child*, her parent/guardian, may elect not to receive any correspondence, such as completion statements or reminder letters, from the Register. This is referred to as Opting-outof
correspondence. When a person opts-out of correspondence, personal
details and vaccination history are still recorded on the Register and
the usual correspondence to Immunisation Providers and Medical
Practitioners will still occur. However, the person will not receive
any of the correspondence described above.
To opt-out of
correspondence, you need to advise us by telephone or by completing the
relevant form (Register contact details below).
HOW A WOMAN OBTAINS ACCESS TO HER OWN PERSONAL INFORMATION
The Register will provide a person with access to her own personal and health information at no cost.
The following section describes how a person should proceed.
- A
request for access to personal information may be in writing or by
telephone (subject to rules around release of personal information), a
form is available for this purpose (contact details below).
- The person should provide sufficient identification so that the authenticity of the request can be assessed by Registry staff.
The Register will endeavour to respond to any request for access within 10 working days of receipt of the request.
HOW TO MAKE A COMPLAINT REGARDING YOUR PRIVACY?
If
you wish to make a complaint about the Register’s activities with
regard to your privacy then this should be done in writing to the
Register, or to the Privacy Commissioner.
Contact details for the Register are:
The Federal Privacy Commissioner can be contacted at: