Privacy Policy
Delatite Dental (mansfielddentist.com.au) Effective Date: September 19, 2025
Your privacy is important to us. Delatite Dental is committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) as set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). This policy outlines how we collect, use, disclose, and manage your personal and sensitive information.
1. What is Personal and Sensitive Information?
- Personal Information: Information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable. This may include your name, address, date of birth, and contact details.
- Sensitive Information: A subset of personal information that is more sensitive in nature and requires a higher level of protection. As a dental practice, we collect health information which is classified as sensitive information under the Privacy Act. This includes information about your physical and mental health, medical history, and treatment.
2. What Information Do We Collect?
We collect personal and sensitive information that is necessary to provide you with high-quality dental services and to operate our practice. The information we may collect includes:
- Your name, address, date of birth, email address, and phone number.
- Details of your dental and medical history, including past treatments, medications, allergies, and any medical conditions.
- Results of examinations, X-rays, and other diagnostic tests.
- Your Medicare number and private health insurance details.
- Information provided on our patient intake forms or during consultations.
- Financial information for payment and billing purposes (e.g., credit card details, HICAPS claims).
3. How Do We Collect Your Information?
We will primarily collect your personal information directly from you, for example:
- When you complete a patient registration or medical history form.
- During a consultation or treatment.
- When you book an appointment, whether in person, over the phone, or online.
- When you send us correspondence via email or mail.
In some cases, we may collect information from a third party with your consent or as permitted by law. This may include:
- Information from other healthcare providers, such as a specialist or your general practitioner.
- From a parent or legal guardian for a minor patient.
4. Why Do We Collect, Hold, Use, and Disclose Your Information?
The primary purpose for collecting, holding, using, and disclosing your personal and sensitive information is to provide you with comprehensive dental care. This includes:
- Managing your dental health and providing appropriate treatment.
- Communicating with you about your appointments, treatment plans, and general care.
- Administering our practice, including billing, processing health fund claims, and managing appointments.
- Disclosing your information to other healthcare providers or dental laboratories as required for your treatment (e.g., to a specialist or a lab to create a dental prosthetic).
- Handling patient inquiries and complaints.
- Complying with our legal obligations, such as record-keeping requirements under Australian law.
We will not use or disclose your personal information for any other purpose unless you have consented, or the use or disclosure is required or authorised by law.
5. Data Security and Storage
We take reasonable steps to protect your personal and sensitive information from misuse, loss, and unauthorized access, modification, or disclosure. This includes:
- Storing electronic records on secure, password-protected systems.
- Restricting access to your information to authorized staff members on a “need-to-know” basis.
- Keeping physical records in a secure environment.
- Implementing security measures such as data encryption and regular backups.
- Ensuring our staff are trained in our privacy and confidentiality procedures.
We retain patient records for the period required by law and securely destroy or de-identify them when they are no longer needed.
6. Website and Cookies
When you visit mansfielddentist.com.au, we may collect non-identifiable information about your website usage through the use of “cookies.” Cookies are small text files placed on your computer to help us analyse website traffic and improve our online services. This information is statistical and does not identify you personally.
We do not collect any personal information through cookies unless you voluntarily provide it to us (e.g., by filling out a contact form).
7. Accessing and Correcting Your Personal Information
You have the right to request access to the personal and sensitive information we hold about you. You also have the right to request a correction to your information if you believe it is inaccurate, incomplete, or out-of-date.
To request access or correction, please contact us in writing. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe and provide you with a written explanation if we are unable to grant your request. We may charge a reasonable fee to cover the administrative costs of providing access to your records.
It is important that the information we hold about you is accurate and current. Please inform us promptly of any changes to your personal details, such as your address or phone number, or any updates to your medical history.
8. Complaints
If you have a complaint about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us directly. We will investigate your complaint and respond to you as soon as possible.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
9. Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy policy or how we manage your personal information, please contact us at:
Delatite Dental Address: 48 High Street, Mansfield VIC 3722, Australia Phone: 03 5775 2277 Email: appointments@mansfielddentist.com.au
This privacy policy may be updated from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal obligations. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.