Privacy & Confidentiality Policy & Procedures

Source of Obligation

Aged Care Quality Standard 1(3)(f) requires aged care providers to ensure that each client’s privacy is respected, and personal information is kept confidential.

Luxe Care is required to comply with the 13 Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) incorporated in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

The APPs set out the standards, rights and obligations we hold in relation to collecting, storing, accessing and correcting personal information.

In Victoria, the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) also applies to organisations which collect, hold, use or disclose a person's health information. Health privacy principles are outlined in Schedule 1 of the Act.

Luxe Care is required to comply both with the Health Records Act for information it holds on health matters, and the Privacy Act for other personal information (including sensitive information and health information).

Complaints about health information are handled by the Victorian Health Care ComplaintsCommissioner.

Key Definitions

Personal Information
Personal information is information or an opinion about an individual fromwhich they can be reasonably identified. Depending on the circumstances, we may collect personal information from the individual in their capacity as a client,contractor, volunteer, stakeholder, job applicant, visitors or others that comeinto contact with the Company.

Personal information also includes:

Sensitive Information including government identifiers (such as TFN), nationality, country of birth, professional memberships and criminal records.

Health Information (particularly in relation to prospective workers andclient records) including medical records,disabilities, psychologicalreports, vaccination evidence.

Our Policy

A key aspect of dignity and respect is making sure a client’s privacy is respected. In the course of Luxe Care's activities we respect, manage and protect personal information in accordance with the Aged Care Quality Standards, the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the 13 Australian Privacy Principles(APPs).

It is our policy that:

the communication, behaviour and interactions of our workforce and others does not compromise clients’ privacy and ensures that confidentiality and respect for privacy and dignity is upheld

clients’ preferences for personal privacy are gathered at the time of engagement and entry to the service and recorded in Care Plans

clients are supported by our workforce to communicate their preferences for how they want their privacy maintained including their information, their living space and how they are treated or cared for

personal and confidential information about clients is only shared with others when there is a legitimate and lawful reason to do so
Clients’ personal space and privacy is respected including within their home and for others living in orvisiting the home

clients are supported in providing feedback or making a complaint if their personal privacy has not been respected or upheld in accordance with their preferences

Our workforce is trained on principles and procedures for respecting clients’ personal privacy and preferences at induction, and through ongoing learning.

In the course of providing aged care services we may collect and hold:

Personal Information including names, addresses and other contact details, dates of birth, next of kindetails,
photographic images and financial information.

Sensitive Information (particularly in relation to client records) including government identifiers (such as TFN), religious beliefs, nationality, country of birth, professional memberships, powers of attorney, guardianship orders and criminal records. Health Information (particularly in relation to client records) including medical records, disabilities,
and psychological reports.

As part of our recruitment processes for employees, contractors and volunteers, we may collect and hold:

Personal Information including names, addresses and other contact details, dates of birth, financial information, citizenship, employment references, regulatory accreditation and driver’s licence information.

Sensitive Information including government identifiers (such as TFN), nationality, country of birth,professional
memberships and criminal records.

Health Information (particularly in relation to prospective workers and client records) including medical records, disabilities, psychological reports, vaccination evidence.

Generally, we will seek consent from the individual in writing before we collect their sensitive information(including health information).

It is noted that, once they have been collected from employees, employee records are exempt from the APPs where they relate to current or former employment relations between the Company and theemployee. The collection of the information from employees, however, is now considered to be not exempt from the application of the APPs. When requesting personal information from employees, Luxe Care will comply with APP5 (Notification of the collection of personal information).

However, a current or former employee’s health records are covered by the Victorian Health Privacy Principles.

Responsibilities

Luxe Care is responsible for ensuring that care and services that are provided are in keeping with clients’ individual views of dignity and respect. Workers are responsible for ensuring:

all clients who require support in showering, dressing and grooming are being assisted and having these services provided according to their likes and preferences, wherever possible clients are supported to maintain their continence with dignity and in respect of their personal privacy, for example through toileting programs and prompt assistance to attend the toilet

care procedures are undertaken in private areas that support the individual’s dignity.

The CEO

We have appointed a CEO that is responsible for:

promoting a culture where each client’s privacy is respected, and the personal information of individualsis protected in accordance with our obligations under the Aged Care Quality Standards and thePrivacy Act 1988 (Cth)integrating privacy obligations into existing practices and procedures and policy documents providing or organising ongoing training support for managers to ensure that all relevant

persons receive privacy training

managing privacy queries, feedback and complaints liaising with regulators (where necessary) monitoring privacy compliance performance

analysing performance to identify the need for corrective action

ensuring privacy issues are factored into contracts with external suppliers ensuring our Privacy Policy is reviewed on a regular basis ensuring personal information audits are conducting on a regular basis.

Luxe Care can be contacted about this Privacy Policy or about personal information generally, by: 1300 848 365

All members of the workforce must ensure that:

they knock prior to entering the client’s personal environment or premises

if a client’s personal environment is open, they announce themselves and check to ensure that the clientis happy for the worker to enter, where this is not possible (for example for clients living withdementia) they announce themselves, greet the client and explain the purpose of their visit

they check the client’s preference for having doors and curtains opened or closed when leaving the space

client files are stored securely and away from public access electronic information is password protected and individual for each user.

Procedures

Collection of Personal Information

The collection of personal information depends on the circumstances in which Luxe Care is collecting it. Ifit is reasonable and practical to do so, we collect personal information directly from the individual.

Solicited Information

Luxe Care has, where possible, attempted to standardise the collection of personal information byusing specifically designed forms (e.g. a Health Information Disclosure Form). However, given thenature of our operations we also receive personal information by email, letters, notes, via our website, over the telephone, in face-to-face meetings, through financial transactions and through surveillanceactivities such as the use of CCTV security cameras or email monitoring.

We may also collect personal information from other people (e.g. a third-party administrator, referees for prospective employees) or independent sources. However, we will only do so where it is not reasonable and practical to collect the personal information from the individual directly.

Unsolicited Information

Luxe Care may be provided with personal information without seeking it through our normalmeans of collection.This is known as “unsolicited information” and is often collected by:

misdirected postal mail – letters, notes, documents misdirected electronic mail – emails, electronic messages

employment applications sent to us that are not in response to an advertised vacancy additionalinformation provided to us which was not requested.

Unsolicited information obtained by Luxe Care will only be held, used and or disclosed if it is considered as personal information that could have been collected by normal means. If that unsolicited information could not have been collected by normal means then we will destroy, permanently delete or de-identify the personal information as appropriate.

Collection and Use of Sensitive Information

We only collect sensitive information if it is:

reasonably necessary for one or more of these functions or activities, and we have the individual’sconsent

necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to life, health or safety another permitted general situation another permitted health situation.

How Do We Use Personal Information?

Luxe Care only uses personal information that is reasonably necessary for one or more of our functions or activities (the primary purpose), a related secondary purpose that would be reasonably expected byyou, or for an activityor purpose to which a person has consented.

Primary uses of personal information include, but are not limited to:

providing aged care services

satisfying our legal obligations including our duty of care obligations

keeping clients, their carers/representatives and communities informed about relevant matters throughcorrespondence, newsletters and magazines

marketing, promotional and fundraising activities supporting the activities of the Board of Directors

supporting community-based causes and activities, charities and other causes in connectionwith the Company’s functions or activities

helping us to improve our day-to-day operations including training our workers

systems development, developing new programs and services, undertaking planning, research and statistical analysis administration, including for insurance purposes the employment of staff

the engagement of contractors and volunteers.

Luxe Care only uses or discloses sensitive or health information for a secondary purpose if a person wouldreasonably expect us to use or disclose the information, and the secondary purpose is directly related tothe primary purpose.

Luxe Care may disclose personal information to related bodies corporate, but only if necessary, for the Company to provide our services.

Luxe Care will not disclose information about an individual to overseas recipients (for example, to facilitateoverseas travel) unless it is necessary and with their consent.

Storage and Security of Personal Information

Luxe Care stores Personal Information in a variety of formats including, but not limited to

databases

hard copy files

personal devices, including laptop computers

third party storage providers such as cloud storage facilities paper based files.

Luxe Care takes all reasonable steps to protect the personal information we hold from misuse, loss,unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

These steps include, but are not limited to:

Our public website may contain links to other third-party websites outside of Luxe Care. Luxe Care is not responsible for the information stored, accessed, used or disclosed on such websites and we cannot comment on their privacy policies.

Responding to Data Breaches

Luxe Care will take appropriate, prompt action if we have reasonable grounds to believe that a databreach has, or is suspected to have, occurred. Depending on the type of data breach, this may include areview of our internal security procedures, taking remedial internal action, and notifying affectedindividuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

If we are unable to notify individuals, we will publish a statement on our website and take reasonable stepsto publicise the contents of this statement.

Disclosure of Personal Information

Personal information is used for the purposes for which it was given to Luxe Care, or for purposes which aredirectly related to one or more of our functions or activities.

Personal information may be disclosed to government agencies, other clients, other aged care providers, recipients of our publications, visitors, carers, advocates, our services providers, agents, contractors, business partners, related entities and other recipients from time to time, if the individual:

has given consent; or

would reasonably expect the personal information to be disclosed in that manner.

Luxe Care may disclose personal information without consent or in a manner which an individual wouldreasonably expect if:

we are required to do so by law

the disclosure will lessen or prevent a serious threat to the life, health or safety of an individual, or to public safety

another permitted general situation applies

disclosure is reasonably necessary for a law enforcement related activity another permitted health situation exists.

Disclosure of Personal Information to Overseas Recipients

Personal information about an individual may be disclosed to an overseas organisation in the course ofproviding our services. For example, when storing information with a “cloud service provider” which storesdata outside of Australia.

We will, however, take all reasonable steps not to disclose an individual’s personal information tooverseas recipients unless:

we have the individual’s express or implied consent;

we have satisfied ourselves that the overseas recipient is compliant with the APPs, or a similar privacy regime;

we form the opinion that the disclosure will lessen or prevent a serious threat to the life, health orsafety of an individual or to public safety; or

we are taking appropriate action in relation to suspected unlawful activity or serious misconduct.

Mental Capacity, Privacy and Consent

The Care Manager will ensure consent forms are completed on commencement and reviewed annually or updated as the client’s preferences change, to ensure that the privacy wishes of the client remain current.

Where a client lacks the capacity to consent to the use of their personal information, we will seek consentfrom their representative in accordance with Commonwealth, state and territory guardianship laws.

The Quality of Personal Information

We take all reasonable steps to ensure the personal information we hold, use and disclose is accurate, complete and up to date, including at the time of using or disclosing the information.

If Luxe Care becomes aware that the personal information is incorrect or out of date, we will take reasonablesteps to rectify the incorrect or out of date information.

Access and Correction of Personal Information

Anyone may submit a request to us to access personal information of theirs that we hold, or request thatwe change that personal information. Upon receiving such a request, we will take steps to verify youridentity before granting access or correcting the information.

If we reject the request, the person will be notified accordingly. Where appropriate, we will provide the reason/s for our decision. If the rejection relates to a request to change personal information, an individual may make a statement about the requested change, and we will attach this to their record.

Complaints

Anyone can make a complaint about how Luxe Care manages personal information, including a breach of the APPs, by notifying us in writing as soon as possible. We will respond to the complaint within a reasonable time (usually no longer than 30 days), and we may seek further information in order toprovide a full and complete response. Luxe Care does not charge a fee for the handling of complaints.

If a complainant is not satisfied with our response, they may refer the complaint to the OAIC. A complaint canbe made using the OAIC online Privacy Complaint form or by mail, fax or email.

A referral to OAIC should be a last resort once all other avenues of resolution have been exhausted.

Changes to Our Privacy and Information Handling Practices

This Policy is subject to change at any time. ThisPolicy was last reviewed: July 2024