Privacy Policy

This policy details how we manage your personal information that we hold in accordance with our obligations under the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 (as amended from time to time) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) which forms a part of that Act.  

The type of Personal Information we may collect includes (but is not limited to): client demographics and identifiers such as name, address, date of birth, telephone numbers, email addresses, gender, Pensioner number, Department of Veterans’ Affairs number, and payment details.  

Why we collect your Personal Information

Our business is to understand and meet our client’s hearing needs and deliver a range of hearing and related services. To do this effectively we need to collect certain Personal Information about you.

HSM collects Personal Information about you for the primary purpose of providing you with hearing and related services and other purposes such as marketing, conducting market research and undertaking research into hearing assessment, loss and rehabilitation. 

If you choose not to provide your Personal Information to us for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, we may not be able to meet your hearing service needs.  

When and how we collect Personal Information

We collect your Personal Information to allow us to understand and assist us to best meet your hearing needs and deliver a range of hearing and related services.

We may collect your Personal Information when you: 
•    attend hearing assessment
•    complete application or other forms;
•    register for our products or services; 
•    provide feedback;
•    submit an online form on our websites or email us from our websites; or 
•    contact us by telephone, SMS, email, post or in person.

We may also collect Personal Information about you from third parties (such as your medical provider). However before doing so we will seek your consent unless authorised or required to collect the information under an Australian law.

We may also collect Personal Information about you from other third parties (eg. family members or legal guardians). However we will only collect your Personal Information in this way if it is unreasonable or impractical to collect this information directly from you or if we are otherwise permitted to do so by you, or by law.

We are committed to continuous improvement and may ask for other information voluntarily from time to time (eg. through customer satisfaction surveys, market research or special offers) to enable us to improve our services and consider the wider needs of our clients or potential clients.

How we use your Personal Information

We may use the Personal Information we collect about you for the primary purpose and related purposes including:
•    verifying your identity;
•    assessing your eligibility for the Australian Government Hearing Services Program (through the Department of Health);
•    applying to the Department of Health for a hearing services voucher on your behalf and managing your Personal Information on their online system;
•    contacting your health practitioner to arrange a referral appointment for a hearing assessment or other related service;
•    ordering and administration of products from third party suppliers;
•    complaints management and co-ordination of feedback; and 

Disclosing Your Personal Information to Other Parties

We will not disclose your Personal Information without your permission, unless the disclosure is:
•    in accordance with this Privacy Policy

•    required or authorised by law; or
•    otherwise permitted by the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

•    suppliers to HA (e.g. manufacturers of hearing aids, ear moulds, Cochlear implants or other related products);
•     the Department of Health for assessing your eligibility, processing your voucher application or for audit purposes;
•    relevant officers of the Commonwealth, State or Territory Governments (such as Services Australia and the Departments of, Health, Veterans’ Affairs, Defence, Education, Employment, or Medicare) 

HSM takes all due care but does not accept responsibility for use or disclosure of your Personal Information in circumstances beyond our control. 

Marketing

We do NOT pass on your informaton to third partiey adversers. 

We may use your Personal Information to send you information about us or our products and services or products which we think may be of interest to you but only with your consent.

If you consent, we may send such information by means of mail, email, SMS and MMS messages.  If you consent however you no longer wish to receive marketing or promotional material from us, you can ‘opt out’ or ‘unsubscribe’ at any time.

Management of your Personal Information

We take all reasonable steps to ensure that the Personal Information we hold is accurate, complete, relevant and up to date. 

We train our employees who handle Personal Information to respect the confidentiality and privacy of your information.

How we hold and secure Your Personal Information

We aim to keep your Personal Information secure. Safeguarding the privacy, security and integrity of your Personal Information is important to us. 

We hold your Personal Information in electronic form.   We take reasonable steps to protect the Personal Information we hold from misuse, interference, loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Any Personal Information that we collect from our website or which we hold on our computer systems is stored in secure data storage facilities onshore in Australia and protected in accordance with Australian Government standards on the classification, protection and management of data.

We will need to retain records for a significant period of time in order to comply with our legal obligations under the National Archives of Australia – Department of Health and Ageing – Records Authority 2011/00396196. 

How to Access, Update and Correct your Personal Information  

You are entitled to access Personal Information that we hold about you.  Before we can consider an access request you will need to complete an application form verifying your identity and specifying what information you require. A request for access can be made free of charge by contacting us as set out below.  On receipt of your written request, we will respond within 30 days.

If you feel that your privacy has not been respected or that we have conducted ourselves inconsistently with this Privacy Policy, or for any other queries in relation to this Privacy Policy, please contact us by either:
•    phoning us  +61399643900 during normal business hours;
•    writing to The Director, Hearing Support Melboure, G/ 71 Kooyong Road, Caulfield North 3161

•    emailing us at [email protected] 

If you have a complaint we will investigate your complaint and notify you of the outcome of our investigation within a reasonable time. We will let you know if we can resolve the matter quickly or whether we need more time to investigate and resolve your complaint. 

How to make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

If you are not satisfied with our response you can contact the Privacy Commissioner who is part of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. 

This Policy will be reviewed from time to time to take into account new laws and technologies, changes to our operations and business environment. The most current version of this Policy can be accessed from www.hearing.com.au or can be provided to you on request. 

We encourage you to check this page from time to time for any changes, additions or deletions which may be undertaken by us at our discretion.  Your continued use of our website, and this Policy at any time is an indication of your acceptance of any changes, additions or deletions.  

This Policy was last updated on 21 August 2020

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