Queensland Stoma Association Ltd (QSA) is a not-for-profit Company Limited by Guarantee concerned with the support of members who have had surgery resulting in a Colostomy, Ileostomy, Ileal Conduit, Urostomy or other external pouch.

QSA is committed to meeting the requirements of The Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (APP) and has developed this APP Privacy Policy to outline its ongoing obligations when collected and handling personal information.

What is Personal Information and why do we collect it?
Personal Information is information that identifies an individual. QSA is required by the Australian Government to collect personal information about you when you apply for participation in the Stoma Appliance Scheme. We may also collect personal information about you which is reasonably necessary to deliver support services to you. Examples of personal information collected by QSA may include your name, address, email address, phone number/s, Medicare card information, concession card information and other information related to your participation in the Stoma Appliance Scheme or the use of our services. Your personal information is obtained in many ways including via our membership application form and the Stoma Appliance Scheme registration form, by telephone, by facsimile, by email, via our website, through order placement, and via third parties. We do not use cookies on our website but cannot guarantee the policies of websites linked to our website or the policy of authorised third parties.

We collect personal information for the primary purposes of providing our services to you (including the issuing of ostomy products supported through the Stoma Appliance Scheme) and for delivering information and support to you. We may also use your personal information for secondary purposes closely related to the primary purpose in circumstances where you would reasonably expect such use or disclosure. We do not use your personal information for direct marketing.

You may unsubscribe from our mailing lists at any time by contacting QSA.

What is Sensitive Information?
Sensitive information is defined in the Privacy Act as information or opinion about such things as an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious or philosophical beliefs, membership of a trade union or other professional body, criminal record or health information. QSA is required by the Australian Government to collect sensitive information about you when you apply for participation in the Stoma Appliance Scheme. We may also collect personal information about you which is reasonably necessary to deliver support services to you. Examples of sensitive information that may be collected by QSA include information related to your stoma including your type of stoma and the reason for your stoma surgery.

Sensitive information will be collected and used by us only for the primary purpose for which it was obtained; for a secondary purpose that is directly related to the primary purpose; with your consent; or where we are required or authorised by law.

Third Parties
Where reasonable and practicable to do so, we will collect your personal information only from you. However, in some circumstances we may be provided with information by third parties such as a family member or medical professional. In such a case we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that you are made aware of the information provided to us by the third party.

Disclosure of Personal Information
QSA will not disclose your personal information except where you have provided your consent, where you would reasonably expect us to do so, or where we are required or authorized to disclose your personal information by law. Examples of when we may disclose your personal information include when:

  • a permitted health situation exists in relation to the use or disclosure of the information by QSA to your Stomal Therapy Nurse or Medical Professional; and
  • we are required to disclose your information for purposes related directly to your eligibility to receive stoma products funded by the Stoma Appliance Scheme. For example, we are required to disclose your personal information to the Services Australia when claiming reimbursement for the cost of products issued to you through the Stoma Appliance Scheme. We may also be required at times to disclose your personal information to another Australian stoma association authorized to distribute products through the Stoma Appliance Scheme.

QSA is unlikely to disclose your personal information to overseas recipients

Security of Personal Information
Your personal information is stored in a manner that reasonably protects it from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorized access, modification or unauthorized disclosure. We store your personal information in a number of ways, including in electronic databases stored within servers based in Australia, email contact lists, and in paper files held in a secure office.

When your personal information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, we will take all reasonable steps to destroy it or to permanently de-identify it. However, some personal information is required to be kept by law and will be stored in our files in a secure office and kept by us for a minimum of 7 years.

Access to your Personal Information
You have a right to access the personal information we hold about you and to update and/or correct it, subject to certain exceptions. If you wish to access your personal information, please make your request to us in writing.

In order to protect your personal information we will be required to obtain identification from you before releasing such information.

Maintaining the Quality of your Personal Information
It is an important part of providing our services to you that your personal information is up to date and we will take all reasonable steps to make sure that your personal information is accurate and complete. To assist with this process, it is important that you advise us at as soon as possible of changes to your personal information so that our records can be updated.

Non-identifiable Information
Non-identifiable information is information about people but the identity of the people is not known and their identity cannot be found out. De-identification involves removing or altering information that identifies an individual or is reasonably likely to enable their identification. Where information is non-identifiable, it is no longer personal information and can therefore be used or shared in ways that might not otherwise be permitted under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cwlth). The benefit of sharing non-identifiable information is that it can help to provide insight into health related trends which may help to inform health policy and to improve healthcare planning.

QSA may share non-identifiable information about the services we provide to you to third parties but only where the purpose of the disclosure is to assist the wellbeing of persons living with a stoma, where the requesting third party is a reputable organization, and where the use of the data is transparent and appropriate. Typically non-identifiable information may be amalgamated and used for research into ostomy related matters with details provided under such headings as age range, gender, geographical location and types of products used in the stoma management of those concerned. Non-identifiable information shared will be limited to only that data that has been deemed necessary to achieve the intended purpose. QSA will assess and manage re-identification risk prior to sharing non-identifiable information and will only share non-identifiable information using a secure file transfer process. QSA will always comply with relevant Privacy Laws and any other statutory requirements of State and Federal legislation.

More information about how and why we may share non-identifiable information can be found in the QSA Policy- QSA RP1 Participation in a Research Project.

Notification of a Data Breach
If we become aware of unauthorized access to or loss of your personal information, we will promptly:

(a) notify you;

(b) investigate the cause;

(c) do our best to remedy any consequences; and

(d) tell you what steps we have taken to prevent a reoccurrence

Complaints
If you have a complaint about how we collect or handle your Personal Information, please contact us by addressing your complaint to “The Secretary” and sending it to:

Queensland Stoma Association Ltd
PO Box 370
CHERMSIDE SOUTH QLD 4032

Email: [email protected]

We treat any claims of privacy breaches seriously and will do our best to respond to your complaint within seven days of receiving it. If you are unhappy with our response, you can refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner in Australia.