Privacy Policy for Advanced Aesthetics Cosmetic and Laser Clinic

Effective Date: 19 May 2025

At Advanced Aesthetics Cosmetic and Laser Clinic, under the care of Dr. Gahankari, we are committed to ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of your personal and health information. This Privacy Policy outlines how we manage your information in compliance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (‘the Privacy Act’). We respect your privacy and are dedicated to safeguarding your personal and health information.

 

1. What Kinds of Personal Information Do We Collect?
As a medical practice, we collect a range of personal information necessary to provide quality healthcare services. The types of information we collect may include

  • Personal Identification Information:
    Your name, address, date of birth, contact details, email address.
  • Health Information:
    Your medical history, diagnosis, treatment plans, test results, prescriptions, and other health-related information. This also includes:

    • Notes of your symptoms or diagnosis and the treatments administered.
    • Your medical history and specialist reports.
    • Your appointment details and billing information.
    • Prescriptions and pharmaceutical purchases.
    • Your healthcare identifier.
    • Information from other health providers involved in your care (e.g., specialists, hospitals).
    • Your Body Mass Index (BMI) for safe surgery guidelines.
    • Psychological screening information (if required by Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Regulations).
  • Identifiers:
    Medicare number, DVA number, and other government identifiers (we will not use these for identifying you in our practice).

 

2. How Do We Collect and Hold Personal Information?
We collect your personal information primarily in the following ways:

  • Directly from you, such as when you provide your details during a consultation, via registration forms, telephone, or online forms.
  • From a person responsible for you (e.g., a legal guardian or carer).
  • From third parties, as permitted by the Privacy Act, such as diagnostic centres, specialists, hospitals, health insurers, the My Health Record system, and Medicare.

We take all reasonable steps to securely store and protect your personal information, including physical, electronic, and managerial safeguards.

Security Measures:

  • Our staff are trained to respect and protect your privacy, and they have signed confidentiality agreements.
  • We employ robust security measures, such as multi-factor authentication and strong password systems, to protect your data.

 

3. Why Do We Collect, Hold, Use, and Disclose Personal Information?

We collect and use your personal information for the following purposes:

  • To provide you with healthcare services and treatments.
  • To communicate with you regarding your care, including follow-ups, health updates, and newsletters (You may opt out of newsletters at any time).
  • To comply with legal obligations, such as mandatory reporting or health-related regulatory requirements.
  • For administrative purposes, including billing, managing health fund claims, and maintaining our IT systems.
  • For consultations with other healthcare providers involved in your care.
  • To facilitate your participation in My Health Record and electronic prescription services.
  • To liaise with government and regulatory bodies, including Medicare and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), if necessary.

 

4. How Can You Access and Correct Your Personal Information?

You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information held by us. To access your records, please contact us. There may be a fee for this service.

We aim to respond to your requests for access or corrections within 7 days.

 

5. How Do We Hold Your Personal Information?

We store your personal information securely using a medical record management system. For security reasons, the name of our system is not listed here. All physical documentation is scanned and securely uploaded into our system before being destroyed via secure shredding.

Email Communication:
While we take precautions, we cannot guarantee the security of emails. Email content could be infected or intercepted, and recipients should ensure they check emails for any threats. We do not accept liability for any damage caused by email communication. Please note that emails sent to us are confidential and intended for the recipient only.

 

6. Privacy-Related Questions and Complaints

If you have any concerns or complaints regarding privacy or the handling of your personal information, you may contact us in writing at Advanced Aesthetics Pindara Specialist Suites, Level 3, Suite 305 29 Carrara St, Benowa, Gold Coast, QLD 4217. We will respond to your complaint within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC):

  • Phone: 1300 363 992
  • Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
  • Fax: +61 2 9284 9666
  • Post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001

 

7. Anonymity and Pseudonyms

Under the Privacy Act, individuals may choose to remain anonymous or use a pseudonym when dealing with our practice, except where it is impractical (e.g., for medical services). Please note that providing pseudonymous information may impact the ability to receive medical care.

 

8. Overseas Disclosure

We may disclose information to analytics providers (e.g., website traffic data, cookie data) that store information across multiple countries. Additionally, communication through social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram may result in your information being stored overseas, as these providers have international operations.

 

9. Website and Social Media

Website Analytics and Cookies:
We use third-party services, such as Google Analytics, to monitor website traffic and improve user experience. This may involve collecting the following data:

  • IP address
  • Device type and browser
  • Pages visited, geographic location, and search terms
  • Date and time of access

Cookies are used to enhance the website’s functionality and for record-keeping purposes. You can disable cookies through your browser settings. However, disabling cookies may affect the performance of some parts of the website.

For more information on how to manage cookies, refer to the guidelines for your browser:

  • Google Chrome
  • Internet Explorer
  • Firefox
  • Safari

 

10. Updates to this Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in laws, technology, or our operations. Any changes will be posted on our website.