ACA Health Benefits Fund Limited ("The Fund") is a Commonwealth registered health benefits organisation. The Fund is committed to maintaining the privacy of individuals whose personal information it collects in accordance with the National Privacy Principles and the Privacy Act.
This document sets out The Fund's policies on the management of personal and sensitive information in accordance with the terms of National Privacy Principle ("NPP") number 5.1.
1. Why The Fund Collects Information
2. What Information is collected and how is it used?
3. "Sensitive" Information
4. Disclosure of Information
5. Access by Individuals to Information Collected
6. Security of Information
7. Other Matters
8. Contact Details
The Fund collects personal information about members not only when they join The Fund, but from time to time during their membership, and on leaving membership.
The personal information collected either by, or on behalf of The Fund, will only be used for the purposes of administering The Fund, including the determination of entitlement to benefits, the calculation and payment of those benefits and the collection of contributions together with related regulatory requirements such as member communication and reporting.
The Fund, and its delegates, will only use the personal information collected for the purposes outlined above. The Fund will not use information collected for any other purpose, unless the individual gives his or her consent.
A Member providing information about dependants will be responsible for making dependants aware that personal information has been provided for the purposes outlined above.
The Fund engages various services providers to assist in the tasks involved in managing the Fund. Those providers include:
The Fund undertakes to contact each provider and obtain:
In order to be able to administer The Fund, key personal information about members is collected and stored. Such information includes:
In particular, The Fund uses the information to provide all relevant administration services, which includes:
With respect to Health Insurance Commission ("HIC") matters, The Fund stores the Medicare number of the member for the purpose of making direct claims on the HIC on behalf of the member who has received in- hospital services under our ACCESS GAP COVER scheme as well as applying for the Federal Government 30% rebate on private health insurance.
Special rules apply to "sensitive" information which includes "health information".
For example, with respect to Pre-Existing Ailments/Conditions The Fund will need to collect a variety of information, which might include details as to members medical conditions (including medical reports), and the like. The information collected will be used to determine eligibility to benefits during the first 12 months of membership or at the time of an upgrade to a higher level of Cover. The Fund will provide members with further information in that regard when they are asked to provide health information.
The Fund will only disclose personal information where directly necessary to perform its services outlined above. The Fund will not otherwise disclose any personal information that has been collected unless:
The Fund undertakes to a member and the member's dependants not to disclose sensitive information without the consent of the member or the members' dependants (as relevant). For dependants age 16 and over consent will be necessary. For dependants under 16 discretion will be used by The Fund in determining if disclosure will be made to the member.
Individuals will have access to their own personal information collected by The Fund and are able to notify The Fund of any corrections which need to be made.The Fund will only grant access by an individual to personal information where the individual's identity has been confirmed by The Fund through appropriate identification procedures.
Personal information collected by The Fund may only be accessed by Fund employees, agents and delegates.
Given that The Fund outsources various functions, the security of the interface with those providers is critical, and The Fund has addressed this issue. Each service provider is responsible for taking reasonable precautions to protect the security of personal information it holds.
The Fund is bound by the NPPs. As a non-profit organisation certain exemptions under the Privacy Act may apply.
Questions about The Fund's privacy policy and practices may be directed to:
Jody Burgoyne
Privacy Officer
ACA Health Benefits Fund
Locked Bag 2014
WAHROONGA NSW 2076Phone: (direct) (02) 9847 3230 Fax: (02) 9847 3357
Email: jburgoyne@acahealth.com.au
Such questions may include:
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