Privacy

This privacy policy applies to all the publicly accessible pages on the Ministry of Health site located at www.health.nsw.gov.au.

The NSW Ministry of Health website is maintained by the NSW Ministry of Health. The NSW Ministry of Health does not have any responsibility for the privacy policies or practices of third party sites linked to the NSW Ministry of Health site.

On this page

1. What information do we collect?
2. How do we use the information collected?
3. What exceptions are there to this rule?
4. Is the information stored securely?
5. What will we do with information provided in feedback?
6. Will this policy be updated over time?
7. Contact the NSW Ministry of Health

What information do we collect?

When you look at the pages on the NSW Ministry of Health site, our computers automatically record information that identifies, for each page accessed:

• the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the machine which has accessed it
• your top-level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .edu, .au, .uk etc.)
• the address of your server
• the date and time of your visit to the site
• the pages accessed and documents downloaded
• the previous site visited and
• the type of browser and operating system you have used.

Only sessional cookies are used from the NSW Ministry of Health site to collect information. This information is unable to be retained once the user session has ceased.

How do we use the information collected?

The information collected during each visit is aggregated with similar logged information and published in reports in order for the NSW Ministry of Health to identify patterns of usage of the site. This will assist us in improving the NSW Ministry of Health site and the services it offers.

The NSW Ministry of Health will not disclose or publish information that identifies individual machines, or potentially identifies sub-groupings of addresses, without consent.

Users of the NSW Ministry of Health site are entitled to expect that any information as a result of that use will be treated within the terms of the NSW government's privacy responsibilities and obligations. NSW Health is governed by the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1988

What exceptions are there to this rule?

The NSW Ministry of Health will collect, use and disclose more extensive information than stated above in the following circumstances:

• unauthorised attempts to access files which are not published NSW Ministry of Health pages
• unauthorised tampering or interference with files published on the NSW Ministry of Health site
• unauthorised attempts to index the contents of the NSW Ministry of Health site by other sites
• attempts to intercept messages of other users of the NSW Ministry of Health site
• communications which are defamatory, abusive, vilify individuals or groups or which give rise to a suspicion that an offence is being committed; and
• attempts to otherwise compromise the security of the web server, breach the laws of the State of New South Wales or Commonwealth of Australia, or interfere with the enjoyment of the NSW Ministry of Health site by other users.

The NSW Ministry of Health reserves the right to make disclosures to relevant authorities where the use of the NSW Ministry of Health site raises a suspicion that an offence is being, or has been, committed. In the event of an investigation, the NSW Ministry of Health will provide access to data to any law enforcement agency that may exercise a warrant to inspect our logs.

Is the information stored securely?

Yes. Information collected is stored in an appropriately secure format and held by the NSW Ministry of Health for archival purposes. When the information is no longer required for the purposes for which it was collected it is deleted.

What will we do with information provided in feedback?

The NSW Ministry of Health provides a feedback facility on its website to allow users to provide input into the future development of the site and to comment on the provision of services by the NSW Ministry of Health.

The NSW Ministry of Health collects and holds personal and health information provided via the feedback facility for the purpose of responding to and managing your feedback. The provision of personal and health information via the feedback facility is optional. Your information will not be used to add your email address or name to any mailing list.

The NSW Ministry of Health may share feedback that relates to an entity within the NSW public health system with the relevant entity for the purpose of responding to your feedback. A response to your feedback may be provided directly by the entity identified. The NSW Ministry of Health will not otherwise disclose your personal or health information without your consent, unless we are authorised or required to by law. The NSW Ministry of Health may publish aggregated information about feedback on its website, to the extent that it does not identify or cannot be used to identify individual users. For further information please visit Patient privacy.

Will this policy be updated over time?

Due to the developing nature of privacy principles for online communication, this policy may be modified or expanded in light of new developments or issues that may arise from time to time. The amended policy will be posted to this site and will operate from the time it is posted.

Contact the NSW Ministry of Health

TTY

Deaf, hearing-impaired or speech-impaired customers can contact us through the National Relay Service:

• TTY users phone 133 677, then ask for (02) 9391 9000
• Speak and Listen users phone 1300 555 727 then ask for (02) 9391 9000
• Internet relay users connect to the NRS then ask for (02) 9391 9000.

Alternatively, deaf TTY users can contact us directly on (02) 9391 9900 or 61 2 9391 9900 (outside Australia).