Privacy policy

Who this covers

This policy applies to Nexus Hearing Care Pty Ltd, ABN 53 685 752 970, trading as Specialist Hearing Services, at 369 Oxford Street, Mount Hawthorn WA 6016.

As a private health service provider we are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles. That applies to every health practice in Australia whatever its size, and the rules below come from that law.

What this website collects

The enquiry form is the only part of this website that asks for your details. If you send one, we receive your name, your phone number, your email address, what you told us the enquiry is about and anything you wrote in the message box. We use it to contact you by phone or email and arrange an appointment.

That enquiry is stored in our own database and emailed to the clinic. Two services handle it on the way: Mailgun, which delivers the email, and PipeReply, which receives a copy so we can follow the enquiry up. It is kept as a patient record once you become a patient, and handled under the same rules as everything else on this page.

Our hosting provider keeps standard server logs, which include the internet address a request came from and the page requested. These are used to keep the site running and secure, and not to identify you.

• You do not have to use the enquiry form. The phone number is on every page.
• On specialisthearing.com.au we use Google Analytics, which sets cookies to count visits and to tell us when someone taps the phone number or email address. When you send an enquiry, Google Analytics is told only that an enquiry was sent. It never receives your name, contact details, what the enquiry is about, your message or your hearing check answers.
• We do not sell, rent or trade any information to anyone.

What the clinic collects

When you become a patient we collect what we need in order to treat you properly. That is your name, contact details, date of birth, relevant medical history, the results of your hearing tests, and details of any devices fitted.

We may also collect your Medicare number, Department of Veterans' Affairs number or Hearing Services Program details where these apply to your funding, and correspondence from your GP or a specialist where you have been referred.

We collect this from you directly wherever possible. Where we receive it from a referring practitioner, we tell you.

Why we hold it

We keep your records so a later hearing test can be compared with an earlier one.

We use your information to provide care, to keep a clinical record, to communicate with you about appointments and devices, to claim funding you are entitled to, and to meet our legal obligations.

Who we share it with

We share your information only where it is part of your care or where the law requires it.

• Your GP or a specialist, where you have been referred to or by them.
• A hearing aid manufacturer, where a device needs to be ordered, programmed or repaired.
• The Hearing Services Program or the Department of Veterans' Affairs, where they fund your care.
• Medicare, private health insurers, WorkCover WA or the NDIS, to claim a rebate or funding you are entitled to.
• Pacific Ears, to make your custom ear plugs from your ear impressions.
• Anyone you give us written permission to speak to, including a family member.

Keeping it secure

Records are held in our practice management system and in secure storage at the clinic, and access is limited to the people who need it to do their work.

Seeing your own record, and correcting it

You can ask to see the information we hold about you, and you can ask us to correct it if it is wrong. Both are your rights under the Privacy Act, and neither needs a reason.

Ask at reception or in writing. We will respond within a reasonable period, and in the rare case where we cannot give you access we will tell you why in writing.

Making a complaint

Tell us first, at reception or in writing, and we will try to fix it quickly.

If we cannot resolve it, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, the national privacy regulator, at oaic.gov.au.