Purpose
Action Forward is committed to protecting and upholding the right to privacy of clients, workers, students, volunteers and representatives of agencies we deal with. In particular, Action Forward is committed to protecting and upholding the rights of our clients to privacy and confidentiality in the way we collect, store and use information about them, their needs and the services we provide to them.
Action Forward requires workers, students, volunteers to be consistent and careful in the way they manage what is written and said about individuals and how they decide who can see or hear this information.
Action Forward is subject to the legislation outlined below when dealing with the privacy and confidentiality of individuals. The organisation will follow the guidelines of the Australian Privacy Principles.
Action Forward will ensure that:
– it meets its legal and ethical obligations as an employer and service provider in relation to protecting
the privacy of clients and organisational personnel.
– clients are provided with information about their rights regarding privacy.
– clients and organisational personnel are provided with privacy when they are being interviewed or discussing matters of a personal or sensitive nature.
-all workers, students and volunteers understand what is required in meeting these obligations.
This policy will apply to all records, whether hard copy or electronic, containing personal information about individuals, and to interviews or discussions of a sensitive personal nature.
Legislation
The following legislation relates to this policy:
– Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection)Act 1998Sections: 8–12, 14, 29(1)(f), 29(3A–6),
105, 140, 142–144, 149B–K, 160, 162, 163, 185, 245, Chapter 16A, 248, 254
– Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Regulation 2012Clauses: 8, 14, 20, 34, 37, 40,
42, 87,Schedule 3 – Clause 5–7, 11
– United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
– This policy conforms to the Federal Privacy Act (1988) and the Australian Privacy Principles which
govern the collection, use and storage of personal information.
Note: The Federal Privacy Act applies to organisations with an annual turnover over $3m or organisations that are health service providers, operators of a residential tenancy database, a contractor that provides services under a Commonwealth contract, an organisation that is related to a larger organisation or one which trades in personal information.