1. Overview
Clinical Laser Therapy Australia (referred to as “we”, “us” or “our”) provides laser therapy and related health services in Australia.[4][1]
We understand that your privacy is important and are committed to protecting your personal information, including sensitive health information.[3][1]
2. Legal framework and scope
- This policy explains how we collect, use, disclose and store personal information across our clinics, websites, online booking systems, forms, and marketing channels.[2][4]
3. What personal information we collect
We collect different types of personal and sensitive information, which may include:[6][1][4]
- Identification and contact details: name, date of birth, address, email, phone number, emergency contact.[7][6]
- Health and referral information: medical history relevant to your treatment, referral letters or reports from other health practitioners, treatment notes, allergies and contraindications.[8][6][3]
- Appointment and billing details: appointment history, Medicare or health fund details (if applicable), payment method and transaction records.[6][1]
- Website and analytics data: IP address, device identifiers, pages viewed, visit duration and interactions collected through cookies, Google Analytics or similar tools.[2][6]
- Marketing preferences: your preferences for receiving marketing emails, SMS, newsletters, surveys and information about promotions.[9][6]
Where reasonably practicable, personal information is collected directly from you, but we may also receive information from your referring practitioner, other health providers or third-party booking platforms with your consent or as permitted by law.[1][3]
4. How we collect information
We collect personal information in a variety of ways, including:[8][4][6]
- In‑clinic and telehealth: during consultations, assessments, and when you complete new patient or consent forms.[3][6]
- Online forms and bookings: when you submit website forms (for enquiries, bookings, referral uploads or promotions) or interact with online booking systems.[4][6]
- Referrals: when another practitioner provides us with a referral, reports or test results for your care.[5][6]
- Digital tracking: via cookies and similar technologies used by Google Analytics and other analytics or advertising tools on our website.[6][2]
- Marketing interactions: when you subscribe to our email list, enter competitions, respond to campaigns, or follow and message us on social media.[9][6]
If you prefer not to provide certain information, we will explain any impacts this may have on our ability to provide safe and appropriate treatment or respond to your enquiry.[1][6]
5. Purposes of collection and use
We collect, hold and use personal information for purposes including:[9][6][1]
- Clinical care: assessing your suitability for laser therapy, planning and delivering treatments, maintaining clinical records and communicating with you about your care.[3][6]
- Referrals and coordination: communicating with your referring practitioner or other health providers involved in your care, where you have consented or where otherwise permitted by law.[5][3]
- Administration and operations: managing bookings, billing, payments, quality assurance, staff training and internal reporting.[6][1]
- Legal and regulatory compliance: meeting our obligations under health and privacy laws, professional standards, and responding to complaints or regulatory investigations.[1][3]
- Analytics and website improvement: monitoring website use, understanding how patients interact with our site, improving content and services, and troubleshooting technical issues.[2][6]
- Marketing (with consent): sending newsletters, promotions, offers and information about services by email, SMS or other digital channels, in line with your marketing preferences and applicable spam laws.[9][6]
We will not use your sensitive health information for direct marketing without your consent, and you may withdraw consent at any time.[3][9]
6. Cookies, Google Analytics and online tracking
Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to collect information about your browsing activity.[2][6]
- Cookies are small data files stored on your device that allow our site to recognise your browser and remember certain preferences.[2]
- We use Google Analytics (and may use similar tools) to collect aggregated data such as pages visited, time on site, referring sites, and device information to help improve our website and services.[6][2]
You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings; however, some site features may not function properly if cookies are disabled.[2]
Where Google Analytics or similar tools are used, data may be processed on servers outside Australia; we configure these tools to avoid collecting more identifying data than necessary and do not use them to display your identifiable health records.[3][2]
7. Direct marketing and newsletters
We may use your contact details to send you:[9][6]
- Email or SMS newsletters about our services, new treatments, events and promotions.[6][9]
- Surveys about your experience to help improve our services.[9][6]
We will:[3][9]
- Obtain your consent where required before sending marketing communications, particularly when health information informs marketing segments.[9]
- Provide a simple opt‑out mechanism in each marketing email or SMS, or you can contact us at any time to update your preferences.[6][9]
We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties for their own marketing purposes.[10][7]
8. Disclosure of personal information
We may disclose personal information, including health information, to:[1][3][6]
- Other health professionals involved in your care (for example, your GP, specialist or allied health practitioner), where you have provided consent or as otherwise permitted or required by law.[5][3]
- Our staff and contractors (such as treating practitioners, nurses, reception and administrative staff) who need access to perform their duties and are bound by confidentiality obligations.[2][6]
- Service providers who support our operations (for example IT providers, website hosts, practice management systems, secure cloud storage, email and SMS platforms, payment processors and analytics providers).[1][6]
- Insurers, regulators, professional bodies, lawyers or insurers where reasonably necessary for managing complaints, legal claims or regulatory requirements.[1][3]
Some service providers may be located or may store data overseas (for example, cloud hosting or analytics providers).[1][2]
Where reasonably practicable, we will ensure that overseas recipients handle personal information in a manner consistent with the APPs, including through contractual safeguards.[3][1]
9. Data security and retention
We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.[3][1]
Measures may include:[2][1]
- Secure practice management systems with access controls and passwords.
- Encryption and secure transmission for certain data, and restricted access to health records on a need‑to‑know basis.
- Staff training and procedures on privacy and information security.
- Periodic Automatic Deletion of website form submissions after a set period of time.
We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes outlined in this policy and to comply with legal and professional obligations (including health record retention periods).[1][3]
When information is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or de‑identify it, unless we are legally required to retain it.[3][1]
10. Access and correction
You have the right to request access to personal information we hold about you and to request correction if you believe it is inaccurate, out‑of‑date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading.[4][2][3]
- Requests should be made using the contact details below, and we may need to verify your identity before giving access.[4][2]
- In some circumstances, we may refuse access or correction as permitted by law (for example, where access would pose a serious threat to health or is prohibited by law). If this happens, we will explain the reasons and outline your options.[2][3]
There is generally no fee to request access or correction, but we may charge a reasonable fee for providing copies where allowed by law.[4][3]
11. Notifiable data breaches
If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in serious harm to you, we will comply with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme under the Privacy Act.[1][3]
This may include:[3][1]
- Assessing the breach and taking immediate steps to contain it.
- Notifying the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and affected individuals as required.
- Taking steps to reduce or mitigate any harm and prevent future breaches.
12. Complaints and contact details
If you have questions, concerns or a complaint about how we handle your personal information, please contact us first so we can try to resolve the issue.[4][2]
Contact details:
- Phone: 0493656346
- Address: 22 Meninya St, Moama NSW 2731
Please provide as much detail as possible about your concern, and we will respond within a reasonable time.[4][2]
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC): www.oaic.gov.au.[2][3]
13. Changes to this policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in law or our practices.[10][6]
The current version will be available on our website and at our clinic reception, and the “Last updated” date will appear at the top of the policy.[10][6]