Privacy & security of your information
PANDA is committed to protecting the privacy of personal and health information that is supplied to the agency in the course of carrying out its stated functions. PANDA is bound by State and Federal privacy legislation and has adopted the Australian Privacy Principles as the minimum standards in relation to the handling of personal and health information. The types of information we collect depend upon the circumstances in which it is collected. Some examples of personal information that we regularly collect are set out below.
Read the Australian Privacy Principles here.
COLLECTION OF HELPLINE CALL INFORMATION
- In accordance with the Health Records Act (2001) and the Victorian Use Privacy Act (1988) PANDA Staff and Volunteers will not retain any recorded identifying information relating to telephone calls. This means that all handwritten notes are shredded once the call has been concluded. Relevant case notes are recorded in a secure client records management system based on information voluntarily provided to PANDA.
- Personal information is collected during the call process in order to support the provision of services.
- PANDA Staff and Volunteers will only use and disclose information for the primary or directly related purpose for which it was collected.
- De-identified and aggregated data on calls to the PANDA National Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Helpline may be used for internal and external research purposes that will guide service quality improvement and service development.
- PANDA Staff and Volunteers will only use and disclose information as authorised by law, including where it is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious threat to the wellbeing of any person.
- Requests for support via email will be responded to in the same way as telephone calls.
DATA FROM PANDA'S MENTAL HEALTH CHECKLIST FOR EXPECTING AND NEW PARENTS
When a Checklist is completed via this website, PANDA collects anonymous information from individuals about their symptoms during pregnancy or in the period after birth.
Individuals who complete the Checklist also have the option to elect for a PANDA counsellor to contact them in relation to their results, in which case they are asked to provide their name, contact number, email address, State, post code and whether they are 'Expecting' or 'Parenting'.
Information collected via the Checklists is de-identified and stored in PANDA’s website’s Content Management System (CMS) and can only be accessed by the website administrator and the CEO, using a master log in that is stored securely.
To secure Checklist data PANDA will also ensure:
- Current and future contractors working on the site have adequate contracts covering off privacy
- We do not store Results pages as PDFs in the CMS
- All data in the CMS including ‘Send to PANDA’ forms is de-identified
- Identified results are only stored in PANDA’s secure National Helpline Service Record System (SRS) database.
DONORS & SUPPORTERS
The types of personal information we may collect about our donors and supporters may include:
- contact details such as your name, postal address, email address, phone numbers;
- your date of birth, gender, occupation;
- your employer details, if you participate in work place giving;
- a history of your donations, correspondence and other interactions with PANDA;
- your interests and opinions; and
- credit card or bank account details – please note we do not store any of these financial details.
Our database is protected from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure by maintaining up-to-date physical, computer and network security systems with appropriate firewalls, encryption technology and passwords to protect electronic copies of personal information.
We may use your personal information to send you information about perinatal anxiety and depression or to let you know about our activities. Each time we send you a promotional communication we will provide you with a simple way to ’opt out’ of receiving similar communications in the future.
All credit card transaction details are processed securely by Payment Express and we do not store any card details. PANDA collects statistics on visitor traffic to our websites (panda.org.au and howisdadgoing.org.au) so that we can constantly improve our services. This data is are anonymous and does not identify specific visitors. Our website reports are created by using website monitoring conducted by Google Analytics. For more information about Google Analytics, including information on their method of collecting information, their Privacy Policy and the ability to opt out, you can visit Google Analytics online. PANDA does not loan, rent or sell your information to third parties.
ENQUIRIES RELATED TO YOUR INFORMATION
Inquiries related to the management of your information held by PANDA including requests to access your file should be directed to the Chief Executive Officer via email: info@panda.org.au Subject heading: Request for personal information PH: (03) 9926 9090 National Helpline: 1300 726 306 (Mon-Fri 9am - 7.30pm AEST/ADST)
PANDA will periodically review this information to ensure that it remains up-to-date. We reserve the right to make changes to this information from time to time without notice. Updates will be published on this page on our website.