Collection Notice for support persons

St Vincent’s Health Australia Limited (SVHA, we or us) provides the Medicare Mental Health Check In (the Service) and the associated website at www.medicarementalhealthcheckin.gov.au(opens in a new tab) (the Website). Medicare Mental Health Check In provides free support to people at risk of, or experiencing, mild mental ill-health or transient distress, so they can get the right support when they need it. The Service and Website is funded by the Australian Government’s Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (the Department).

This collection notice provides you with information required by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act), in relation to the handling of your personal information when you accompany a person (Help Seeker) to receive treatment through advice and support services from our clinical staff (via phone, video or other means we may make available) (Guided Support) as a support person.

This Collection Notice should be read in conjunction with our Privacy Policy. Among other things, our Privacy Policy contains information about how you may access and seek correction of your personal information, and how you may make a complaint about our privacy practices (including if you believe we have handled your personal information contrary to the Australian Privacy Principles).

Collection of your Information
Who is collecting your personal information?	St Vincent’s Health Australia Limited ABN 75 073 503 536. You can contact us: by email to privacyofficer@medicarementalhealthcheckin.gov.au by post to: Group General Manager Public Affairs & General Counsel St Vincent’s Health Australia Level 22, 100 William Street WOOLLOOMOOLOO NSW 2011 by telephone on (02) 9367 1100
What information is collected?	If you are nominated as a support person by a Help Seeker, we will collect your name, contact details (if provided) and the fact that you have attended the session. Helpseekers create an account upon registration to participate in the Service. You are not required to register a new account to join the session, and we do not generally collect other personal information in relation to you unless we believe it is clinically necessary to do so, or you volunteer such clinically necessary information.
Anonymity and pseudonyms	You are not permitted to attend a Help Seeker’s Guided Support session anonymously, as we need to be able to identify the support persons of our users of Guided Support including if we have a clinical need to do so. You may, however, additionally provide us with a preferred name (which may be a pseudonym), which will be used for all interactions with you where possible.
Why we collect your personal information	We collect your personal information for our clinical record-keeping purposes, and to contact you if we believe there is a clinical need to do so. We also collect your personal information for other purposes as disclosed in our Privacy Policy, including to comply with our obligations under our contract with the Department, and as otherwise permitted or required by law. The Department may use your personal information to check whether we are complying with our obligations, manage complaints (but, for so long as we are providing the Service, only where the complainant has consented to the release of their personal information to the Department), exercise its rights under its contract with us, and take over responsibility for providing the Service and Website (see the Privacy Policy for more details about how the Department will handle personal information it receives).
What happens if you do not provide your personal information?	Participation in a Help Seeker’s Guided Support as a support person is entirely voluntary. However if we cannot collect your (limited) information, you will not be able to attend a Help Seeker’s Guided Support session as a support person.
Who we disclose personal information to	We may disclose your personal information: to our service providers (including professional advisers); to medical and other healthcare professionals involved in the Help Seeker’s care; to anyone authorised by you to receive your personal information (which may include other health services) (your authorisation may be express or implied); to crisis or emergency services where we reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent a serious threat to the life, health or safety of the Help Seeker or another individual or public health and safety; and as otherwise permitted or required by law. Under our contract with the Department, we may be required to disclose your personal information to the Department and others, including: by transferring your information to another health service provider when directed to do so by the Department, so long as compliance with such a direction is not contrary to any applicable law; to manage complaints (but we will only disclose your personal information to the Department as a complainant with your consent unless otherwise permitted by law); to meet our reporting, audit and access obligations under that contract; in connection with the Department exercising various rights under that contract, and in connection with transition of the Service and the Website to the Department or its nominee when our contract ends; and so that the Department can oversee the Service and conduct or commission evaluation and other research activities in relation to the Service (see the Privacy Policy for more details). We and the Department may also de-identify your personal information, and use and disclose it for a range of purposes. These purposes may include to improve the Service and Website, for quality assurance and evaluation of the Services, and for medical research and training purposes.
Overseas disclosures	We store your personal information in Australia and do not disclose your personal information to overseas recipients.
Who is collecting your personal information?
St Vincent’s Health Australia Limited ABN 75 073 503 536. You can contact us: by email to privacyofficer@medicarementalhealthcheckin.gov.au by post to: Group General Manager Public Affairs & General Counsel St Vincent’s Health Australia Level 22, 100 William Street WOOLLOOMOOLOO NSW 2011 by telephone on (02) 9367 1100
What information is collected?
If you are nominated as a support person by a Help Seeker, we will collect your name, contact details (if provided) and the fact that you have attended the session. Helpseekers create an account upon registration to participate in the Service. You are not required to register a new account to join the session, and we do not generally collect other personal information in relation to you unless we believe it is clinically necessary to do so, or you volunteer such clinically necessary information.
Anonymity and pseudonyms
You are not permitted to attend a Help Seeker’s Guided Support session anonymously, as we need to be able to identify the support persons of our users of Guided Support including if we have a clinical need to do so. You may, however, additionally provide us with a preferred name (which may be a pseudonym), which will be used for all interactions with you where possible.
Why we collect your personal information
We collect your personal information for our clinical record-keeping purposes, and to contact you if we believe there is a clinical need to do so. We also collect your personal information for other purposes as disclosed in our Privacy Policy, including to comply with our obligations under our contract with the Department, and as otherwise permitted or required by law. The Department may use your personal information to check whether we are complying with our obligations, manage complaints (but, for so long as we are providing the Service, only where the complainant has consented to the release of their personal information to the Department), exercise its rights under its contract with us, and take over responsibility for providing the Service and Website (see the Privacy Policy for more details about how the Department will handle personal information it receives).
What happens if you do not provide your personal information?
Participation in a Help Seeker’s Guided Support as a support person is entirely voluntary. However if we cannot collect your (limited) information, you will not be able to attend a Help Seeker’s Guided Support session as a support person.
Who we disclose personal information to
We may disclose your personal information: to our service providers (including professional advisers); to medical and other healthcare professionals involved in the Help Seeker’s care; to anyone authorised by you to receive your personal information (which may include other health services) (your authorisation may be express or implied); to crisis or emergency services where we reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent a serious threat to the life, health or safety of the Help Seeker or another individual or public health and safety; and as otherwise permitted or required by law. Under our contract with the Department, we may be required to disclose your personal information to the Department and others, including: by transferring your information to another health service provider when directed to do so by the Department, so long as compliance with such a direction is not contrary to any applicable law; to manage complaints (but we will only disclose your personal information to the Department as a complainant with your consent unless otherwise permitted by law); to meet our reporting, audit and access obligations under that contract; in connection with the Department exercising various rights under that contract, and in connection with transition of the Service and the Website to the Department or its nominee when our contract ends; and so that the Department can oversee the Service and conduct or commission evaluation and other research activities in relation to the Service (see the Privacy Policy for more details). We and the Department may also de-identify your personal information, and use and disclose it for a range of purposes. These purposes may include to improve the Service and Website, for quality assurance and evaluation of the Services, and for medical research and training purposes.
Overseas disclosures
We store your personal information in Australia and do not disclose your personal information to overseas recipients.

Our privacy practices described in this Collection Notice and our Privacy Policy may change over time. Any such changes will be reflected in this Collection Notice and our Privacy Policy. As described in our Privacy Policy, we will display a notice on our Website for at least 30 days, indicating when any revisions have been made.