Privacy Policy

Our Medicare Mental Health Check In Privacy Policy has recently changed. We have updated this policy on 27 March 2026 to reflect our release of Guided Support. The updates include changes to:

how we collect information about you in Guided Support;
what personal information we may collect as part of Guided Support;
the requirements for dealing with us anonymously or via a pseudonym;
who we may disclose your personal information to; and
other general provisions to reflect our updated procedures as part of Guided Support.

Read the updated Privacy Policy below.

Medicare Mental Health Check In
Privacy Policy

What is this Privacy Policy?
1. St Vincent's Health Australia Limited ABN 75 073 503 536 (SVHA) of Level 22, 100 William Street, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011 (SVHA, we, us and our) provides the Medicare Mental Health Check In (the Service), a free digital mental health service. 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.
2. The Service currently comprises:
  1. a range of general information for help-seekers, and their families, carers and supporters, to help them understand and manage their mental health and wellbeing (the General Content). Such information is available to all users without the need to create an account for the Service; and
  2. the ability for eligible users to create an account, and to receive treatment through advice and support services from our clinical staff (via phone, video or other means we may make available) (we refer to this as Guided Support); and
  3. an online form that you can use to provide feedback to us.
3. In conjunction with the Service, we provide a website at www.medicarementalhealthcheckin.gov.au (the Website).
4. The Service and the Website are made available by funding provided by the Australian Government through the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (the Department).
5. The Service and Website are only intended for users living in Australia.
6. SVHA is bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act) and the requirements of the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) in Schedule 1 of the Privacy Act. We are also bound by relevant State health records legislation where applicable. Under APP 1, we are required to have a Privacy Policy about how we manage personal information.
7. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use and disclose your personal information (including your sensitive information) when you create an account and use the Service or our Website. It also explains how you can make a privacy complaint and how we will handle it. This Privacy Policy does not deal with SVHA’s handling of personal information outside of users of the Service or Website, please see our general privacy policy (including if you are a practitioner engaged by SVHA to provide the Service).
8. We make this Privacy Policy available free of charge. If you need this policy in an alternative format for accessibility reasons, please contact us using the details set out in section 13 below.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
1. We may revise this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will display a notice on our Website for at least 30 days, indicating when any revisions have been made. This Privacy Policy was last updated on 27 March 2026.
2. If you have created an account and we make a significant service change that affects how your personal information is handled, including if the Service ceases operation or changes operator or ownership, we will provide you with notice in addition to updating this Privacy Policy.
What is personal information, health information and sensitive information
1. Personal information is information or an opinion about an individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether true or not and whether recorded in material form or not.
2. Sensitive information is a subset of personal information and includes information or an opinion about an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation or practices, criminal record, health information, genetic information, and biometric information or templates.
3. Health information is a subset of sensitive information and includes information or an opinion about an individual’s physical or mental health, disability, or the health services provided to them.
4. In this Privacy Policy, references to personal information includes sensitive information and health information.
Anonymity
1. Where practicable and lawful, you will have the option to deal with SVHA on an anonymous basis or by using a pseudonym. For example, you may:
  1. access and use the General Content, and certain other parts of our Website that are made available to the public generally, without the need to create an account or be logged in. We may use technology to track your use of our Website (as further described in sections 5 and 6 below), but we will not attempt to identify you when doing so unless you have created an account with us and are logged in, or we are permitted or required by law to do so;
  2. provide us with feedback via our online feedback form on the Website, using a pseudonym. However, you do require a valid email address to do this, and it might be possible to determine your identity from your email address. We will not, however, generally attempt to use your email address to identify you, unless we are permitted or required by law to do so; and
  3. otherwise contact us for general purposes anonymously or using a pseudonym. We may not, however, be able to fully address any such contact if we need your personal information in order to do so.
2. You are not permitted to create an account to use our Guided Support anonymously, as we need to be able to identify the users of our 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 most interactions with you.
Collection of personal information
1. We may collect personal information from or about you:
  1. when you use our Website (see sections 4(b)(i) and 6 for further information);
  2. if you undertake our assessment processes to confirm that you are eligible for Guided Support, which may be undertaken via the Website or through other means including telephone, online and written communications (including email and text messages);
  3. when you create an account with us;
  4. when you use our Guided Support, such as during telephone, video and written communications (including email and text messages);
  5. if you respond to surveys regarding your use of the Service;
  6. when you contact us by any method, such as through the feedback form on our Website, telephone, email, social media, post or in person; and
  7. when a healthcare provider (for example a GP, specialist, community health centre, hospital, Medicare Mental Health service or other health-related provider) provides this information to us (including as part of the process of referring or recommending your participation in the Service).
2. The kinds of personal information that we may collect and hold include:
  1. when you access and use our Website, we will record and log certain information about such access and use, including your IP address, the date and time of your visit, the parts of our Website you access during your visit, your actions on our Website, and the browser you are using. If you have created an account and are logged in, this information may be associated with you;
  2. if you are referred to us by another healthcare provider, we will collect and hold the information we receive as part of that referral including your name, address, emergency contact or next of kin and your general practitioner. Please speak to your healthcare provider before they make such a referral if you wish to further understand what information they collect and disclose to us;
  3. if you create an account, we may collect:
    1. your name and contact details such as your email address and phone number; and
    2. information that you may optionally choose to provide, such as your gender identity, age bracket, and certain other demographic and ethnicity information;
  4. if you use our Guided Support (after having created an account), we may collect personal information (including health information and sensitive information) that you provide, or that we receive or otherwise generate, in connection with your use of Guided Support. This may include information we need in order to facilitate the provision of Guided Support to you, and information about your use of, progress through and results from Guided Support. This may include collecting personal information such as your health history, family history, past and current treatments, lifestyle factors, symptoms and care, and other information which assists our clinical staff to provide appropriate care. Such information may be captured in written responses and information, and also via associated notes we may make. We may record in our systems any relevant information that is provided to us in connection with our Guided Support. During the course of providing Guided Support we may also collect the name and contact details of your emergency contact, next of kin and your general practitioner. It is often within your control what personal information you choose to provide to us when using our Guided Support, however such choices may affect our ability to provide appropriate care and the benefits you obtain from Guided Support. You can choose to stop using Guided Support at any time, and may continue to use the General Content, although see section 8 for related information on this; and
  5. if you provide us with feedback via the online feedback form on our Website, we will collect your contact details (which may identify you, for example, if your full name is included in your email address).
3. You may also voluntarily provide us with other personal information. In such circumstances, we may destroy or de-identify the personal information if we form the view that we are required to do so under the Privacy Act.
Cookies, tracking and analytics
1. A 'cookie' is a small data file placed on your machine or device which lets us identify and interact more effectively with your computer. Cookies allow content on our Websites to load and function as intended when you access them. They also allow us to monitor statistics on the use of our websites. Cookies identify your internet service provider and browser type. Cookies are industry standard and are used by most websites.
2. Our Website may use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to improve functionality, monitor performance, and understand usage patterns. We may use analytics services and share anonymised or aggregated information with service providers for these purposes. If you use our Website, some information about your interactions with our Website may be collected through the use of these tools. For example, we may track general usage of the Website using web-analytics such as page views.
3. You can manage cookie preferences or disable cookies through your browser settings and clearing your browser data. Most browsers are set by default to accept cookies. If you do not wish to receive any cookies you may set your browser to either prompt you whether you wish to accept cookies on a particular site, or by default reject cookies. Please note that rejecting cookies may mean that some or all of the functions on our Website, including access to Guided Support, will not be available to you.
Purposes for which we handle personal information

We generally collect, hold, use and disclose personal information in order to:
1. develop, provide, monitor and improve the Service, our Website and our newsletters and other publications;
2. provide you with updates and other communications in relation to the Service and Website (if you register your interest regarding the Service and Website);
3. respond to queries and complaints;
4. comply with our obligations under our contract with the Department;
5. monitor, investigate and take action in relation to suspicious activity, including any actual or suspected unauthorised use of the Service or our Website;
6. operate and manage our business, including managing risk (including clinical risk), conducting audits, undertaking accreditation processes, managing legal claims and compliance obligations, and training and quality assurance; and
7. as otherwise required or permitted by law.
Communications and opting out
1. If we have been provided with your contact details, we may send you communications in connection with the provision of Guided Support that we consider appropriate for the safe and effective delivery of the Service (for example, we may send you registration and session reminders, check on your progress, or suggest escalating to another suitable qualified healthcare provider). You may not opt out of these service-related communications.
2. We will only send other communications in connection with the Service (for example, newsletters or Service updates, or optional surveys) if you have opted in to receive them. If you later decide that you do not wish to receive such communications from us, you can opt out at any time by following the instructions in the communication or contacting us using the details set out in section 13 below.
3. You can at any time withdraw any consent you may have given us in relation to your personal information, by contacting us as described in section 13 below.
4. If we suspend or terminate your access to and use of the Service, or you stop using the Service or ask us to delete your account:
  1. we may still retain and use your personal information as permitted or required by law; and
  2. we may still seek to communicate with you where permitted or required by law, including as part of our risk-management protocols such as where we reasonably believe it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to the life, health or safety of you or any other individual, or to public health or safety.
Disclosure of your personal information
1. We may disclose your personal information to third parties including:
  1. to our service providers (including professional advisers) who are engaged to provide goods or services to us (including goods or services that assist us in providing the Service and our Website);
  2. to medical and other healthcare professionals involved in your care, such as a healthcare provider who has referred you to the Service;
  3. to persons such as a carer or family member that you may choose to involve in your use of Guided Support;
  4. to anyone authorised by you to receive your personal information, which may include other health services we refer you to or your existing healthcare providers (your authorisation may be express or implied);
  5. to crisis services or emergency services with your consent or where we reasonably believe it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to the life, health or safety of you or any other any individual, or to public health or safety; and
  6. as otherwise required or permitted by law.
2. As noted in section 1 above, the Service and Website are made available by funding provided by the Australian Government through the Department. It is important to understand that under our contract with the Department:
  1. we may be required to disclose your personal information to the Department or various other persons from time to time, including:
    1. by transferring your health 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;
    2. as part of our complaints management processes, provided that we are only required to release personal information to the Department concerning you as a complainant with your consent unless otherwise permitted by law;
    3. as part of our reporting, audit and access obligations under that contract; and
    4. in connection with the Department exercising various rights under that contract, such as requiring us to comply with the Department’s directions and the Department exercising its rights of step-in.
  2. at the end of our contract with the Department, we may transfer your personal information to the Department or its nominee in connection with the transfer of the provision of the Service and Website to them. We may continue to retain copies of your personal information following disclosure to Department or its nominee where required by law or otherwise permitted under our contract with the Department. If you have created an account and we transfer your personal information to the Department or its nominee in connection with the transfer of the provision of the Service and Website to them, we will, where permitted by law and our contract with the Department, provide you with notification of such transfer.
3. The Department may use personal information we disclose to it 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. The Department may also use the data to conduct or commission analysis to evaluate whether the Service is achieving its aims, or to link it to national data assets that allow approved research projects to be conducted using deidentified data (such as the Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA) and the Business Longitudinal Analysis Data Environment (BLADE) operated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, or the National Health Data Hub (NHDH) operated by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The Department may also use de-identified information for the purposes described in paragraph (e) below.
4. Our contract with the Department may be transferred to any other Commonwealth Entity (as that term is defined in the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (Cth)), authority or entity arising out of or in connection with a restructure (e.g. a machinery of government change) or as otherwise provided by legislation. A reference in this Privacy Policy to the Department includes any entity or authority to whom our contract is transferred.
5. We may or the Department may also de-identify your personal information, and use and disclose it for a range of purposes. This may include to improve the Service and our Website, for quality assurance and evaluation of the Service, and for medical research and training purposes.
6. We store personal information in Australia, and we do not normally disclose your personal information to overseas recipients. We will update this Privacy Policy if our practices change in this respect.
How we hold your personal information
1. Your personal information held by us is primarily stored in electronic form. There may be occasions where your personal information is stored in hard copy form, usually on a temporary basis.
2. We take steps to protect the personal information we hold. Measures may include physical security, access controls, encryption, secure storage, staff training, and contractual obligations for service providers.
3. However no sharing of information online is 100% secure. There are ways you can help maintain the privacy of your personal information shared online, including:
  1. always closing your browser when you have finished your user session;
  2. always ensuring others cannot access your personal information and emails if you use a public computer; and
  3. never disclosing your username and password to third parties.
4. We will archive and retain personal information we hold as permitted or required by law or as necessary to meet clinical and operational needs.
Third Party Resources
1. Our Website may contain links to third‑party websites, apps, services or other resources (Third Party Resources). The inclusion of Third Party Resources does not imply that we endorse content or services offered by the relevant third parties. These Third Party Resources are not under our control and we are not responsible for the privacy practices employed by those third parties. Those third parties are responsible for their own privacy practices. Before disclosing your personal information when using any Third Party Resource, we recommend that you carefully read the terms and conditions of use and privacy policy of each Third Party Resource you use.
Accessing and correcting your personal information
1. You may request access to your personal information we hold. We will respond to any such request within a reasonable period. We will require you to verify your identify before providing you with access to your personal information. We may refuse access in limited circumstances permitted by law, and if we refuse, we will provide written reasons and information on how you can complain. We may charge a fee for access where permitted by law, but not for making a request.
2. You may request correction of your personal information if you believe it is inaccurate, out‑of‑date, incomplete, irrelevant, or misleading. If we refuse to correct the information, we will provide written reasons and information on how you can complain. If we correct personal information we have disclosed to another entity, you may ask us to notify that entity of the correction.
3. Our contact details for requesting access to or correction of your personal information are set out in section 13 below.
How to contact us (including if you have a complaint)
1. If you have any questions regarding our collection, use, disclosure or management of your personal information, please contact us using one of the following methods:
  1. by email to: privacyofficer@medicarementalhealthcheckin.gov.au
  2. by post to:
    Group General Manager Public Affairs & General Counsel
    St Vincent's Health Australia
    Level 22, 100 William Street
    WOOLLOOMOOLOO NSW 2011
  3. by telephone on (02) 9367 1100.
2. If you wish to make a complaint about an alleged breach of the Privacy Act, we ask that you send us your complaint in writing to the email or address set out above. We endeavour to respond to complaints within a reasonable period (usually 30 days). If you are not satisfied with our response, you may make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as described on their website www.oaic.gov.au.

Privacy Policy

Medicare Mental Health Check InPrivacy Policy

Medicare Mental Health Check In
Privacy Policy