Privacy Policy

Quality Dental Care Brighton respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information when you interact with us, including through our website, landing pages, online forms, advertisements, phone calls, emails, SMS messages, social media, online booking systems and in-clinic services.

Quality Dental Care Brighton is a dental clinic in South Australia. As a health service provider, we handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles.

By visiting our website or providing us with your personal information or health information, you acknowledge and agree that the personal information or health information we collect about you will be collected and used in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with any part of this Privacy Policy, you must not provide your personal information or health information to us.

1. Personal information we collect

The personal information we collect and the way we use that information depends on how you interact with us. Information we may collect about you includes:

• your name, address, email address and phone number;
• your date of birth;
• your gender;
• your next of kin or nominated representative to contact in case of emergency;
• appointment and enquiry details;
• information about dental services or treatments you are interested in;
• information necessary to provide the specific products and services you are interested in or require;
• information you submit through our website, landing pages or online forms;
• Medicare, pension, veteran, or concession details;
• payment (including credit card details), billing, and credit-related information;
• health fund and membership information;
• details of your communications with us;
• website and technical information, including cookies, IP address, browser type, device information and website usage data;
• other information necessary for us to perform our functions and activities; and
• any other information you choose to provide to us or that we are authorised to collect, as part of your interaction with us.

If you become a patient, or if you provide information about your dental condition, medical history, symptoms, treatment needs or oral health, we may also collect health information. Health information is sensitive information and is handled with additional care. We may collect sensitive information about you with your consent or if we are otherwise allowed to collect such information under the Privacy Act.

You have the right not to identify yourself, or to use a pseudonym when dealing with us. However, we usually need your name, contact information and other details to enable us to provide our services or products to you, so if we request personal information and it is not provided, we may not be able to provide services to or otherwise assist you.

2. How we collect information

We collect personal information in different ways, depending on your interaction with us.

We may collect personal information when you:

• submit an enquiry through our website, landing page or online form;
• respond to an advertisement;
• request a call back;
• book or attend an appointment;
• complete a patient form, medical history form or consent form;
• contact us by phone, email, SMS, online chat, social media or other communication channel;
• make a payment or use a health fund claiming facility;
• provide feedback or make a complaint;
• when you engage with us through our social media outlets, if you subscribe to our publications, or register for or attend our events, or complete an entry form for any of our competitions;
• attend our premises (some locations use CCTV to maintain security and safety, which may collect and store personal information); or
• otherwise interact with us.

Where reasonable and practicable, we collect personal information directly from you. We may also collect information from third parties where relevant, including parents, guardians, carers, other health practitioners, dental laboratories, radiology providers, health funds, insurers, online booking platforms, publicly available platforms or information, payment providers and other service providers if we are permitted or required to do so.

If we collect personal information that includes sensitive information (including health information) and we are not allowed under the law to collect the information without your consent, we will seek your consent to the collection of this information.

3. Why we collect, use and disclose information

We only collect personal information or health information from you when it is reasonably necessary to undertake our business activities, or as otherwise permitted by law.

We collect, hold, use and disclose personal information so that we can:

• respond to your enquiry;
• contact you (or a person responsible for you if you are unable) about dental services, appointments or offers you have expressed interest in;
• arrange, confirm, reschedule and follow up appointments;
• provide dental and oral health services;
• assess your suitability for treatment;
• prepare treatment plans, estimates and consent materials;
• maintain accurate patient and clinical records;
• communicate with you about your care;
• process payments, invoices and health fund claims;
• manage credit provided to you;
• provide information about payment options;
• manage recalls, reviews and follow-up care;
• communicate with our suppliers and other business contacts;
• improve our website, advertising, services and patient experience;
• inform you and other business contacts about product and industry developments;
• for the promotion of our related businesses within the Quality Dental Care group, suppliers, practices, and/or third-party partners;
• manage complaints, disputes, quality assurance and clinic operations;
• comply with legal, professional, insurance and regulatory obligations;
• any purpose for which you have consented;
• any related secondary purpose which we believe you would reasonably expect when we collected your personal information or as a result of our ongoing relationship with you;
• any purpose for which we are required or authorised by the Privacy Act; and
• generally carry on our business.

We will only use your financial information for the purpose for which it was collected and in accordance with this Privacy Policy. We may also collect financial information from you through our sales facilities, to be used by us solely to facilitate payment for the services you have requested. Financial or credit card information we collect from you is strictly confidential and held on secure servers in controlled facilities.

If you do not provide information we reasonably require, we may not be able to respond to your enquiry, book an appointment, provide treatment, process a claim or provide the service you have requested.

4. Health information

As a dental clinic, we may collect health information that is reasonably necessary to provide safe and appropriate dental care. This may include:

• dental and medical history;
• medications, allergies and relevant health conditions;
• clinical notes;
• x-rays, scans, photographs and other diagnostic records;
• treatment plans;
• consent forms;
• details of other treating practitioners, referral letters and specialist reports;
• photographs or video recordings related to your care (with express consent);
• laboratory records; and
• treatment, payment and health fund history.

We will only collect your health information if you have explicitly consented, or we are required or authorised by law to do so.

We may use or disclose your health information:

• to provide dental or health services to you;
• for purposes directly related to your care that you would reasonably expect;
• with your consent;
• to communicate with other health practitioners, specialists, laboratories, radiology providers or anaesthetists involved in your care;
• to process health fund, insurance or payment claims;
• to manage recalls, reviews and treatment follow-up;
• to comply with legal, professional, regulatory or insurance obligations; or
• where otherwise required or authorised by law.

We will not sell your health information.

5. Marketing, online enquiries and communications

We may use your personal information (including if you submit your name, email address or phone number through a Quality Dental Care Brighton website form, landing page, advertisement or online enquiry form) to contact you about your enquiry or to inform you about our services, upcoming promotions and events, or other opportunities that we believe may interest you.

This may include contacting you by phone, email or SMS about:

• the dental service or treatment you enquired about;
• appointment availability;
• new patient offers;
• payment or health fund information;
• follow-up communications if we have not been able to reach you; and
• related dental services that may be relevant to your enquiry.

We may send marketing communications where permitted by law, including where you have consented or where we are otherwise allowed to do so. You can opt out of marketing communications at any time by:

• clicking the unsubscribe link in an email;
• replying "STOP" to an SMS, where available;
• telling us during a phone call; or
• contacting us using the details below.

If you opt out of marketing communications, we may still contact you about non-marketing matters, including appointments, treatment, accounts, recalls, clinical follow-up or administrative matters.

Submitting an enquiry does not by itself create a dentist-patient relationship.

6. Cookies, analytics and advertising technology

Our website and landing pages may use cookies, pixels, tags and similar technologies. These technologies may identify your browser type, operating system, IP address and website visiting patterns. They may also store data on your hard drive, and to track your ongoing access to and use of our website. They do not collect your name, email, postal address, or phone number.

These technologies may be used to:

• operate and improve our website;
• understand how visitors use our website;
• remember preferences;
• measure advertising performance;
• support remarketing or retargeting campaigns;
• measure conversions from online advertisements; and
• improve patient experience and website functionality.

These technologies may be provided by third parties such as Google, Meta/Facebook, website hosting providers, analytics providers, CRM platforms, email/SMS platforms or advertising platforms. The data made available to the third parties reflects site-usage and does not contain your identifying personal information. You can manage cookies through your browser settings. If you disable cookies, some website features may not work as intended.

Our website may contain links to third party websites. These websites are not subject to our Privacy Policy, and we are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of those websites.

7. Disclosure to third parties

We may disclose personal information (including where relevant sensitive health information) to:

• dentists, oral health therapists, hygienists, dental assistants and administrative staff involved in your care or enquiry;
• other clinics, entities or team members within the Quality Dental Care group, where relevant;
• dental specialists, medical practitioners or other health professionals involved in your care;
• dental laboratories, radiology providers, anaesthetists and sedation providers;
• health funds, insurers, Medicare, payment providers and finance providers;
• when conveying information to a responsible person (e.g. parent, guardian, spouse) when you are incapable or cannot communicate, unless you have requested otherwise;
• when conveying information to close family members in accordance with the recognised customs of medical practice;
• IT, website, hosting, cloud storage, CRM, booking, practice management, email, SMS, analytics and marketing providers so that they can provide you with products or services on our behalf or help us to provide you with the requested products or services including contacting you in relation to the products or services;
• advertising platforms and agencies, where relevant to website or campaign performance;
• professional advisers, including lawyers, accountants, auditors and insurers;
• other persons in connection with the provision of our services and products including our customers, suppliers and their contractors and other business contacts;
• regulators, courts, tribunals, government agencies or law enforcement bodies where required or authorised by law;
• a purchaser or potential purchaser of all or part of our business, subject to appropriate confidentiality arrangements;
• any other person or organisation you authorise us to disclose information to; and
• as otherwise authorised by the Privacy Act.

We only disclose personal information where it is reasonably necessary for our functions and activities, where you have consented, where you would reasonably expect us to do so, or where required or authorised by law.

Third parties may have access to some personal information we collect. For example, contractors may develop and maintain our computer systems, electronic records, websites, blogs and other social media outlets.

8. Overseas storage and disclosure

We will generally not disclose your personal information to overseas recipients unless required to provide specific services. Where our service providers are located overseas, and we may need to disclose personal information or health information to them to be processed, and which may also be stored overseas.

This may include providers of website hosting, cloud storage, practice management software, CRM systems, online booking systems, email and SMS platforms, social media platforms, analytics tools, advertising platforms, payment processing, IT support, marketing services, and approved artificial intelligence tools and services.

If we disclose personal information to overseas recipients, we will only do so to the extent required for such purposes. Before disclosing personal information to overseas recipients, we take reasonable steps to:

• ensure that any overseas recipients do not breach the Australian Privacy Principles in relation to that information; or
• satisfy ourselves that the overseas recipient is subject to a law that has the effect of protecting personal information in a similar manner to the Privacy Act.

If we are not reasonably satisfied about one or both of the above matters, we will seek your express consent to the disclosure of the personal information to the overseas recipient.

As at the date of this Privacy Policy, we have engaged a service provider in South Africa and the Philippines to support delivery of patient concierge services. We have taken reasonable steps to ensure that they do not breach the Australian Privacy Principles in relation to the information we disclose to them.

We have also taken reasonable steps to ensure that these overseas service providers have limited access to the personal information stored on our servers, with authority to access only the information they require to reasonably provide their services.

9. Use of artificial intelligence

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools, systems and services including (but not limited to) those which utilise machine learning algorithms, natural language processing models, predictive analytics, automated decision-making systems, or chatbots and virtual assistants to support the delivery of services and our internal administrative functions (for example, appointment scheduling, reminders, or processing forms). AI will only ever be used as a support tool, and will never be used to make clinical decisions about you.

We will not use personal information for AI-related purposes in a manner that is inconsistent with this Privacy Policy, and applicable laws.

Personal information is only processed using approved AI tools and systems where it is reasonably necessary for our business operations (including for purposes such as document analysis, research assistance, workflow optimisation and risk management).

We regularly assess our AI framework to mitigate the privacy and data protection risks associated with the use of AI tools and systems. Steps that we take to mitigate these risks include implementing access controls, ensuring human oversight, and the minimisation and deidentification of data processed using AI systems and tools.

10. Security and retention

We store hard copies of personal information in access-controlled premises, and digital versions on secure servers.

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information we hold from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. These steps may include secure practice management systems, access controls, passwords, staff confidentiality obligations, staff training, physical security, secure disposal of records, IT security measures and limiting access to information to people who need it for their role.

No website, email system, SMS system or online platform can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You should take care when sending sensitive information electronically.

We require all our contractors and others to whom we disclose personal information or whom may have access to personal information we collect, to keep such personal information private and to protect such personal information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

We keep personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including to provide dental care, manage appointments, maintain patient records, comply with legal and insurance obligations, resolve disputes and operate our clinic. When personal information is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to securely destroy or de-identify it, where lawful and practicable.

In the event that we become aware of any actual or potential unauthorised access to or disclosure of personal information about an individual, or any loss of such information which may lead to unauthorised access or disclosure, we will promptly investigate and where appropriate, take remedial action and notify the individual affected in accordance with the Privacy Act.

11. Accuracy, access, correction and complaints

We take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we collect is accurate, up to date and complete and that the personal information we use or disclose is accurate, up to date, complete and relevant, having regard to the purpose of such use or disclosure.

You may request access to personal information we hold about you. We deal with all requests for access to personal information as required by the Privacy Act, and we may charge a fee where we provide access.

You may also ask us to correct personal information if you believe it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to an access or correction request. In some circumstances, we may refuse access or correction where permitted by law. If we refuse a request, we will explain why, where reasonable.

If you have a concern about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us first so we can try to resolve the issue. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner — Website: www.oaic.gov.au · Phone: 1300 363 992

12. Contact us

For privacy enquiries, access or correction requests, complaints, or marketing opt-outs, please contact:

Quality Dental Care Brighton Privacy Officer
Address: 497 Brighton Road, Brighton SA 5048
Email: contact@qualitydentalcare.com.au
Phone: (08) 8377 1120

13. Changes to Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to make changes to this Privacy Policy from time to time and without notice by publication on our website. Any changes to this Privacy Policy will apply both to information we already have about you at the time of the change, and any personal information or health information created or received after the change takes effect.

We recommend that you regularly review our Privacy Policy to ensure you are aware of any changes.