Privacy Policy

FINE ORTHODONTIST SYDNEY

Privacy Policy

Protecting your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)

1. About This Policy

Fine Orthodontist Sydney (‘we’, ‘us’, ‘our’) is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information in an open and transparent way. This policy explains how we collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information, and your rights in relation to that information.

We are an APP entity bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). As a private health service provider, we are required to comply with these laws regardless of our annual turnover.

This policy applies to all patients, guarantors, and anyone else whose personal information we handle. We recommend reading it carefully. If you have questions, please contact us using the details above.

2. What Personal Information We Collect

We collect two types of information: general personal information, and sensitive information (which receives a higher level of protection under the Privacy Act).

2.1 Personal Information

We may collect the following personal information:

• Full name, date of birth and gender
• Contact details — postal address, phone number(s) and email address
• Emergency contact details
• Medicare number, private health insurance details and fund membership number
• Financial information for billing purposes (not including full credit card numbers)
• Referral source and referring practitioner details

2.2 Sensitive Information (Health Information)

Because we provide orthodontic treatment, we also collect sensitive health information, including:

• Medical and dental history, current medications and known allergies
• Clinical examination findings, diagnosis and treatment records
• Dental and facial photographs, X-rays and 3D scans
• Digital treatment planning data and aligner/appliance specifications
• Laboratory and referral reports from other treating practitioners
• Records of treatment consent

We only collect sensitive information with your consent, or where the law otherwise permits.

3. How We Collect Your Information

3.1 Direct Collection

In most cases, we collect your information directly from you when you:

• Complete a new patient registration or medical history form (in person, online or on paper)
• Attend an appointment or consultation
• Contact us by telephone, email or via our website
• Give consent to treatment

3.2 Collection From Third Parties

We may also collect information from third parties, including:

• Your referring dentist or specialist
• Other treating health practitioners (with your knowledge)
• Your private health insurer, where they contact us directly in relation to your treatment or claims
• Parents or legal guardians, where you are under 18

Where practicable, we will only collect information about you from third parties with your consent, or if you would reasonably expect us to do so.

4. How We Hold and Secure Your Information

We take the security of your personal information seriously. Your information is held in:

• A secure practice management system, accessible only to authorised staff
• A secure clinical imaging and records system, accessible only to authorised staff
• Locked physical records (for any paper-based documents) stored on secure premises

We use firewalls, secure login credentials, role-based access controls and regular software updates to protect against unauthorised access, modification, disclosure, misuse or loss of your information.

All staff are trained in privacy obligations and are required to keep your information confidential. Access to personal information is limited to those staff members who need it to perform their duties.

When your information is no longer required for the purpose for which it was collected, and we are no longer legally required to retain it, we will securely destroy or permanently de-identify it.

5. Why We Collect and Use Your Information

We collect, hold and use your personal information primarily to provide you with safe, high-quality orthodontic care. Specific purposes include:

• Assessing your suitability for orthodontic treatment and providing clinical care
• Maintaining accurate and up-to-date clinical records
• Communicating with you about appointments, treatment progress and follow-up care
• Sending appointment reminders via SMS, email or phone
• Processing accounts and payments
• Corresponding with your referring practitioner or other treating health providers
• Transmitting clinical data to overseas manufacturers, laboratories or treatment planning providers as required for your treatment (see Section 7)
• Complying with our legal, professional and regulatory obligations
• Responding to your enquiries and complaints

We will not use your information for direct marketing without your explicit consent, and you may withdraw that consent at any time.

6. Who We May Disclose Your Information To

We may disclose your personal information to:

• Your referring dentist or other treating health practitioners involved in your care
• Specialists or other practitioners to whom we refer you
• Your private health insurer, where they contact us in connection with your treatment or to verify clinical information
• Medicare Australia, where required by law or for any applicable Medicare transactions
• Our practice software and IT support providers, under strict confidentiality obligations
• Our accountants or legal advisors, where necessary
• Regulatory or law enforcement bodies, where required or authorised by law
• A person you have authorised to act on your behalf (e.g. a parent or guardian)

We will not sell, trade or otherwise share your personal information with third parties for commercial purposes.

7. Overseas Disclosure

Due to the nature of orthodontic treatment, your clinical data — including dental records, photographs, X-rays and 3D scan files — may need to be transmitted to overseas manufacturers, laboratories or digital treatment planning providers in order to fabricate appliances or deliver your treatment.

These recipients may be located in countries including, but not limited to, the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, France, China, Japan and other countries. Because the suppliers and platforms we use may change from time to time, we do not maintain a fixed list of named recipients. If you would like to know which specific providers are currently in use for your treatment, please ask us at the time of your appointment.

In addition, electronic communications — including emails, SMS appointment reminders and data transmitted over the internet — may travel through infrastructure located in various countries depending on network routing, internet service providers and telecommunications technology in use at the time of transmission (including satellite-based services). The route taken by any electronic communication is outside the control of Fine Orthodontist Sydney and cannot be guaranteed or specified in advance.

We take reasonable steps to use reputable technology and communications providers and to protect your information. However, we cannot guarantee that your information will not pass through or be accessible from overseas infrastructure, and recipients in other countries are subject to the laws of their own jurisdiction, which may differ from Australian privacy law.

If you have concerns about overseas disclosure, please speak with us before treatment commences.

8. Accessing and Correcting Your Information

You have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you, and to ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete or misleading.

To make a request, please contact our Privacy Contact Officer:

We will respond to your request within a reasonable time (usually within 30 days). In most cases, access is provided free of charge. If a fee applies (for example, to cover the cost of photocopying extensive records), we will advise you in advance.

There are limited circumstances where we may refuse access or correction — for example, where providing access would pose a serious threat to health or safety. If we refuse, we will explain why in writing and advise you of how to complain about that decision.

9. How to Make a Privacy Complaint

If you believe we have mishandled your personal information or breached the Australian Privacy Principles, we encourage you to contact us first so we can address your concerns promptly.

Step 1 — Contact Us Directly

Submit your complaint in writing to our Privacy Contact Officer (details in Section 8). We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 business days and aim to resolve it within 30 days.

Step 2 — Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)

If you are not satisfied with our response, or if we have not responded within 30 days, you may lodge a complaint with the OAIC:

You may also have the right to seek redress through the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) of New South Wales for matters related to health service delivery.

10. Anonymity and Pseudonymity

Where lawful and practicable, we will give you the option of not identifying yourself or using a pseudonym when making general enquiries about our services. However, for the purposes of providing clinical treatment, we are required to confirm your identity and maintain accurate health records. It is therefore not possible to receive orthodontic treatment anonymously.

11. Patients Under 18

For patients under the age of 18, personal and health information will generally be collected from, and shared with, a parent or legal guardian. We may also communicate directly with a young patient about their treatment where appropriate and consistent with their age and maturity.

We take additional care when handling information about children and will only share such information as necessary for treatment and with appropriate authorisation.

12. Website and Digital Communications

Our website may use cookies to improve your experience. Where used, cookies do not collect personally identifiable information unless you submit a form. You can disable cookies through your browser settings.

If you contact us via our website contact form, the information you provide will be used only to respond to your enquiry. We use secure, encrypted communication protocols where possible.

13. Updates to This Policy

We review this Privacy Policy at least annually and whenever there are changes to our information handling practices or relevant legislation. The current version is always available at our front desk and on our website. The version date appears at the bottom of each page.

If we make material changes that affect how we handle existing patients’ information, we will notify affected patients directly.

Questions about this policy?

We’re happy to explain anything in this policy in plain language. Please call us on (02) 9369-3566 or email privacy@fineortho.com.au and we’ll be glad to help.

This policy was prepared with reference to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles, and the OAIC APP Guidelines (Chapter 1, Version 1.2, October 2025).